Daniel wainaina’s Post

It’s not Thanos and Carnage who are extraterrestrial supervillains. Solar winds, sunspots, solar flares, and CMEs are! They: 🔴 Disrupt satellite trajectories, leading to increased risks of orbital collisions and, consequently, space debris issues, 🔴 Impact the trajectories of space debris pieces, which are generally pre-calculated for spacecraft safety, 🔴 Challenge spacecraft operators in ensuring the safety of operational satellites, especially in low Earth orbits where the effects of space weather are more pronounced, and 🔴 Affect the planning of satellite lifetimes due to unforeseen drag and radiation levels. I see here a need for improved space weather predictions to safeguard spacecraft and mitigate collision risks in space. And with the increasing number of satellites in orbit, I have no doubt space weather, tech like what we do at Mission Space will attract more limelight and weight. What are your thoughts on the subject? #spacetech #spaceindustry #spaceweather

* Extract from an article published on 20 Oct 2024 by The Guardian: "...But the concern over debris is about more than it damaging an individual satellite or craft. Space operators are acutely aware of a danger known as the #KesslerEffect or syndrome, named after the Nasa scientist Donald J Kessler, who in 1978 along with Burton G Cour-Palais, published a theory that as the number of satellites increased, so would the #probability of collisions. As collisions increase, the more debris is produced, and the greater the risk of more collisions. At a critical mass, one collision could trigger an #unstoppable cascade of collisions, such that an entire orbit could be rendered useless. A 2022 overview paper by Viasat paints an almost apocalyptic picture: “If a tipping point is reached, all of humanity would watch helplessly as space junk multiplies uncontrollably. Without timely intervention, we risk bringing the space age to an inglorious end, and trapping humanity on Earth under a layer of its own trash for centuries, or even millennia.” It continues: “Not only an abrupt end to space exploration, but also the loss of all the benefits of space technology – including navigation, weather forecasting, climate measurements, and even satellite broadband (the intended purpose of the megaconstellations being deployed).” https://lnkd.in/gEeWGY6T —- The 𝗜𝗔𝗔 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗶𝘀 & 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 (#SDS2024), which is co-hosted by the University of Hong Kong’s Laboratory for Space Research (HKU-LSR) and EPFL Switzerland, will take place in Hong Kong from 2-4 December 2024. Read the full press release here: https://lnkd.in/ggCb5Mvr) ✨

* Extract from an article published on 19 Oct 2024 by The Guardian on Space debris and sustainability: "...But the concern over debris is about more than it damaging an individual satellite or craft. Space operators are acutely aware of a danger known as the #KesslerEffect or syndrome, named after the Nasa scientist Donald J Kessler, who in 1978 along with Burton G Cour-Palais, published a theory that as the number of satellites increased, so would the #probability of collisions. As collisions increase, the more debris is produced, and the greater the risk of more collisions. At a critical mass, one collision could trigger an #unstoppable cascade of collisions, such that an entire orbit could be rendered useless. A 2022 overview paper by Viasat paints an almost apocalyptic picture: “If a tipping point is reached, all of humanity would watch helplessly as space junk multiplies uncontrollably. Without timely intervention, we risk bringing the space age to an inglorious end, and trapping humanity on Earth under a layer of its own trash for centuries, or even millennia.” It continues: “Not only an abrupt end to space exploration, but also the loss of all the benefits of space technology – including navigation, weather forecasting, climate measurements, and even satellite broadband (the intended purpose of the megaconstellations being deployed).” —- 🌟 OASA is proud to be a co-organiser of the 𝗜𝗔𝗔 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗶𝘀 & 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, which will be held at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) from 2–4 December 2024 — Link to 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲 : 👉 https://lnkd.in/gXXtQSrc)

