[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: <3D1C85BC.D24F4BA9_at_findalltrades.com>

Walter do you know if a meteor has ever hit a man made object in space ?
Thanks John

Walter Branch wrote:

> Hello John and List,
>
> Slight correction. Because of the Challenger accident, LDEF actually stayed
> in space about five and a half years! It was retrieved shortly before it
> would have entered the Earth's atmosphere.
>
> -Walter
> -----------------------------------------------
> Walter Branch, Ph.D.
> Branch Meteorites
> 322 Stephenson Ave., Suite B
> Savannah, GA 31405 USA
> www.branchmeteorites.com
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "John Reed" <john_at_findalltrades.com>
> To: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Friday, June 28, 2002 2:07 AM
> Subject: [meteorite-list] [Fwd: Re: Will space cities get pelted ?]
>
> >
> >
> > -------- 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
> > >
> >
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> >
Received on Fri 28 Jun 2002 11:50:20 AM PDT