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darwinkh2os t1_jbuoeor wrote

I did a science fair project on space junk because scientists were warning about it. I believe this was in 1991 or 1992.

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Sawses t1_jbw2twu wrote

It's quite possible that a common "Great Filter" is space debris. Like it could be such a problem that it routinely keeps civilizations confined to their home planet.

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FillThisEmptyCup t1_jbw8i7f wrote

Possibly. More than possible, the great filter can certainly be some entropy problem where exponential complexity is accompanied by more than exponential energy needs, which eventually cannot be sourced locally.

Certainly most civilizational collapses could be described in such a manner, because sufficiently directed energy could readily solve most problems.

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Sotovya t1_jbyx29b wrote

Sounds like a cool science fiction movie. But that could sadly be our reality if we aren’t careful enough.

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No_Huckleberry_2905 t1_jc129m7 wrote

possible, but from my layman understanding quite unlikely. leaving our planet only requires going through orbit once, or maybe assembling a bigger craft for a limited time. if low earth orbit is too messed up you "simply" go up to 1000km+, where there's much less stuff spread over much more space. you'll need more energy to reach those orbits, but then again, it's energy you safe when you launch that thing.

of course that only works up to a point. i don't think 100k satellites in LEO, mostly deorbiting in a matter of years due to atmospheric drag, will be the problem it is hyped up to be, but going forward not decades, but centuries and more, i have no idea what humans think of next to fuck it all up even more.

so yeah, from the current standpoint i don't think that space debris or the kesser syndrom are, or will be, substantial problems. but time doesn't stop at 2050, who knows what happens after that.

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KannMuttLoeppt t1_jbwoq36 wrote

Nobody listens to scientists unfortunately. Russians even destroyed a satellite for propaganda reasons.

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Dr-Causti t1_jbwqm40 wrote

India shot one with a rocket just to see if they can. What a degenerate species we are.

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imtheshiznit t1_jbwb6bt wrote

They warned us about single use plastic too and now look at us.

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MoonshineInc t1_jc1v7e3 wrote

Kessler Syndrome or Kessler theory was first coined by a scientist named Donald Kessler in the late 70s. He basically was warning of a catastrophic chain reaction of collisions that created more and more debris. Once the domino effect starts it cannot be stopped and the orbital infrastructure will be ripped apart.

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