Scientists plan to shoot down orbital space debris using laser What scientists have not proposed to combat the clouds of space debris enveloping our planet! Ideas have been put forward to use special nets and even lasso to catch dead satellites and other rubbish that only interfere with the work of specialists in orbit. But a new project by scientists from the Japanese research institute Riken sounds the most ambitious compared to other ideas. It involves using a powerful laser to knock debris out of orbit. According to average estimates, there are about 3,000 tons of space debris in the orbit of our planet. According to the project of Japanese specialists, if you install a powerful fiber-optic laser on the International Space Station, this problem can be solved quite quickly. In words, the plan is not so complicated. It is necessary to use the infrared telescope remaining from the EUSO space observatory to search for space debris in Earth's orbit. Then comes the CAN fiber laser, which is commonly used in particle accelerators. The laser beam should change the flight path of the piece of debris, after which it will enter the planet s atmosphere and burn up in it. Japanese scientists claim that the accuracy of such a system will be so high that it will be possible to shoot down even objects just 1 square centimeter in size. The Riken University team published part of their findings in the journal Acta Astronautica. Their next step will be an attempt to install a 20-centimeter telescope and a 100-fiber laser on the ISS. If the experiment demonstrates the validity of the Japanese theory, a full-size laser installation will be installed on the ISS to destroy space debris. And its dimensions will be much larger than the experimental one. The telescope will already have a diameter of 3 meters, and the laser will consist of 10,000 fibers. With such a laser gun it will be possible to shoot down debris at a distance of up to 100 kilometers from the space station. Theoretically, in the future it is possible to launch a separate spacecraft into orbit, which will purposefully clear the space around the Earth of debris. If you've read the article this far please like and subscribe - it really helps the channel. Open the link to find thousands of interesting articles: https://lnkd.in/dYdAdmgE #nikolaysgeneticslessons

Dear LinkedIn Community, Have you read SR Hoplon’s recently released article: C H A P T E R  N ° 7 Space Weather and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)? Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) is known as the second orbital class space agencies/companies commonly launches satellites into, but why choose this orbital class? What is the (dis)advantageous of this class, if any? Satellites within MEO are located within the ‘safe’-region, also known as the slot-region, of the Van Allen Belts (i.e., the radiation belts surrounding Earth). However, is this region really as safe as some claim or think it to be? To find out, please visit SR Hoplon’s Blog! -       SR Hoplon wishes you a pleasant read and hope to see you again soon! #MediumEarthOrbit #MEO #SpaceWeather #SpaceRadiaiton #SpaceWeatherAwareness #CriticalInfrastructures #VanAllenBelts #SolarEnergeticParticles #SEPs #GalacticCosmicRays #GCRs #CriticalSpaceInfrastructures #DisasterRiskReduction #Resilience #CriticalTerrestrialInfrastructures

People sometimes wonder why photos from the International Space Station and other satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) don't shown an entire continent at once. Are the cameras always zoomed way in? Does the atmosphere do a huge refraction effect? The answer is simple geometry. How much of a sphere that you can see depends on how close you are to the sphere. Because of the sphere's curvature, the sphere's shape bends away out of view after a certain point called the horizon. In principle, you would have to be infinitely far away in order to see exactly half of a sphere's surface at once. The equation that tells you what percent of a sphere's surface that you can see is: A = (d/(d+R))×50% where d is the distance between the observer and the sphere's surface (i.e. the altitude) and R is the radius of the sphere. The International Space Station (ISS) orbits at an average altitude of 400 km. For comparison, the radius of the earth is about 6371 km (however, the earth is not a perfect sphere). Using the equation, this means that the ISS can only see about 3% of earth's surface at any given moment. Refraction by earth's atmosphere increases the amount of earth's surface that is visible, but not by much. Each satellite in LEO can at most see 12% of earth's surface at once. This is why you need a network of many satellites working together, and not just two satellites, if you want to see the entire surface of the earth at once.

My thoughts on orbital debris regulation and the dangerous explosion of low Earth orbit satellites.

Probing the Sun's Corona The Indian Space Research Organization and the European Space Agency are set to launch the Proba-3 solar probe today from Sriharikota, India. The mission consists of two satellites that will study the sun's corona—the outer layer that can reach temperatures of around 2 million degrees and significantly influences Earth through solar flares and mass ejections. Proba-3 aims to demonstrate precision formation flying, with the satellites maintaining a 150-meter separation to create artificial solar eclipses. The approach allows for extended observations of the sun's corona, lasting up to six hours per orbit, and can generate approximately 50 artificial eclipses annually. The mission has been in development for more than a decade, involving contributions from 14 European countries. The launch follows the success of ISRO's past missions such as Aditya-L1, India's first space-based solar observatory, and Chandrayaan-3, which made history by achieving a soft landing in the moon’s south polar region. https://lnkd.in/efAyC6zH

https://lnkd.in/eaFJb2HZ China-France satellite launched to monitor most powerful explosions in space The Space-based multi-band astronomical Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) has blasted off to record intense gamma-ray bursts