Wie schnell sind die Satelliten?
So wird beispielsweise für eine Kreisbahn in 300 km über der Erdoberfläche eine Geschwindigkeit von 7,8 km/s (28.000 km/h) benötigt. Bei diesem Tempo umrundet ein Satellit die Erde einmal in 90 Minuten. Satelliten müssen sich so schnell bewegen, um die Anziehungskraft der Erde auszugleichen.
What is space junk and how does it affect you?
Space junk, or space debris, is any piece of machinery or debris left by humans in space. It can refer to big objects such as dead satellites that have failed or been left in orbit at the end of their mission. It can also refer to smaller things, like bits of debris or paint flecks that have fallen off a rocket.
How many satellites are at risk from space junk?
Thousands of satellites are at risk of collision with space junk. There are more than 3,000 dead satellites and rocket stages currently floating in space, and up to 900,000 pieces of space junk ranging from 1 to 10 centimetres in size — all large enough to be a collision hazard and a potential cause for disruption to live missions.
How does ELSA-d Remove space debris?
The ELSA-d has the ability to capture and safely remove space debris from orbit. Now that ELSA-d is in orbit, further trials will be carried out, in which the service satellite will release and subsequently dock magnetically with the smaller satellite; capture it while it is tumbling out of control, and then deliberately lose and recapture it.
How does the International Space Station protect itself from space debris?
The ISS has Whipple shielding to resist damage from small MMOD; however, known debris with a collision chance over 1/10,000 are avoided by maneuvering the station. Space debris began to accumulate in Earth orbit immediately with the first launch of an artificial satellite Sputnik 1 into orbit in October 1957.