Re: Kinetic kill weaponry in LEO/GEO...

In addition to what others have mentioned (LEO is a *lot* of volume),
there are two other points to consider.

First, in LEO, or at least the lowest LEO, you are not entirely out of
the atmosphere. This means you get some drag, albeit terribly
minuscule, it does tend to affect things with a larger surface to
volume ratio more noticeably. This includes small fragments and
bullets (which are pretty sure not to be pointed with their main axis
in their direction of motion with respect to the air). Over time,
their orbits will spiral in due to this drag, until they encounter the
real atmosphere and go out in a blaze of glory (or at least a streak
of incandescent plasma).

Second, if it is a concern, you can use radar or other sensors to
identify and track the nasties. If one is getting to close for
comfort, move out of the way. Or, my favorite solution - if you have
lasers, heat up the leading side of the space debris until it starts
vaporizing. The ejected vapor acts like a rocket, dropping the debris
into a lower orbit. Once the orbit gets low enough to intersect
atmosphere of significant density, the drag drops the orbit even
further until it finally passes through the mesosphere and
disintegrates.

Yes, I expect a major orbital battle would cause enough orbital debris
to be a concern, but the above considerations will alleviate that
concern somewhat.

Now a nuke in earths orbit, within or below the Van Allen belts, would
be a major problem. The liberated charged radiation would oscillate
back and forth along the field lines for weeks, causing radiation
faults to unshielded equipment and personnel. I can't remember if
simulations showed that these orbital detonations would significantly
expand the exosphere or not (I might be confusing them with other,
natural, phenomena like solar flares and CMEs) - if so, they would
increase drag on any debris and cause it to re-enter sooner, but this
would be a dangerous way to go about cleaning up after yourself.

Luke

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Relevant Pages

  • Re: US Space Weapons Statement
    ... they state that debris would likely reenter after one orbit. ... the original launch platform and an apogee slightly higher than the launch ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: USA Today: Shuttle study finds higher risk of fatal hit by debris
    ... >launch a foam dispenser at a closely matching orbit ... >slightly ahead of the debris, dispense the styrene/urethane/whatever, ... they spread out along the original orbit because they have slightly ... >shields, although I guess aerogel would get poofed pretty fast, too. ...
    (sci.space.shuttle)
  • Re: Best way to remove junk from low Earth orbit
    ... >> One solution would be to move all of the low earth orbit satellites ... > There is already gas in LEO, ... that is what I have said when referencing the expansion of the earths ... is that it is a TRIVIAL amount for the orbiting junk. ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Space Debris
    ... unit area -- sweeps out about 7000 cubic kilometers a day. ... put it into a slightly elliptical orbit, ... are focused on the debris patterns - from the Delta stages ... It might also help to give a debris absorber ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Analysis of ship combat and design.
    ... A fixed installation can have a defensive debris field around it, ... Bigger prolem is that it block the orbit of the installation itself, ... barring the installation to receive any ship from outside - it's a big ...
    (rec.arts.sf.science)
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