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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!alberta!andrew
From: andrew@alberta.UUCP (Andrew Folkins)
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Re: ASAT Debris (and wiping out GEO)
Message-ID: <672@alberta.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 3-Oct-85 16:14:31 EDT
Article-I.D.: alberta.672
Posted: Thu Oct  3 16:14:31 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 4-Oct-85 06:20:16 EDT
References: <385@aurora.UUCP> <15800003@uiucdcsp> <108@muscat.UUCP> <634@osu-eddie.UUCP>
Reply-To: andrew@pembina.UUCP (Andrew Folkins)
Organization: U. of Alberta, Edmonton, AB
Lines: 51

In article <634@osu-eddie.UUCP> julian@osu-eddie.UUCP (Julian Gomez) writes:
>
> > > As far as the debris issue is concerned, why not condemn the Soviets
> > > for their use of nuclear power plants in their spacecraft.  Talk about
> > > hot debris.
>
>Another case of OK for us, not OK for them? The USA uses nuclear power
>plants. Take a look at the Voyager and Pioneer spacecraft.  But those
>are deep space vehicles! you say?  Until they get into deep space they
>can still fall.  That's even more of a problem in these days of shuttle
>launch rather than booster launch.

Now, where's my lighter . . .

Say what?  How is launching from the shuttle more of a problem than from
a booster?  
 
     Thanks guys, you can go back to the firehall now.
 
If the satellite's booster fails in LEO, it can be repaired
later, as we've all seen.  If the shuttle buys the farm, then it's an
argument against using nuclear reactors in space (which is justified for
deep-space probes because RTG's are the only thing that can power them).

Question #2.  How many American satellites in Earth orbit are nuclear
powered?  I'm not too well informed on that, but I can't think of any.
The Soviets use them fairly often in Earth orbit (as the world found
out when Cosmos 954 spread itself across the Northwest Territories a
few years back (they STILL haven't reimbursed the Canadian government  
the several million dollars it took to clean it all up).

I believe the Soviet method is to boost the nuclear powerpack itself up 
into a higher orbit before the satellite itself re-enters, leaving a nice
present for someone to find a few decades.  (Maybe they figure that
they'll be able to retrieve them then (I hope)).

Back on the topic of ASAT's, there was an article a few months 
back (sorry, I can't remember the reference) about how to 
execute a sneak attack on GEO.  The vehicle is launched toward the
moon, but instead of landing or going into orbit, it loops around and
goes into a RETROGRADE geosynchronous orbit (hmm, it's not synchronous then,
is it . . .).  All this thing has to do then is generously distribute
some shotgun pellets, and, with impact velocities in the +50 kps range, 
GEO is reduced to a junkyard.  The scary part is that this can be done
with minimal warning, as, for most of it's flight, the ASAT will look like
a lunar probe.
-- 
Andrew Folkins        ...ihnp4!alberta!andrew    
 
"Any statements to the effect that this parrot is still a going concern
 are hereby considered inoperative!"


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