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ASTRA 1K De-orbited

dda writes "Following the story about ASTRA 1K launch failure: Early this morning, it has been de-orbited over the pacific ocean, due to the rapid degradation of the satellite, coupled to the technical difficulties and risks associated with such a mission, according to the SES-ASTRA operator."

15 comments

  1. "De-orbit" by BigChigger · · Score: 4, Funny

    geez now we use politcally correct terms for satellites getting cratered.

    BC

  2. where are my... by 216pi · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    ... Tacos? Or did it miss New Zealand?

    1. Re:where are my... by yoinkslap · · Score: 0

      well, i woke up this morning, so i guess so.

      --
      Dont ask me...Im just the bass player.
  3. In Soviet Russia... by presearch · · Score: 0, Troll

    ...they fsck up sat launches!

    It was probably just a shipping container filled with
    old pinball machine parts. They collect on the
    insurance and reuse the original components in
    another bird. It's a tough world, you gotta make
    money any way you can.

    1. Re:In Soviet Russia... by presearch · · Score: 1, Redundant

      Yeah, I know the pattern. We all do by now.
      I was attempting to diffuse poor humor by not
      following the expected format, considering that Russia
      was actually relevant to the thread. Nyet!

  4. doh? by Noodlenose · · Score: 2
    Sigh.

    Isn't there any safe method to get those birds up in the sky? Where is Kim Stanley Robinson's Space Elevator when you need it...

  5. Trash by Profane+Motherfucker · · Score: 1, Troll

    Scenario: I'm out boating. I decide to take a few tons of heavy metals, computer components, batteries, and corrosion resistant materials and just toss the fucking loot into the ocean.

    Before doing this, I make a press release entitled:
    LISTEN HERE HIZZOS! I AM DUMPING ILLEGAL SHIT INTO THE OCEAN!

    Why don't space companies have to clean up after their fucking messes? I want to throw shit into the ocean too! Look at the trouble that Carnival got into about dumping trash. This isn't trash too? Granted, it's not diseases feces and medical waste along with food, but I cannot imagine the ocean really needs more garbage tossed into it.

    1. Re: Trash by oni · · Score: 2

      Who do you propose they pay?

    2. Re: Trash by Profane+Motherfucker · · Score: 1

      Pay whomever cleans it up.

    3. Re: Trash by oni · · Score: 2

      Your naivety is amusing. There is no one who can find, let alone recover that satellite - assuming any of it survived.

    4. Re: Trash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      what if no one cleans it up?

      and i guarantee you that no one is going to. because there is nothing to clean up. most of the spacecraft "burned up" upon rentry. what did make it is now under several kilometers of ocean and will never, ever been seen again.

  6. Space elevators? by hollow_man · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually it wasn't KSR who introduced the space elevator. Arthur C. Clarke had popularized it before in his novel Fountains of Paradise. In his foreword he credits Yuri Artsutanov who wrote about Space Elevators in Pravda in the 1960s.

    --
    Full Time Idiot and Miserable Sod
    Nothing is real but the pain