File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
All of the satellites orbiting Earth on left.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
Low Orbit
>> Anonymous
havent any of them ever collided? Damn theres lots...
>> Anonymous
wheres the ISS?
>> Anonymous
Where's Skylab?
Thanks for those OP btw.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
Missed one.

It -is- quite small...
>> Anonymous
>>349673
They're a little smaller then they appear in the picture
>> Anonymous
i know, but keeping them all from getting near each other must still be a bitch, what with all the totally different systems/countries keeping them in check.
>> Anonymous
>>349611]

HOLY FUCK is this real?
>> Anonymous
>>349611
99 bottles of beer on the wall...
>> Anonymous
>>349798

Yep. From the ESA website:

"The launch of the first artificial satellite by the Soviet Union in 1957 marked the beginning of the utilization of space for science and commercial activity. During the Cold War, space was a prime area of competition between the USSR and USA, reaching its climax with the race to the Moon in the 1960s. In, 1964 the first TV satellite was launched into a geostationary orbit in order to transmit the Olympic games from Tokyo. Later, Russian launch activities declined while other nations set up their own space programs. Thus, the number of objects in Earth orbit has increased steadily - by two hundred per year on average."
>> Anonymous
>>349679

skylab fell out of orbit and reentered Earth back in 1979.
>> Anonymous
>>349692

The chances are infinitesimally small, even for the "crowded" low orbit. We're talking about car-sized objects moving about a sphere larger than Earth.
>> Anonymous
>>349692
Learn 2 orbital mechanics.

Orbits can be predicted years and years in advance, and most of those satellites can't hit each other under any circumstance anyway. For example, an object in low Earth orbit simply doesn't have the orbital energy to hit an object in geostationary orbit, regardless of how it orbits. Likewise, two objects in the same orbit but on opposite sides of the Earth can also never collide (or at least, not without a fair bit of energy being added to one or both of them.)
>> Anonymous
>>349934

Or in laymans terms: "they arent moving"
>> Anonymous
they aren't moving, and the universe is moving around them. There is no pressure, gravity, power, or any other means of pushing any of them faster than the other ones are going so the only time in which one could hit another would be when it is first being launched into orbit.
>> Anonymous
>>349934
>Orbits can be predicted years and years in advance

projected orbits can be calculated to a certain degree of precision

objects entering and interacting and being worked on by Earth's gravity well then leaving only to return are a bit harder to compute e.g. 99942 Apophis

also, while you CAN calculate projected orbits, it becomes more difficult to project and predict possible collisions and their resulting effects with each additional satellite you track
>> Anonymous
i saw a spider once.
>> Anonymous
>>349692

USAF tracks all objects down to the size of a VW Bug up to 65,000 miles away with the PAVEPAWS system. There are, I believe, three, across the US. One in the northern eastern seabord, one down in the gulf coast, and one in California.

/k/fag popping in.
>> Anonymous
It must be a pain in the ass for aliens trying to land on Earth with all that shit in the way.
>> Anonymous
You can actually look at all these in real-time with JTrack from NASA.

http://science.nasa.gov/Realtime/jtrack/3d/JTrack3D.html
>> Anonymous
>>350003
Exactly what I was thinking. Moving the shuttle around must be a bitch. Maybe car size and spread out but they are hauling some ass.
>> Anonymous
no wonder it takes months to plan out a flight path for a space shuttle
>> Anonymous
You forgot the big, natural one far out.
>> Anonymous
>>351224
and all the asteroid satellites
>> Anonymous
>>350045
an internet to you, sir