Questions tagged [kessler-syndrome]

This tag should be used for questions about the effect called "kessler syndrome", referring to a sufficient amount of hazardous space debris to render orbital space around a body unuseable or impassible.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
2 votes
2 answers
238 views

How would the world's superpowers overcome the fog of war without any satellite left in orbit?

A bit of context : I want to come up with a cascade of events involving a breakdown, even temporary, of international powers' ability to keep tabs on each other's armies. The situation is, due to a ...
Kubler's user avatar
  • 465
7 votes
3 answers
294 views

How to unclog a wormhole?

Lets say that you have a wormhole where both ends are attractive. Here an object starts far away from rest, accelerates towards the wormholes mouth, travels through the throat at a small fraction of ...
blademan9999's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
183 views

Could asteroids getting shredded in low Earth orbit by an alien probe result in Kessler syndrome capable of preventing ICBMs from functioning?

Now, one good answer to "could deliberately induced Kessler Syndrome stop ICBMs?" is that the amount of mass required for such a thing is in the realm of ~2.5 trillion kilograms of matter, ...
KEY_ABRADE's user avatar
  • 11.7k
14 votes
8 answers
2k views

How would a planet bound colony clean up an artificially triggered Kessler Syndrome?

Background A relatively recent planetary colony (<50 years from colonization) on planet A1 of star system A, that has just a few years ago become self sufficient (Can produce every product needed ...
The Infinite One's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
1k views

How long does Kessler Syndrome last?

I realise this about as useful as asking "how long is a piece of string?" but bear with and I will attempt to set parameters. OK, so there has been an apocaplyse and now, at the time of my ...
Adam Menhennett's user avatar
10 votes
4 answers
357 views

Question about Kessler syndrome

I'm writing a novel set in a post post-apocalyptic world, where society on Earth collapsed a long time ago and has rebuilt itself by the time the novel starts. I need a reason to keep the people ...
Dashane Du Plessis's user avatar
4 votes
4 answers
388 views

Can Earth be isolated from a settled Solar System?

I was considering Kessler syndrome, however this is not a long-enough duration and I'm unaware of a way to prolong it for the course of several millennia. I don't want Earth to be destroyed, just ...
Wax's user avatar
  • 655
11 votes
3 answers
842 views

Can I render satellite deployment impossible, or at least impractical, by exploiting the Kessler syndrome?

I want to render impractical the deployment of satellites by exploiting the Kessler syndrome. Why, you ask? Maybe I'm an evil overlord and I don't want those pesky satellites flying over my lair. ...
Zizzo's user avatar
  • 113
27 votes
13 answers
3k views

Help, my Death Star suffers from Kessler syndrome!

I love my Death Star. There is nothing more thrilling than pulverizing a planet and feeling the inhabitants screaming out in terror. However, my Death Star seems to have developed a case of Kessler ...
DrSheldon's user avatar
  • 2,122
-1 votes
2 answers
196 views

Space colony in isolation due to Kessler Syndrome [closed]

Earth sent some colonist to a earth-like planet, interstellar distance away, a long time ago. This colony is very sustainable and growing. No need to worry about that. The problem is: Due to Kessler ...
Aaron's user avatar
  • 557
4 votes
1 answer
349 views

Post Kessler Syndrome GPS Replacement

If the Kessler Effect were to reach critical mass and render it nigh-impossible to put anything in orbit, allowing for some handwavery, what sort of options are there for replacement geolocation with ...
amflare's user avatar
  • 1,343
2 votes
3 answers
920 views

A cure for the 'Kessler Syndrome'? [duplicate]

For those unaware, the term 'Kessler Syndrome' refers to a scenario in which space-borne debris reaches a 'critical mass', destroying spaceborne satellites which in turn produce more debris which in ...
case's user avatar
  • 439
10 votes
5 answers
609 views

Economic system to support Kessler Remediators, with maximum drama

After reading this question by Nick M (now closed) and exchanging some comments with him, I have some ideas related to the scenario. I realized that the comprehensive design covers several distinct ...
JDługosz's user avatar
  • 69.2k
82 votes
30 answers
14k views

Ugh, I'm stuck in an orbital spaceport. But why?

This is, for the record, the same universe as in Is space piracy orbitally practical? and How can I prevent Kessler Syndrome among space stations?. In my world, circa 2100, space stations orbiting ...
HDE 226868's user avatar
  • 99.8k
23 votes
7 answers
7k views

How can I prevent Kessler Syndrome among space stations?

In a world I’m building - the same one as in Is space piracy orbitally practical? - there are many space stations in low Earth orbit, used as orbital spaceports, each about ten times the size of the ...
HDE 226868's user avatar
  • 99.8k
5 votes
7 answers
1k views

Dealing with space debris and Kessler Syndrome

Space is vast and lawless. Private travel is commonplace, and pirates have become a significant problem. People mainly fly orbit-to-orbit craft that have chemical rockets and no one is running around ...
Charles Noon's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
241 views

Natural Kessler Syndrome

Is there a way that, on an Earth-like planet (similar size, mass, composition, resources, moon, climate, star orbit, etc.) some natural process could create and continually renew a Kessler Syndrome ...
Jarred Allen's user avatar
  • 4,768
9 votes
3 answers
334 views

Would a destroyed orbital body's orbit decay?

I recently finished reading the novel "Seveneves" by Neil Stevenson. The central premises of the novel is that an unknown object has caused the moon to break into several large pieces, with an ...
Thorne Garvin's user avatar
27 votes
5 answers
5k views

How long before we're stuck on Earth due to Space Debris? (Kessler syndrome)

Every time a rocket is launched into space, debris accumulates. Every time an old satellite runs out of juice, it goes derelict and turns into more junk. Over the years, paint-chips, broken off solar ...
Serban Tanasa's user avatar
15 votes
7 answers
3k views

Is Asteroid Mining safe?

So I found out that it would under certain circumstances be economic to harvest Asteroids. Given the following: Technological level is nearly similar to todays Earth. There are transportships which ...
JFBM's user avatar
  • 1,614