Questions tagged [impact]
Questions regarding the collision of one thing with another
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Frequency of asteroid impacts on Ceres?
Are there estimates of asteroid impact frequency on Ceres? I'm looking for a graph that plots time between impacts against size of the impactor. Thanks!
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Does NASA have an end-of-the-world policy?
If an asteroid were detected, shooting towards earth with enough speed and certainty that it would all but guarantee a sequel of the end of the dinosaurs. Observatories and space agencies would almost ...
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What does "MSR" represent in the context of this predicted satellite conjunction?
In a series of four tweets starting with this one (found in 2 satellites will narrowly avoid colliding at 32,800 mph over Pittsburgh on Wednesday)
1/ We are monitoring a close approach event ...
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How did two satellites end up in almost the same orbit except moving in opposite directions?
In a series of four tweets starting with this one (found in 2 satellites will narrowly avoid colliding at 32,800 mph over Pittsburgh on Wednesday)
1/ We are monitoring a close approach event ...
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How big an asteroid could we take out with an ICBM?
Obviously it's not going to be all that big as the intercept would occur only a few minutes before impact and the rubble is still going to hit. However, if the pieces are small enough they go boom in ...
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Are there any specific plans for how to deal with near-Earth comets? If not, should there be?
You hear a lot about how NASA, ESA and other space agencies are taking action to catalogue asteroids that might one day collide with us, but also figure out how to avert such a catastrophe if one day ...
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Are there any equations out there that can calculate the burnup of an asteroid depending on angle?
Are there any equations that can calculate the burnup of an asteroid depending on the angle? I want to be able to calculate the magnitude of an asteroid impact with the angle being the changeable ...
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How many satellites can stay in a Lagrange point?
Lagrange points as I understand it are points in space between 2 objects where the gravitational pull between them is effectively equal. That makes station keeping at these points relatively easy.
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Is deformation of the impact attenuation system visible on the surviving Apollo command modules?
As pointed out in this question, the Apollo command module had crushable ribs along one edge of the base of the cone, and crushable struts that suspended the crew couches inside the vehicle. I've ...
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Do the velocities of orbital debris have a bias in the direction of Earth's rotation?
Most spacecraft are launched and orbit prograde -- in the same direction that the Earth rotates -- to give a "speed boost" to get to orbital velocity. One would therefore expect that the trajectories ...
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How did fictional asteroid 2019 PDC get its name?
Gizmodo's NASA and FEMA Will Simulate an Impending Asteroid Strike Next Week
The hypothetical discovery takes place in 2019, but what does "PDC" stand for?
Perhaps it is another "discovery" by the ...
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Why does this satellite collision debris field look like a big "X"?
This answer to the question Whats the protocol if two satellites collide? shows the image below, and I don't understand the shape.
I would have expected two "jets" of debris, each projecting roughly ...
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Could a satellite in GEO-orbit make an evasive maneuver to avoid an anti-satellite impactor?
Communication satellites orbit at an altitude a couple of hundred times above the satellite that the Indian government recently shot down. Also GPS-satellites are about one hundred times further up ...
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What are the chances a space probe will make it to another star without hitting a bit of space dust?
tl;dr: What is the density of "space dust" or micrometeorites in interstellar space, and how likely is it that a tiny interstellar craft could avoid hitting any?
In a future time we will likely ...
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A starship is traveling at 0.9c and collides with a small rock. Will it leave a clean hole through, or will more happen?
Say there is a football sized rock in the path of the ship. Will it create a football sized hole through the ship in the blink of an eye, or will more happen? The ship would be filled with metal, ...
