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Debris is Shuttle's Biggest Threat

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the yeah-my-cars-paint-job-has-the-same-problem dept.

Masq666 writes "Tiny rocks, paint flecks and other fragments of junk whizzing around the Earth pose the greatest threat to the shuttles and the astronauts on board, according to the preliminary results of a new NASA risk study. Even coin sized fragments can cause great damage to a shuttle, and the damage can be lethal, if it hits the windows or the heat shield."

2 of 229 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Easy Solution by nurhussein · · Score: 4, Informative

    No, no, no... shields are a defense mechanism against energy weapons. Space debris is knocked out of the way by the navigational deflector or main deflector dish. Get your fictional technology right!

  2. Re:geosync? by js7a · · Score: 4, Informative
    The further-out geostatonary belt is called crowded, but only by people who have to point antennas. It is less cluttered with junk and the near-zero relative speeds of everything in it makes what little there is fairly safe.

    The closer you get to the planet, the more crap there is. Some of it is really interesting crap, but it's still deadly crap.