Timeline for How well would various forms of data storage survive in the vacuum of space?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
24 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 23, 2023 at 21:52 | comment | added | Robbie Goodwin | What makes you think vacuum might hurt any form of storage? Wouldn't the cold of space be a worse threat? | |
| Oct 22, 2023 at 16:55 | answer | added | Loren Pechtel | timeline score: 0 | |
| Oct 22, 2023 at 3:33 | vote | accept | eyelash | ||
| Oct 20, 2023 at 20:44 | comment | added | Peter.k | I'd write data into crystal, a big one for big storage - nano forms as language - some kind of extra-intuitive language, which aliens should decode, but not sure it's available now. | |
| Oct 20, 2023 at 20:15 | comment | added | Starfish Prime | @JBH eh, the ISS has a fair amount of stuff on it that you can buy down here, and there are plenty of cube sats up there using non-space-rated parts because they're cheap and they last long enough. People have uninsulated clothing in the antarctic, for use in environmentally protected areas, after all. | |
| Oct 20, 2023 at 19:11 | answer | added | Atog | timeline score: 2 | |
| Oct 20, 2023 at 17:09 | comment | added | JBH | It might be unreasonable to believe that a data storage device of any kind would find itself on (e.g.) a space station and not have been designed to be there. It's like suggesting someone would visit the Antarctic while carrying their water in plastic bags slung over their shoulders. On the other hand, Russia jettisoned a flash drive into space. The article doesn't say how long it's expected to last, other than NASA's claim that it will likely fall to Earth in a few weeks. | |
| Oct 20, 2023 at 12:24 | answer | added | Dragongeek | timeline score: 0 | |
| Oct 20, 2023 at 11:45 | answer | added | Starfish Prime | timeline score: 5 | |
| Oct 20, 2023 at 10:42 | comment | added | Peter - Reinstate Monica | I thought the canonical way is a gold disk but I see that you want it to be personal effects, so the gold disk is unlikely. | |
| Oct 20, 2023 at 9:41 | comment | added | Vesper | @SurpriseDog this article relates to media under controlled storage conditions, we hree have a very volatile environment. Still I would agree that paper is the best media to store small-scale backups, but the printer should be pretty special for the text to be retained over the years. | |
| Oct 20, 2023 at 9:38 | answer | added | Vesper | timeline score: 24 | |
| Oct 20, 2023 at 8:13 | comment | added | AlexP | @SurpriseDog: The question asks for one year. What has that to do with the Rosetta project? | |
| Oct 20, 2023 at 5:35 | history | became hot network question | |||
| Oct 20, 2023 at 2:03 | answer | added | Kilisi | timeline score: -1 | |
| Oct 20, 2023 at 1:54 | comment | added | SurpriseDog | This problem has already been solved: rosettaproject.org/blog/02008/aug/20/very-long-term-backup | |
| Oct 19, 2023 at 23:45 | history | edited | eyelash | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Added clarification and specificity to the question
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| Oct 19, 2023 at 23:35 | comment | added | eyelash | @KerrAvon2055 I envisioned the objects to be jettisoned near Earth, lets say roughly halfway between Earth and the Moon. | |
| Oct 19, 2023 at 23:31 | comment | added | eyelash | @AlexP You're absolutely right. I did do research before posting, but maybe not very diligent research. I found lots of information on how viable various storage formats would be for long-term use by astronauts, but I was having trouble finding information on the effects of exposure to space itself. And tbh I was basing my ink assumption on lightfastness, and the often-repeated factoid about the USA flags from the Apollo program, but I wasn't really taking my own timeframe into account and was thinking more about its relative steadfastness compared to other formats. Thank you for the response! | |
| Oct 19, 2023 at 22:27 | answer | added | L.Dutch♦ | timeline score: 6 | |
| Oct 19, 2023 at 21:55 | comment | added | AlexP | Diligent research is required before asking a question. This site is not a free-of-charge research service. The question must show what research has already been done, and what difficulties could not be resolved. For example, how come you are sure that text on paper would be bleached? That will obviously depend on the ink. I am quite sure that many kinds of pigment ink won't get bleached all that easily. For example, Mitsubishi Pencil Company Limited's Uni-ball Uni-pin fineliners are cheap and very popular, and they work on Moleskine paper! | |
| Oct 19, 2023 at 21:48 | comment | added | KerrAvon2055 | How close to what sort of star and/or planet were the items jettisonned? I'm interested in the answer too, but suspect that the answer will differ considerably if the items are in orbit around/near Mercury compared to, Jupiter (less sunlight but its own magnetic/radiation fields) or out in the Kuiper belt. | |
| Oct 19, 2023 at 21:41 | comment | added | The Square-Cube Law | Not a silly question. I also think you should consider whether the jettisonning itself wouldn't be damaging as well. | |
| Oct 19, 2023 at 21:33 | history | asked | eyelash | CC BY-SA 4.0 |