Prof. Sam LawlerRE: https://mastodon.social/@hannorein/116319800679957972
Pew pew pew Kessler Syndrome here we come! (Ok yes, we're already in Kessler Syndrome, this is Kessler Syndrome: small collisions happen more and more frequently)
Follow up: I didn't read carefully. This may have been caused by an internal explosion rather than a debris collision (similar to what happened to another Starlink satellite a couple months ago). So... SpaceX will make Kessler Syndrome happen even faster with their exploding satellites, I guess. Weeee
Hanno Rein@sundogplanets How can one possibly distinguish one from the other?
Andreas Brunthaler@hannorein
Shouldn't the net momentum be different from an internal explosion and an external hit? But this would require that you can measure the mass and velocity of the fragments. Is that possible?
@sundogplanets
Shouldn't the net momentum be different from an internal explosion and an external hit? But this would require that you can measure the mass and velocity of the fragments. Is that possible?
@sundogplanets
Knud Jahnke@brunthal @hannorein @sundogplanets
Few gram at at a few km/s vs. several 100kg. Not sure that's easily measurable.