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Boeing-made satellite shatters in orbit, and nobody knows why (www.livescience.com)

submitted 4 weeks ago by Lemmynated to c/[email protected]

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The Boeing-made Intelsat 33e satellite broke apart in orbit over the weekend. But company representatives don't yet know why.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 weeks ago (3 children)

I really hope it just broke apart... because the alternative is that somebody has an anti-satellite weapon that is fairly discreet (not as obvious as a missile fired from the ground) and that they're willing to actively use.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

Could also be the massive amount of space debris ripped it a new one

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 weeks ago

Yeah, there's lots of stuff in orbit, and these are just the objects large enough to be tracked by radar. An impact from a small, fast-moving object is a completely rational explanation.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Occam's Razor - micrometeorite or space debris

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 weeks ago

Or just plain structural failure due to a design or manufacturing defect.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Space lasers are real!!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

I remember watching a Tech Ingredients video where I think they did the math on space lasers, I think the conclusion was that it would be technically possible to significantly impact local earth surface temperature with one. (Might've been a degree or two extra for 10km² or something like that, with a huge satellite, maybe around the size of Hubble, or bigger.)

Of course, there's no reason to believe some politicians' insane ramblings about "Jewish Space Lasers".

Edit, found the video: https://youtu.be/-MVs37rxJL0?si=4Ztwq-FyOiB0uZqI

If the topic seems insane, the caveat at 31:50 should probably correct the tone. This man doesn't actually believe space lasers were used to start a big grass fire.

Also, I remembered all the numbers very wrong.