Re: Mirror in space
John Stone (jstone@dialnet.net)
Thu, 23 Jul 1998 08:40:44 -0500
I kinda' looked at this differently ... and with my feeble mind came up with this:
I saw the 1966(?) big shower ... and it was impressive ... the sight is burned in
my memory ...
As I recall there were about 24 per minute ... but it may have been more ... if one
considers that the movent of the earth is about 18,000 mph in it's orbit around the
sun this woud mean that there would be a separation of about 500 mile between each
obvservable meteor...
I would be grateful if someone would point out any error in my thinking...
Jim Varney wrote:
> On 22 Jul 98, Eberst wrote:
>
> > Would anyone like to comment on the competence of launching a very large
> > mirror into orbit, just days before the great meteor storm that may occur at
> > the maximum of the Leonid meteor shower? I would comment myself, except that
> > I don't know the emoticon for rolling around on the floor, holding your sides
> > with laughter.
>
> IMHO the Leonids are overrated as a danger to spacecraft. Even if the
> great 1966 display of 100,000 meteors per hour is repeated, the actual flux
> of meteors is surprisingly thin. I did a very rough calculation and found
> that 100,000 meteors per hour works out to less than one meteor per square
> mile at LEO heights.
>
> So my guess is the thin mylar mirror will end up with a few holes but won't
> be destroyed.
>
> Even though I don't think the meteoroids will be the demise of the mirror,
> I would still like to see this monstrosity fail. This project is an
> example of gross light pollution and we should all condemn it as such. My
> wish will be for the mylar to be hopelessly ripped and tangled when
> unfurled. Then I'll join you on the floor for a good laugh!
>
> -- Jim
>
> __________________________________________________________
> Jim Varney
> Member, Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society
> Sacramento Iridiums www.softcom.net/users/jamesv/index.htm