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India successfully shoots down satellite in space

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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Re: India successfully shoots down satellite in space

#91

Post by bsmith »

droithomme wrote: post #80

Satellites are sitting ducks. This feat is as admirable as kicking down a sandcastle on the beach. We need an international treaty banning this because the detritus produced in the form of hundreds of thousands of new fragments in orbit is one of the largest threats to future space development.

Aren't little bits of debris in LEO going to fall back into the atmosphere and burn up pretty quickly, though? Not an expert here, but I think there is enough atmosphere left at standard LEO altitudes that thrusters are needed semi-regularly to keep these things in orbit. Granted, some debris may get launched into a weird elliptical orbit that takes them farther away from Earth for a bit, but then won't they come right back into the atmosphere at perigee and burn up?

Re: India successfully shoots down satellite in space

#92

Post by vaguesortof »

KorematsuFred wrote: post #84

To give a context to why this is important (even though technologically it is much easier to shoot a satellite). Western Nations often have this tendency of pass international laws with exceptions for themselves using ridiculous arguments. Such as nuclear proliferation treaties which allows existing nuclear powers to build more nuclear war heads but does not allow others to build even the first nuke. India's NSA Ajit…

We're already working on putting missiles and directed energy in space at my job in missile defense. They are 'defensive' missiles but the new ones they're putting up there will have offensive capabilities as well

Re: India successfully shoots down satellite in space

#93

Post by Infinity15 »

diminoten wrote: post #66
kumarharsh wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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/

Mirror could be out in space, so it won't light our atmosphere on fire!

This mirror would be shot down :P

Re: India successfully shoots down satellite in space

#95

Post by yumraj »

nashadelic wrote: post #70

Strangely, I'm not seeing a wide enough condemnation of this. Another country is building destructive weapons, bringing down LEOs; how is this a good thing? All the while the region suffers from chronic poverty, poor access to clean water and basic services. Sending a science mission to space is great and rightly lauded, this is wasteful and energies spent better elsewhere.

Once you see it in the context of protecting your country from hostile and belligerent neighbors, you will realize that it is not at all wasteful, rather is absolutely necessary.

Re: India successfully shoots down satellite in space

#96

Post by shripadk »

timdiggerm wrote: post #32
bhargav wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you think the entire exercise was carried out for BJP to pull ahead in elections? How much do you think Indian citizens care about this? Do you think it is enough to swing votes? Don't be too quick to find faults!

It is definitely possible that the exercise was carried out independent of the election schedule, but Modi announcing it (instead of some lower official) is because of the elections, part of making every bit of possible patriotism count. Don't be too quick to overstate others' positions!

Modi heads the Department of Space. He has every right to announce it whether you like it or not.

As far as overstating positions go, the opposition in India was quick to jump to conspiracy theories after the Pulwama attack saying that Modi orchestrated the entire attack for political gains. This ridiculous conspiracy theory mongering has gone on to unprecedented levels this election. After failing at making a dent for the past 1 year by parroting Rafale lies, the opposition is now trying to find a new issue to latch onto.

It can't be that you keep throwing darts until one of them sticks! That is not how a responsible opposition should behave!

Re: India successfully shoots down satellite in space

#97

Post by shripadk »

techie128 wrote: post #59

This is critical for the geopolitical stability of the region. Pakistan, China have traditionally assumed that India lacks the political will as well as the technological capacity to build advanced weapons such as these. This will be a big deterrence and help bring it peace to the region. I would not be surprised if India announces ICBMs in the next 5 years. A country that can place 100s of satellites in space as wel…

India already has ICBMs. Read about Agni-V here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agni-V

Re: India successfully shoots down satellite in space

#98

Post by doe88 »

Does the fact it was on low orbite would mitigate the risk of adding-up even more space debris to the current graveyard of debris? I remember it was a big concern/critique when China did its own attempt. I don't know enough about this test/space to tell if it's different this time.

Re: India successfully shoots down satellite in space

#99

Post by garmaine »

dugluak wrote: post #81
garmaine wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no way to secretly test these weapons. To be clear, I'm not objecting to the weapons existence. I'm objecting to the tests, which are potentially worse than above-ground nuclear testing. The kessler syndrome, if realized, would permanently destroy our ability to deploy, access, and use space resources.

How many tests did US conduct since 1950s?

Anti-satellite weapon tests? Only twice. Once in 1985, which was internationally condemned and widely considered a mistake, and once operationally in 2008 to destroy a failed satellite about to re-enter with a full tank of toxic fuel (the debris from this immediately entered the atmosphere).

Re: India successfully shoots down satellite in space

#100

Post by kumarharsh »

nindalf wrote: post #87
eklavya wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, why not? Take credit for whatever you have done, it's naive to think that politicians will not showcase their work. Tell me what do you write in your resume? Finding personal faults with any public person is pointless (as in having an effect on you). What matters is whether the results are good/bad.

I have 2 issues with what Modi does * His list of achievements is absurd and factually incorrect, and he rarely gives credit to others who contributed. * He hates criticism and tries to muzzle it. A politician should not interfere with the press but he does so. He has gotten journalists fired because they criticised him.

He's always reflected the praise towards the scientific community as far as I can see:

Just read the tweets on his profile... A sample: https://mobile.twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1110862796437...

It's like... Damned if you do, Damned if you don't.

If you're going to blindly criticise anyone without considering things out of your bubble, that's your prerogative.

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