Next time they should listen to that nice Mr. Lundegaard and buy the undercoating.
Posted on 06/09/2022 11:04:46 AM PDT by zeestephen
These tiny meteoroids typically weigh less than a gram, yet they still pose a significant threat to spacecraft because their average speed...is a staggering 22,500 mph...After initial assessments, the team found the telescope is still performing at a level that exceeds all mission requirements despite a marginally detectable effect in the data.
(Excerpt) Read more at scitechdaily.com ...
If the mass will of the micro meteoroid is a gram, that would be at best a 15.342 grain FMJ.
At worse, a 15.432 grain ragged hollow point.
It will hurt.
NASA said the damage from the dust-sized space rock was producing a *noticeable effect* in the $10 billion (£7.4 billion) telescope’s data, but is not expected to limit the mission’s performance.
aside from the noticeable effect that is...
My son is an astronautical engineer at NASA. He handles flight operations for an array of four satellites that fly in formation. He’s had to adjust the orbit a few times to avoid collisions.
The telescope is no longer moving away from the Earth, so it only has L-2 orbital speed, plus, Solar System speed, which is 67,000 mph, according to Google, which might be what you meant about the telescope moving 3X faster.
I calculated the L-2 orbital speed a couple months ago. From memory - about 2,000 mph.
Next time they should listen to that nice Mr. Lundegaard and buy the undercoating.
Thirty years ago it cost $10,000 to send one pound into orbit. Every oz. Costs.
Ah thank you.
Two words: navigational deflector.
CC
“…imagine the kind of damage a microasteroid would do to a spacecraft…”
Imagine a spacecraft built with materials (yet to be “had” on earth) impenetrable from micro-asteroids, or anything else.
Is that covered under warranty? 🤪
Should I ever lose my feet, I’m having cloven hoof prosthetics made.
Not for daily wear, but only when flying.
Imagine the look on the TSA groper’s face when I’m told to take off my shoes...
After the opening scene in Gravity, I don’t remember anything else.
LOL!!
Time for common-sense micrometeoroid control?
I’m stunned the two Voyager missions still operate. How can any interstellar craft survive ongoing sand blasts of debris?
What?
The 10% BIG GUY didn’t help?
Must be a crack f k family!
I suspect the notable effect was to translate all the JWST data into Chinese characters...
Even a little faster than a .220Swift bullet.
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