infinate space

[Craig.]

And yet they still have to litter earth.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050907/ap_ ... ssia_space
While wasting a rocket aswell. Why not just shoot it towards the sun or some other object in the solar system.

[Ivan]

Windowless remote control version of the soyus... probably not much of an environmental control system onboard.

[Craig.]

Windowless remote control version of the soyus... probably not much of an environmental control system onboard.

Still begs the question, why not just jettison it out into space. Its not like the enviromentalists on mars can come and do anything about it

[WebbPA]

To jettison it anywhere but earth would require enough energy to get it out of earth orbit.  Sending it towards earth uses a gravity boost.

[RichieB16]

That is true that it would require a lot of energy to send it out of orbit, much more than there is avilable.  So, that really isn't practicle.  Plus, returning it to Earth isn't as bad as it seems.  The spacecraft doesn't have a heat shield so the vast majority will burn up upon reentry.  The little that is left will sink to the bottom of the ocean.  Now, that does sound bad but when you take into accout how much is lost in the ocean from ships and other means, the little bit that goes in the ocean from the space program is really nothing at all.  Plus, bare in mind that every space station ever put into orbit (except Skylab and ISS) currently rest at the bottom of the ocean.  All 7 Russian Salyut stations and Mir are all at the bottom of the ocean (8 stations total).  

Just for information's sake, Skylab (NASA's only space station before ISS) crashed uncontrolled in an uninhabited area of Western Australia in 1979.  

[cableguy]

Well the thing is that when you dump garbage into the space, it will be flying around, traveling at very high speeds, colliding with ships.  I read an article, dont remember where, and it said that a piece of paint chipped away from some ship and made a .5 inch deep dent in a shuttle, so imagine what is going to happen if there is a ton of crap flying around

[RichieB16]

Well, if there was a way to send it out of orbit and into a solar orbit or something then it wouldn't matter because it wouldn't be near us.  But, there is enough junk in earth orbit now as it is.

[SilverFox441]

If we can ever make a solar sail work we can possibly dump the trash sunward...for nothing but a reuseable vehicle's time.

Until then, we're stuck with the system at hand.

[RichieB16]

If we can ever make a solar sail work we can possibly dump the trash sunward...for nothing but a reuseable vehicle's time.

I really doubt a solar sail would work to reach escape velocity.  I don't know a lot about them-but I believe they are more commonly thought of for use after orbit has been broken-to speed up a journey.  If that was the case, a motor of some kind would still be needed to break Earth orbit.

But, then again-I could be completely wrong.  I'm not an expert on solar sails.  

[Carlo]

If we can ever make a solar sail work we can possibly dump the trash sunward...for nothing but a reuseable vehicle's time.

Until then, we're stuck with the system at hand.

With a solarsail you can never dump anything sunward. The theory is that the sun will "blow" it away. So it will never ever get near the sun.

Crash

[Scorpiоn]

With a solarsail you can never dump anything sunward. The theory is that the sun will "blow" it away. So it will never ever get near the sun.

Duh!  Put it on backwards!  Jeez...

[SilverFox441]

A solar sail can place an object in a slingshot orbit that will throw a package sunward, or it can slow a package from the shared sol-orbital velocity that Earth has...and the package will fall... all the way down that great big gravity well.

A solar sail may not have the raw thrust to push something out of orbit quickly...but with it's steady acceleration (even if it is very low accel) it can push for a long time and build up a respectable velocity. Getting out of Earth orbit would just take time.

There is also the possibility of a laser-pushed solar sail...which can go in any direction the guy directing the laser desires.

[Fozzer]

...Infinite Space...

I sometimes think that applies to the area between my ears when I am desperately trying to find a suitable word to describe the thought within my head, prior to posting on the Forum... ...!
I find myself going through the Alphabet, A to Z, in the hope that the magic word will suddenly appear, and I can complete the post with a big, satisfied smile on my face... ...!

Does anyone else here on the Forum suffer from the same affliction... ... ... ...!

Cheers all....!
L..M...N...O....P....Eureka!...Paul... ....!

[Hagar]

...Infinite Space...

I sometimes think that applies to the area between my ears when I am desperately trying to find a suitable word to describe the thought within my head, prior to posting on the Forum... ...!
I find myself going through the Alphabet, A to Z, in the hope that the magic word will suddenly appear, and I can complete the post with a big, satisfied smile on my face... ...!

Does anyone else here on the Forum suffer from the same affliction... ... ... ...!

Cheers all....!
L..M...N...O....P....Eureka!...Paul... ....!

LOL That describes me exactly. Bingo.......!

[Hagar]

All I have to say on this topic is that the human race is a messy lot. We leave litter wherever we go, even in outer space.