Space Post - Timelapse of space shuttle Discovery's flyaround of the Space Station

[Neil]

Timelapse of space shuttle Discovery's flyaround of the International Space Station. Footage is sped up 20x.

-XLbIwCKPNw

[Mike70]

that's pretty sweet. the ISS is finally beginning to look like a space station.

did you read that discovery had to move the ISS to avoid some potentially hazardous space debris?

[Neil]

that's pretty sweet. the ISS is finally beginning to look like a space station.

did you read that discovery had to move the ISS to avoid some potentially hazardous space debris?

Yeh, normally the ISS moves itself I believe...

[Mike70]

Yeh, normally the ISS moves itself I believe...

yes it does. i guess when the shuttle is docked with it, it's probably easier to move with the shuttle's thrusters.

the ISS has had a couple of debris scares here in the last month or two. kinda worrisome.

[Neil]

yes it does. i guess when the shuttle is docked with it, it's probably easier to move with the shuttle's thrusters.

the ISS has had a couple of debris scares here in the last month or two. kinda worrisome.

Well debris is a real issue, and could easily snowball to a situation space travel (orbital) has to stop...

http://forum.homepageofthedead.com/showthread.php?t=13062

[krakenslayer]

Well debris is a real issue, and could easily snowball to a situation space travel (orbital) has to stop...

http://forum.homepageofthedead.com/showthread.php?t=13062

I'm sceptical about that, part of me thinks certain factions who don't want to invest so much money in space travel are playing up the dangers. Even if there are billions of pieces of metal flying around the world at high velocity, space (even orbital space) is so vast you could probably live your whole life up there without ever getting hit.

[Neil]

I'm sceptical about that, part of me thinks certain factions who don't want to invest so much money in space travel are playing up the dangers. Even if there are billions of pieces of metal flying around the world at high velocity, space (even orbital space) is so vast you could probably live your whole life up there without ever getting hit.

Ummm...
1) Many objects are already having to be moved to miss debris. You yourself mentioned the IIS, but satellites also have to be moved about. So there's enough up there to make regular changes in fligth paths a routine thing.
2) The link I provided showed the first occurrence of debris wiping something else out. From that one event there are now probably 100s/1000s of new bits of debris.

Every impact that occurs mutliplies the one object into 100s/1000s... So it could very easily snowball... And once it starts, there's no stopping it...

[Mike70]

Ummm...
1) Many objects are already having to be moved to miss debris. You yourself mentioned the IIS, but satellites also have to be moved about. So there's enough up there to make regular changes in fligth paths a routine thing.
2) The link I provided showed the first occurrence of debris wiping something else out. From that one event there are now probably 100s/1000s of new bits of debris.

Every impact that occurs mutliplies the one object into 100s/1000s... So it could very easily snowball... And once it starts, there's no stopping it...

that pic that i posted in the other thread about debris shows just how much crap there is in orbit. that is just the stuff that is over 1cm (i think - don't hold to me to that). there are countless other smaller pieces up there as well.

i don't think it's being played up at all. the vast majority of the people worried about this issue are folks that are very pro-space travel, including many of the world's leading space scientists.