61–70 of 108 posts
I hope it was shot down in a manner that doesnt produce more space junk, which is already acknowledged as a serious problem!
V. Does the test create space debris?
The test was done in the lower atmosphere to ensure that there is no space debris. Whatever debris that is generated will decay and fall back onto the earth within weeks.
[0] https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/soon-after-pm-address-foreig...
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Let me get this straight, a missile is easy to track, but a giant mirror reflecting a load of sunlight that would have to be LoS to the satellite wouldn’t be? Not to mention that bombing the mirror would be a lot easier than shooting down the missile...
A missile can be viewed from many angles. A beam of light is (mostly) only visible by whoever its aimed at. Light dispersion not withstanding. Sunlight is quite bright and will mask a lot of the scattered light as well.
It really makes no sense at all.
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Wait, now I'm confused... is it a military national security issue or a scientific achievement? China managed to not have Xi Jinping announce when they did it.
> China managed to not have Xi Jinping announce when they did it. Which test you're talking about? Xi wasn't leading China back in 2007. And thanks to the ignorance of their top brass, the Chinese received considerable negative reaction after the test.[1] 1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Chinese_anti-satellite_...
You're right - I was confusing it with the more recent non-destructive tests that were also not explicitly announced.
And I don't think they received negative reaction because they didn't announce. It's no secret that the West is not full of fans of China
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That's not what I am doing here. You can read it yourself: https://m.economictimes.com/news/elections/lok-sabha/india/i... I'm not about aware about any change in the Code of Conduct since the EC made that statement. Correct me if I am wrong.
Shooting down your own satellite isn't an "issue of national security." And the question isn't whether it is permissible, but rather was it an obvious opportunistic move? The answer to the latter is yes to pretty much all of the outside observers.
> And the question isn't whether it is permissible, but rather was it an obvious opportunistic move?
I don't know.
I hope it was shot down in a manner that doesnt produce more space junk, which is already acknowledged as a serious problem!
According to the FAQ put out by Gov of India [0] V. Does the test create space debris? The test was done in the lower atmosphere to ensure that there is no space debris. Whatever debris that is generated will decay and fall back onto the earth within weeks. [0] https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/soon-after-pm-address-foreig...
Just wondering, is it possible to use a big enough mirror and just reflect sunlight to do the same thing? Though this only means satellites can only be destroyed during daytime.
It will also ionize the air in an extreme manner, probably rendering the surrounding environment impossible to be in. For a rough estimate, see this: https://what-if.xkcd.com/13/
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Shooting down your own satellite isn't an "issue of national security." And the question isn't whether it is permissible, but rather was it an obvious opportunistic move? The answer to the latter is yes to pretty much all of the outside observers.
They shot the satellite with a "missile". And it was a demonstration of what we would do when a spy satellite hovers above us during "wartime". The PM in his address clearly said that this successful test makes "India" more "secure". Considering all this, it pretty much qualifies to be a national security issue to me. > And the question isn't whether it is permissible, but rather was it an obvious opportunistic move?…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome :(
In cases where the satellite is orbiting low, Kessler shouldn't be a problem. In this case the satellite was at 300km and the pieces would decay in less than a year. Even if pieces were pushed into a higher orbit by the explosion, they would still dip down to 300km periodically and decay just a little longer. Example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_decay#/media/File:Alti...
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According to the FAQ put out by Gov of India [0] V. Does the test create space debris? The test was done in the lower atmosphere to ensure that there is no space debris. Whatever debris that is generated will decay and fall back onto the earth within weeks. [0] https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/soon-after-pm-address-foreig...
Unless some pieces were boosted higher by the explosion. But I guess they are confident this could never happen.
Sending a science mission to space is great and rightly lauded, this is wasteful and energies spent better elsewhere.