QuixoticgeekFeb 1

There are currently about 12600 satellites in orbit. As a result on average every day 3 fall out of space, dumping metals and other nasties into the upper atmosphere.

If we continue that rate of satellite loss, 1 in 4200, and extrapolate it to 1,000,000. That would be ~238 satellites PER DAY, falling out of the sky and spreading the materials they are made up of in the upper atmosphere. With some more substantial chunks hitting the surface, and possibly people.

That's just bonkers

1/n

Show threadQuixoticgeekFeb 1

This of course completely overlooks all other practicalities of orbital datacentres, that makes putting high power computing in orbit. Which for a summary include: too much radiation noise making the systems unstable (see Wikipedia for "single even upset"), cooling when you have to dump heat into a vacuum, low data bandwidth (compared to a fibre on earth), latency, and shear fucking cost.

It's an absolutely fucking stupid idea. And I'm angry I have to spend my Sunday debunking this shit.

2/2

Show threadQuixoticgeekFeb 1
Postscript: and before the cult of space Karen start with the "so you're an expert in orbital computing this week are you?" Well. One of my first jobs out of uni involved designing an onboard control system for a satellite. My design has literally been to space. I know what I'm talking about on this one.
Show threadCraig StewartFeb 1
@quixoticgeek I'm very far from being an expert in space or satellites, but I'm pretty good at Data Centres, and there are loads of obvious issues with "Data Centres in space" and less obvious issues. What I'm missing is the potential upsides. If you accept "capacity" as an upside, it'd still be cheaper to build that capacity on the ground. If it's lack of ground to build on, there have been some interesting experiments with underwater data centres. I see no advantage for this announcement.
Show threadMartin Gleadow
@pmb00cs @quixoticgeek never mind the complexity of preventing the network cables from getting tangled!
Feb 1 at 1:10pmWeb
Show threadCraig StewartFeb 1

@quixoticgeek @mgleadow that's what a good pair of snips is for. When you need to replace or move a cable, just put in a new cable, then cut the ends off the old cable.

(If I ever catch anyone actually doing this, remember that I have a good pair of snips!)