This is new, extremely dangerous territory.
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Snowshadowreplied to Ben Royce πΊπΈπΊπ¦ Don't Boo: Vote last edited by
@benroyce
We need more countries to stand up to Musk!
@zii_0 @petergleick -
Ben Royce πΊπΈπΊπ¦ Don't Boo: Votereplied to Snowshadow last edited by
@Snowshadow @zii_0 @petergleick
the problem is #elonmusk is "winning" by embarrassing #brazil. ignoring their laws and brazil unable to do anything about satellites delivering #twitter
even if brazil convinces the #usa to intervene and #geofence brazil out of #starlink by force, all the fascist losers love musk more as some "hero"
in my fantasy life, the usa delivers elon to brazilian authorities
but this world has a real problem with holding #plutocrats responsible, especially the usa
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Cassandrareplied to Ben Royce πΊπΈπΊπ¦ Don't Boo: Vote last edited by
@benroyce @Snowshadow @zii_0 @petergleick Any possibility this leads to satellites getting blown up?
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@Cassandra
That would lead to a Kessler effect, polluting the atmosphere
https://earthsky.org/human-world/kessler-syndrome-colliding-satellites/ -
Ben Royce πΊπΈπΊπ¦ Don't Boo: Votereplied to Snowshadow last edited by
@Snowshadow @Cassandra @zii_0 @petergleick
#starlink satellites are really low, I'm guessing the Kessler effect doesn't apply
In fact starlink satellites by design are constantly falling out of the sky burning up and constantly replaced
Kessler is more for the satellites up high where if they broke up the debris remain forever
#Brazil can't laser them or shoot them because there's 6,500 of them, it would have to shut down/ degrade the whole network by taking out enough. Maybe they should!
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Snowshadowreplied to Ben Royce πΊπΈπΊπ¦ Don't Boo: Vote last edited by
@benroyce
Thanks for the correction. But wouldn't destroying those lower orbit ones also contribute to pollution as they burn? They are made of metals no one should be adding to our air.
@Cassandra @zii_0 @petergleick -
Ben Royce πΊπΈπΊπ¦ Don't Boo: Votereplied to Snowshadow last edited by
@Snowshadow @Cassandra @zii_0 @petergleick
it's a real thing:
Mastodon Migration (@[email protected])
Attached: 1 image So, over in the astronomy world there is some consternation about a tweet from eminent satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell. Apparently "Starlink Precipitation" is now a thing. And yes, you got that right, Starlink precipitation is pieces of Elon Musk's fucking internet satellites raining down from space. See also this post from @[email protected]: https://mastodon.social/@carlysagan/112448150797509408
Mastodon (mastodon.online)
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Ben Royce πΊπΈπΊπ¦ Don't Boo: Votereplied to Ben Royce πΊπΈπΊπ¦ Don't Boo: Vote last edited by
@Snowshadow @Cassandra @zii_0 @petergleick
even more notably: it's a big story that came about from #mastodon posts by an astronomer in #saskatchewan, professor sam lawler @sundogplanets , about #spacex debris raining down on #canada:
Prof. Sam Lawler (@[email protected])
This is the best way possible to (maybe?) end this epic thread! Here is the story of the Saskatchewan SpaceX debris fall, written by me, published by Scientific American: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/spacex-dropped-space-junk-on-my-neighbors-farm-heres-what-happened-next/ Many of you got to see this story unfold in real-time toots, but this is the whole thing, plus some extra science context. Extra special thank you to @[email protected] and @laurahelmuth for encouraging me to pitch the story to SciAm! I am so excited to publish in a magazine I read all the time as a kid.
Mastodon (mastodon.social)
that's the last toot in a long thread that's a great read
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Snowshadowreplied to Ben Royce πΊπΈπΊπ¦ Don't Boo: Vote last edited by
@benroyce
Yes, I follow her and I remember the story was in our news. Imagine that crashing through your roof!@Cassandra @zii_0 @petergleick @sundogplanets -
@Snowshadow @benroyce @Cassandra @zii_0 @petergleick The Kessler Syndrome can definitely happen at Starlink orbital altitudes. Debris from 550 km atlitudes takes a few decades to deorbit "naturally". That's a long time to not be able to use Low Earth Orbit if they make a mistake. And they plan to launch tens of thousands more satellites into that same orbital shell, which is already the densest part of orbit. It's really bad.
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Ben Royce πΊπΈπΊπ¦ Don't Boo: Votereplied to Prof. Sam Lawler last edited by
@sundogplanets @Snowshadow @Cassandra @zii_0 @petergleick
i didn't think it was that bad but i stand corrected and that's really galling
it also sounds like light pollution on steroids interfering with our ability to study the heavens
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Prof. Sam Lawlerreplied to Ben Royce πΊπΈπΊπ¦ Don't Boo: Vote last edited by
@benroyce @Snowshadow @Cassandra @zii_0 @petergleick Yeah, I saw dozens of them last night while stargazing from super dark skies The vast majority of satellites you can see with your eyes are Starlinks.
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Shannon DeMariareplied to Prof. Sam Lawler last edited by
@sundogplanets @benroyce @Snowshadow @Cassandra @zii_0 @petergleick This will continue to be the dumbest timeline if the guy so many people credulously thought would take us to Mars dooms spaceflight.
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@saxnot @yacc143 @TomDB @petergleick @chris βIf anyone even uses it thereβ what? Itβs satellite high speed internet. Itβs often the only option for communication in rural areas. Iβd assume itβs very popular there. Thatβs why allowing private companies to be in charge of essential infrastructure is really bad.
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Mastodon Migrationreplied to Ben Royce πΊπΈπΊπ¦ Don't Boo: Vote last edited by
@benroyce @sundogplanets @Snowshadow @Cassandra @zii_0 @petergleick
Really interesting how this "Starlink orbit is too low to be a problem" disinformation has taken hold. The company has misrepresented the issue conflating their ability to actively (under power) deorbit in a pretty short time with the natural decay which would happen once these things start smashing together (Kessler Syndrome) of up the 50 years for some pieces. Once this kicks off the human race is earthbound for decades.
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Mastodon Migrationreplied to Mastodon Migration last edited by [email protected]
@benroyce @sundogplanets @Snowshadow @Cassandra @zii_0 @petergleick
Additionally, and to be more specific, the company (and the FCC) also present, and regularly refer to, the natural (unpowered) deorbit time of 'under five years' (which is still a long time). But natural deorbit is a function of altitude, mass AND cross sectional area which includes the big solar array. Once these satellites smash together some of the rubble will have much less drag and stay up for decades.
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Ben Royce πΊπΈπΊπ¦ Don't Boo: Votereplied to Mastodon Migration last edited by
@mastodonmigration @sundogplanets @Snowshadow @Cassandra @zii_0 @petergleick
yup
and i edited my comment where i made the bad kessler guess
it's far more sobering and sinister than i thought
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Mastodon Migrationreplied to Ben Royce πΊπΈπΊπ¦ Don't Boo: Vote last edited by
@benroyce @sundogplanets @Snowshadow @Cassandra @zii_0 @petergleick
The more you learn about this issue the more terrifying it becomes.