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Space Tugboat to Refuel Satellites
Faeton sent in this article about a proposed space tugboat to refuel aging satellites. Looks like they're just going to bolt on some extra thrusters with a new fuel supply, guidance system, etc.
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Wha? They're using them:
from http://www.orbitalrecovery.com/faq.html
Attitude control for the SLES and the telecommunications satellite to which it is mated is handled by ion thruster packs mounted on deployable booms. These booms are extended to provide sufficient thruster impulse for control of the SLES/telecom satellite combination.
Actually the shuttle is incapable or reaching GeoSynch orbit w/o substantional modifications - and dangerous ones (like a fuel tank in cargo bay, extra SRB, etc) or refueling at the ISS if that ever becomes a possibility. The highest altitude a shuttle has ever achieved, IIRC, is around 490 miles.
So if there really was a mess in GeoSynch they would just be screwed...
Check out the DARPA project for more info. Do a Google search on "orbital express" for other links and news.
~afniv
"Man könnte froh sein, wenn die Luft so rein wäre wie das Bier"
Richard von Weizs
Well, when they do a controlled deorbit, they typically aim it at the ocean which has a notable lack of dogs, houses, and people's heads. If it's out of control then it falls where it falls.
Most sats use solar but I suppose there may be a few with RTGs and maybe a handful with nuclear reactors. The RTGs are designed to survive reentry _intact_ so they don't spread radioactivity anywhere. I believe an RTG from a satellite launch accident in 1968 (Nimbus?) was actually recovered from the ocean and reused.
Now a nuclear reactor reentry might be more of a problem. I think the couple that are up there from the 60's are parked in orbits that won't decay for thousands of years.