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    We always ensure that our satellites are well below the 
    UN 25 year guideline, and we will never launch a satellite
    into an orbit with a predicted lifetime greater than 25 years.
https://www.planet.com/pulse/keeping-space-clean-responsible...


Thanks for the link! I was looking for some papers on the topic (small satellites & space debris). Here are a few that popped up (not sure if CubeSats are 100% apples for apples):

http://archive.ists.or.jp/upload_pdf/2011-r-36.pdf

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technolo...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140930090447.ht...

Small satellites raise some great systems questions... certainly outside my expertise, but interesting.


A couple more papers on the topic:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273117711...

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273117710...

Note the authors include the founder(s) from back when they were at NASA.


Question for you sir[?]: is it possible to build a massive radio antenna array outside of the atmosphere using a widely spread out constellation of satellites? Like, something of a dimension and intensity that would be impossible/unsafe to do on the earth's surface? My apologies if this is a dumb question...


I am not GP, but if you are interested in satellite communication networks, spaceX and google have partnered to do something similar. It will have some extra-terrestrial advantages like needing less hops to get to destination and light moves faster in a vacuum.

link: http://spacenews.com/spacex-google-matchup-sets-up-satellite...


This may sound crazy, but i was talking about a transmitter and i was thinking about it being pointed outward, not inward. I am of the opinion that crafted radio signals are the easiest and most efficient way to tell 'whoever' that someone is here and they know math. The constellation would serve two purposes: let asteroid miners listen to NPR outside of the control of NASA or Weyland-Yutani and broadcast a signal to the universe that we are here. I will not be offended by the wave of chortles. Also, i imagine a radio telescope that stretches 300,000 miles might be able to pick up a lot we cannot see.


There's no particular advantage to putting an interstellar transmitter in orbit. Attenuation on the way up isn't a huge problem. Arecibo could in theory communicate with a similar installation across about 10,000 light years.[1]

[1] http://www.setileague.org/articles/oseti.htm


Thank you for the link; i will read it. I get that 'they' could detect each other, but wouldn't it make detection much easier if the signal was stronger?


He is saying that it won't be much stronger.


They already know that we're here. That may not be good.


I have heard this notion and, respectfully, i think it is bonkers. If a super advanced civilization wants to pulp us, i doubt they will need any help in finding us [as they are already watching the '38 Olympics and I Love Lucy. If, alternatively, they are some nomadic space dickheads looking to pick a fight, than i can think of no better way to prove that we are ready to be an interstellar species. Finally, if they are some insectoid space roaches that can hurl meteors across space at our little marble... good. I want to be a Starship Trooper. In any of these situations, humanity will become unified and space marines become a reality. Yayzors. I know this is a lot of silly conjecture, but the thought of multidimensional super beings having it in for us is as far-fetched as an invisible Jew in the sky who writes down everything you do and hates gay folks.


I think it would be too difficult to keep every spacecraft stable in orbit in relation to one another.


Came here to post this.




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