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To: TalonDJ

Well, yes and no. While a high speed object can travel at about 5 miles a second, or 18,000 mph, most are only a fraction of that.

Years ago, at the University of Arizona, a professor invented a satellite to help police up orbital debris.

http://articles.latimes.com/1995-01-01/local/me-15238_1_space-junk

The secret for the “big ball of goo” is that tough, high tech polymer foams can act much like a catcher’s mitt, and while a small, very high speed object can easily penetrate its outer layers, it can only do so at great cost to its momentum.


11 posted on 11/09/2010 7:33:08 AM PST by yefragetuwrabrumuy
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

That could be useful if you are trying to catch small targets in known orbits.

Anything in low earth orbit is going to be doing 5miles a second. If you are interseting that your closure rate could be as much as double that.


12 posted on 11/09/2010 8:55:31 AM PST by TalonDJ
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