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Steve Wozniak announces private space company to clean up space debris in orbit

independent.co.uk

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Re: Steve Wozniak announces private space company to clean up space debris in orbit

#241

Post by thachmai »

femiagbabiaka wrote: post #224
mlindner wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

??? Execution on vision is the thing Elon Musk is most well known for, possibly more than anyone else in our current era.

This is the complete opposite of the truth on almost every front. Elon is really good at bluster and branding. The execution is never there at launch of one of his ventures and usually only halfway there years later, this applies to X.com, SolarCity, Tesla, and SpaceX, all of which were and in some cases still are failures even until this day. But surviving for long enough and with the right folks around you means th…

I don't know much about other Musk companies.

But if you claim that SpaceX isn't the leading Space company by a huge margin, or that their execution is somehow behind any other space company, you obviously do not know much at all about SpaceX.

Re: Steve Wozniak announces private space company to clean up space debris in orbit

#242

Post by kimundi »

jimbob21 wrote: post #147
modeless wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The engine is not the problem. It's the fuel. Large orbit changes take a lot. Lowering orbit is not easier than raising orbit, it takes the same delta-v. IMO what should happen is we should ban putting satellites in high orbits. Satellites in low orbit decay naturally within a few years due to atmospheric drag. Satellites in high orbit will stay there essentially forever. More importantly, any collision in high orbit…

> Lowering orbit is not easier than raising orbit, it takes the same delta-v. Why is this? From a layman's perspective it seems like gravity would be a massive form of help here and therefore lowering orbit should require much less fuel.

Think of raising an orbit like moving an item from one side of your desk to the other.

You have to put energy into doing it, but the end result is just as much in balance with gravity as the starting point. So if you want it back where it was, you need to spent the same amount of energy to move it in exactly the same way in the opposite direction.

Re: Steve Wozniak announces private space company to clean up space debris in orbit

#243

Post by dotancohen »

rich_sasha wrote: post #167
dotancohen wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can ablate the leading surface (if the object is not spinning quickly, which honestly is unlikely) then the ejected plasma may push the perigee either into the atmosphere or at least to a higher-drag altitude.

...and this only works at LEO where, I hear, it is less of an issue. Though it seems maybe still an issue, judging by all the shenanigans that the ISS has to do to avoid being shot down.

Actually, this works even better at higher altitudes because orbital velocity is tied to altitude.

It takes less delta-V to put a 1000km-apogee object on a collision course with the atmosphere than it takes to put a 400km-apogee object on a collision course with the atmosphere.

Re: Steve Wozniak announces private space company to clean up space debris in orbit

#244

Post by WastingMyTime89 »

dotancohen wrote: post #240
WastingMyTime89 wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we were able to economically produce and sustain 86400 manned spaceflights per day cleaning space junk wouldn't be an issue. The problem is the viability of technology we actually rely on nowadays: global positioning, weather prediction, surveillance and satellite communication. Space exploration is pretty low on the list of reasons people should worry about debris in orbit.

We have more airplane flights than that today, and nobody would have thought that possible in November 1903.

And? The issue is not what might or might not happen in 2139. Space debris could already potentially be a problem right now and the company this discussion is about has already been founded.

Re: Steve Wozniak announces private space company to clean up space debris in orbit

#245

Post by femiagbabiaka »

thachmai wrote: post #241
femiagbabiaka wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the complete opposite of the truth on almost every front. Elon is really good at bluster and branding. The execution is never there at launch of one of his ventures and usually only halfway there years later, this applies to X.com, SolarCity, Tesla, and SpaceX, all of which were and in some cases still are failures even until this day. But surviving for long enough and with the right folks around you means th…

I don't know much about other Musk companies. But if you claim that SpaceX isn't the leading Space company by a huge margin , or that their execution is somehow behind any other space company, you obviously do not know much at all about SpaceX.

The success of SpaceX has nothing to do with Musk and a lot to do with this woman: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwynne_Shotwell. That even you, who ostensibly cares quite a bit about SpaceX, don’t know this is a testament to how little execution matters.

Re: Steve Wozniak announces private space company to clean up space debris in orbit

#248

Post by nexuist »

spywaregorilla wrote: post #72
SonicScrub wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This would work great for defunct satellites, but does nothing to solve the bigger space-junk danger: random bits and pieces of things from stage separations and previous collisions that are difficult to track. Definitely a step in the right direction, but it won't solve the largest threat.

They shouldn't be difficult to track by an object in space with a laser I would think? edit: curious why the downvotes? Would a device in space with a LIDAR type of device not be very well suited to tracking small objects that are difficult to identify with cameras from earth?

The problem with this kind of system is that it isn't retroactive; all space junk currently in space will remain in space even if the tether device is mandated. And it's unlikely it gets mandated and approved by all spacefaring governments anytime soon.

Re: Steve Wozniak announces private space company to clean up space debris in orbit

#249

Post by nexuist »

femiagbabiaka wrote: post #245
thachmai wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know much about other Musk companies. But if you claim that SpaceX isn't the leading Space company by a huge margin , or that their execution is somehow behind any other space company, you obviously do not know much at all about SpaceX.

The success of SpaceX has nothing to do with Musk and a lot to do with this woman: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwynne_Shotwell . That even you, who ostensibly cares quite a bit about SpaceX, don’t know this is a testament to how little execution matters.

I think your definition of execution is a little off, or at least, confused.

In a previous comment you wrote:

> But surviving for long enough and with the right folks around you means that you can turn things around.

Did Elon not hire and then promote Gwynne? Is recruiting the right people and keeping them happy and fulfilled not an important part of executing any vision?

If all you do as a CEO is hire smart people who make tons of money for your company while solving hard problems, you've succeeded as a CEO. What else does a CEO do?

Re: Steve Wozniak announces private space company to clean up space debris in orbit

#250

Post by deepdmistry »

cletus wrote: post #18

So here's a potential business model for this: salvage rights. When ships sink, the owner generally still retains ownership of any property. Sometimes the location of the wreck is known. Sometimes it needs to be found. It can cost a lot of money to find a wreck and recover any property. So salvage rights are a principle of maritime law such that whoever does this is entitled to a reward commensurate with the value of…

Orbital tolls :)
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