this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2024
75 points (98.7% liked)

World News

271 readers
785 users here now

Rules:

  1. Be a decent person
  2. No spam
  3. Add the byline, or write a line or two in the body about the article.

founded 1 month ago
MODERATORS
 

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

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 14 points 1 month 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.

[–] ramble81@lemm.ee 16 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

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

[–] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 3 points 1 month 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.

[–] Reddfugee42@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Occam's Razor - micrometeorite or space debris

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 3 points 1 month ago

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

[–] Kbobabob@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] Comment105@lemm.ee 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month 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.