Rare X-ray images of a 4.5-ton satellite that returned intact from space
72 points
3 days ago
| 5 comments
| empa.ch
| HN
bradneuberg
3 hours ago
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Interesting study but it sounds like the satellite was captured in the early 1990s, exhibited in a museum for a decade or two, and only x-rayed in 2016. I’m not sure if the defects they found can be attributed to the space environment or wear and tear from sitting in a museum.
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dreamcompiler
7 hours ago
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It didn't reenter and somehow fail to burn up. It was captured from orbit and brought back by the space shuttle.

Still a very interesting analysis.

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wkat4242
3 hours ago
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That's one capability that was lost with the space shuttle. There's nothing remaining nor planned that can bring something that size back from LEO.

I feel like materials science could learn a lot more about radiation embrittlement and high energy micro impacts.

The space shuttle is often regarded as a huge mistake and in many ways (reusability especially, it was more like rebuildability :) ) it was, but it was still hell of a machine.

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kjs3
15 minutes ago
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I feel like materials science could learn a lot more about radiation embrittlement and high energy micro impacts.

They do those experiments on the ISS: https://www.nasa.gov/materials-international-space-station-e...

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femto
2 hours ago
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> That's one capability that was lost with the space shuttle. There's nothing remaining nor planned that can bring something that size back from LEO.

Surely the X-37 could be used to bring a satellite down, even if it's not an acknowledged capability?

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NooneAtAll3
1 hour ago
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only a very tiny one at most
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shevy-java
6 hours ago
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Guys,

I watched all the alien movies.

We should not trust those things that come from outside planet Earth ...

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danparsonson
5 hours ago
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Good reason to x-ray it!
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jagged-chisel
8 hours ago
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This kind of reads like an investigation of some unknown object. Seems like the intent is to better understand how the thing was affected during use and on re-entry and improve future reusable craft.
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permo-w
6 hours ago
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also the title would do well to indicate that the satellite was returned and it did not return itself
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azurezyq
5 hours ago
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I would highly recommend reading the materials about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Duration_Exposure_Facilit..., which is dedicated for material exposure research in the space.
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busymom0
1 hour ago
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This is very interesting:

> The Space Exposed Experiment Developed for Students (SEEDS) allowed students the opportunity to grow control and experimental tomato seeds that had been exposed on LDEF comparing and reporting the results. 12.5 million seeds were flown, and students from elementary to graduate school returned 8000 reports to NASA. The L.A. Times misreported that a DNA mutation from space exposure could yield a poisonous fruit. Whilst incorrect, the report served to raise awareness of the experiment and generate discussion.[17] Space seeds germinated sooner and grew faster than the control seeds. They were also more porous than terrestrial seeds.

Wonder why?

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