[meteorite-list] [Fwd: Re: Will space cities get pelted ?]

From: John Reed <john_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:01:36 2004
Message-ID: <3D1BFD10.2A25B024_at_findalltrades.com>

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Will space cities get pelted ?
Date: Thu, 27 Jun 2002 09:36:30 -0700
From: "Alan Rubin" <aerubin_at_ucla.edu>
Organization: UCLA
To: "John Reed" <john_at_findalltrades.com>
References: <3D1B3B4A.822F9849_at_findalltrades.com>

NASA put a satellite in orbit called the Long-Duration Exposure
Facitility (LDEF) to see how many impacts it experienced. It
experienced a lot of micrometeorite impacts during the 13 or so
months it was in space. Shielding could protect a space habitat
from that, but the Earth's atmosphere also protects us against
much bigger rocks; many break apart in the atmosphere and many
slow down due to ablation and atmospheric drag. A space city
could only rely on shielding to protect it. It would indeed be a
formidable problem.
Alan Rubin

----- Original Message -----
From: John Reed <john_at_findalltrades.com>
To: Alan Rubin <aerubin_at_ucla.edu>
Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2002 9:20 AM
Subject: Will space cities get pelted ?


> I believe that some day people will move to a "space satellite"
type
> city.(say the satellite has a surface area of approx. 1 sq. mile
and it
> was in orbit around earth) would you expect that meteorite
impacts
> would be problematic? I was thinking even one the size of a golf
ball
> traveling at around 20k miles per hr and if it hits something
> weightless would that be catastrophic?
> Thanks for your help
> John
>
Received on Fri 28 Jun 2002 02:07:12 AM PDT