While we are talking about StarLink today, let's discuss the Kessler Syndrome.
Some evening not too long from now you may look up, and instead of the stars and a few StarLink satellite trains marching along, you might see a night sky filled with brilliant sparkles. You check the news and learn the International Space Station has been destroyed as well humanity's weather and other Earth observation satellites. What's happened?
https://interestingengineering.com/science/kessler-syndrome-spacex-starlink-orbital-chaos
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Well in their infinite stupidity the US government has granted Elon Musk's SpaceX permission to launch thousands of StarLink satellites into low earth orbit (LEO). These things are wizzing around up there trying to avoid crashing into one another, and with each new batch that becomes harder. Plus now the Chinese and Amazon are sending up their own satellite constellations. It's a massive traffic problem.
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Kind of like airline traffic, only much much worse. If two planes collide, the wreckage just falls to the ground. In space, one triggering event, either an accident or some intentional anti-satellite action and, like a room full of mousetraps and ping-pong balls, you get a cascading series of collisions which in short order can take out everything leaving a permanently unnavigable debris field. And humanity is screwed. That's what we are playing with here.
@mastodonmigration I've mention this issue a few times. Given the sheer number of satellites and the "move fast and break things" mentality of Musk, this is a disaster waiting to happen.
All I've ever heard from his cult is that "AI will fix it"
The problem is, once it happens, it can't be stopped and it can't be reversed. Such an incident would effectively deny the use of space to every single person on Earth for decades, maybe for centuries.
No GPS. No PLBs / EPIRB. Taking a plane or a ship anywhere in the world would suddenly become much more of a gamble, especially since most maritime and air crew are not skilled in celestial navigation. Some militaries still teach it but hardly merchant marine/aircrew do, and even for those who do know the skill, how many could use it it anger, or would even have the necessary tools to do so?
@Syulang @mastodonmigration "Move fast and break things" is well-evoked here: it's shockingly on point when it comes to Musk, Starlink, and the Kessler Syndrome.
