Linked Questions
56
votes
4
answers
9k
views
What impact will the deorbiting of thousands of satellites have on the atmosphere?
With the creation of mega satellite constellations like Starlink, there are several thousand satellites being launched each year. This means that as these satellites go out of order in a few years, ...
15
votes
3
answers
4k
views
What does trash from ISS consist of?
How much does it cost to return 1 kg from the ISS to the Earth? What are the parameters influencing this price?
What kinds of waste does the ISS dispose of? To mind come:
human waste*
household items ...
9
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Can an ISS module survive reentry?
Nasa is making plans to de-orbit the ISS safely over the pacific ocean, this eventually leads to the question of whether or not an ISS module can survive reentry (survive meaning it is recognizable ...
14
votes
1
answer
3k
views
How dangerous is tossing equipment off the ISS?
On 2023 June 22, during an ISS spacewalk, Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin "tossed overboard" three no longer needed devices, "off the back of the space station in a direction that ...
10
votes
2
answers
507
views
Garbage powered reboosting module for low Earth orbiting space stations
Instead of dumping massive garbage packs once in a while, using a robotic arm, could some sort of garbage canon eject the same mass in small pieces, at higher velocity, so that it contributes to ...
10
votes
1
answer
975
views
Are the ejected first stage Electron rocket batteries really incinerated?
This answer reminded me that the Electron rocket drops one of it's batteries when it is mostly spent. We might call that "micro-staging".
This answer quotes Spaceflight 101:
With a low auto-...
3
votes
1
answer
386
views
How many "main" batteries does the ISS have? How many are still nickel-hydrogen?
CBS News's Third all-female spacewalk completes job of swapping out batteries says:
NASA is in the process of replacing 48 older-generation nickel-hydrogen batteries in the station's solar power ...
5
votes
1
answer
333
views
Why is "Terminator Tape" electrically conductive?
A 230 foot long tape deployed from the satellite Prox-1 greatly reduced how long it took to deorbit. The tape was described as electrically conductive.
Was that property intended to help the ...
7
votes
2
answers
419
views
When jettisoning heavy objects from the ISS e.g. 2.9 tons of batteries+, how much angular impulse does the station get? Corrective actions necessary?
Discussion below this answer to Why does it take so long for ISS garbage to fall out of orbit? addresses the jettisoning of the ~2.9 ton pallet full of used batteries full of nickel and other things. ...
5
votes
1
answer
417
views
ISS battery "de-orbit" burnup?
In reading these two questions: How many kilograms of nickel particles will be dispersed in Earth's atmosphere by dumping old ISS batteries overboard? and Why does it take so long for ISS garbage ...