Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
 |
Comments on Terminator Tether - EDT Solution To Space Debris Update
Studies have shown that low Earth orbit is not a limitless resource and should be managed more carefully. Some sort of debris-mitigation measures are needed to solve the problem of old, unusable satellites and space junk. (Read
the complete story)
| "TUI tested their concepts on Zero Gravity Corporation's modified 727, the G-FORCE ONE. If you are interested in conducting microgravity research, log onto http://www.NoGravity.com" (Tim Bailey 11/17/2004 9:40:38 PM) |
| "How likely is this technology to be more reliable and work at the end of a satellite's life than a de-orbit burn from a simple rocket? How does it's mass compare to that of the rocket?" (Jerry Hollombe 12/4/2004 10:11:44 PM) |
| "Great questions, Jerry; here are the answers from Dr. Robert Hoyt: 1. How likely is this technology to be more reliable and work at the end of >a satellite's life than a de-orbit burn from a simple rocket? The rocket itself can be quite simple, but remember that in order to deorbit a spacecraft using a rocket, you have to aim the rocket in the right direction. That means that the satellite's attitude determination & control, power, processing, and other systems all need to be highly functional, which isn't often the case at the satellite's end-of-life. The Terminator Tether is being designed to be very reliable after a long on-orbit storage time. This drives its cost up somewhat, but that is still much less expensive than designing the whole spacecraft to have the reliability to have everything working after a 5 or 10 year lifetime. 2. How does it's mass compare to that of the rocket? Depends upon the orbit and how quickly you want to bring the satellite down, but it can be a substantial savings. Bringing down a LEO satellite using a solid rocket can require 5-20% of the spacecraft's mass be reserved for deorbit fuel. A Terminator Tether will typically mass just 1% of the spacecraft mass. The mass 'savings' can be reallocated to fuel for longer operation or other uses." (Bill Christensen 12/13/2004 1:13:34 PM) |
| "I notice the diagram for the tether has a "shroud" component. Presumably this must be jettisoned before the tether can be deployed creating an additional piece of space junk?" (Josh 12/14/2004 8:56:44 PM) |
| "So what is the chance of the tether colliding with some other object and causing more junk, after all your space craft now has a 5 Km tail?" (Stan Clark 5/23/2005 4:48:05 AM) |
| "Can this same technology be used to tweak the plane of an orbit, by deploying the line at right angles to the direction of travel?" (David Atwater 5/23/2005 3:41:14 PM) |
| "I'm a space nut, been interested since i could read. I learned many things from this story. THANKS" (bob wysong sr 5/28/2005 12:20:07 PM) |
| "it's so gross how all this junk is orbiting around Earth!" (kale 5/20/2006 10:58:51 AM) |
| "whoever mentioned the shroud having to be removed should have looked closer, it appears to just be the housing, since it is open at one end, i guess they called it a shroud" ( 6/21/2006 12:55:05 AM) |
| "Why not store in hole of shuttle on return trip" (Roger Newell 9/8/2006 12:32:44 PM) |
Get more information on Terminator Tether - EDT Solution To Space Debris Update
Leave a comment:
Tediously, spammers have returned; if you have a comment, send it to bill at this site (include the story name) and I'll post it.
More Articles
SpaceX Wants A Moonbase Alpha
'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'
Vast Apartment Living Will Get Even More Vast
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'
NASA Wants Self-Driving Or Remote-Controlled Vehicles For Lunar Astronauts
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold...'
Elon Musk Says Robotaxis Will Be Ready This August, 2024
'The car had no steering wheel, and no one drove!'
Moonwalkers AI-Controlled Electric Shoes
Now that's power walking that Hugo Gernsback would have approved.
Steve Jobs: 'Capture The Next Aristotle - With AI'
'It was disturbing to think of the Flatline as a construct...'
No Tips! Robotic Food Delivery In Phoenix
'...he rewired the delivery robot so that it would serve him midnight snacks.'
Electric Catamaran 'Explorer Eco 40m' Has 'Solar Skin'
'On went the electric-yacht faster and still faster.'
Orbital Mechanics, The Liftoff, The Turnover, The Retrograde Burn
'...the huge vessel had spun, with a sickening lurch, through a complete half-circle, the instant the power was reversed.'
Harvest Power From Tears And Blinking With Smart Contact Lens
'...he realized that it was not quite a clear lens. Speckles of colored brightness swirled and gathered in it.'
Europa Clipper Plate Carries A Special Message
'...a universal cryptogram — yet it is one which can be interpreted by any intelligent creature on any planet in the Solar System!'
Micro-Robots Are Smallest, Fully Functional
'With a whir, the Scarab shot from the concealing shadows of the corner where it had hidden itself.'
AI Enhances Images Your Brain Sees
'I could have sworn the psychomat showed pictures almost as sharp and detailed as reality itself'
Illustrating Classic Heinlein With AI
'Stasis, cold sleep, hibernation, hypothermia, reduced metabolism, call it what you will - the logistics-medicine research teams had found a way to stack people like cordwood and use them when needed.'
Deflector Plasma Screen For Drones ala Star Wars
'If the enemy persists in attacking or even intensifies their power, the density of the plasma in space will suddenly increase, causing it to reflect most of the incoming energy like a mirror.'
DIY Robotic Hand Made After Loss Of Fingers
'I made them... with the fine work of the watchmaker...'
Cheap Drunk Driver Detection From UofM
"Look, I can drive... Start, darn it!"
Can A Human Land A SpaceX Rocket On Its Tail?
'If she starts to roll sideways — blooey! The underjets only hold you up when they’re pointing down, you know.'
Robot Snakes No Longer Stopped By Stairs
'...she dropped her hands from the wheel, took the robot snake from his box.'
Has Turkey Been Stealing Rain From Iran?
Can one country take another's rain?
