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SgtHop t1_j8gowqj wrote

Space junk would burn up immediately, not cruise along at a lackadaisical pace at a uniform altitude.

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Eberid t1_j8gosrw wrote

Space junk doesn't fly in atmosphere until shot down.

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Patrick26 t1_j8gpzdq wrote

So it can't be shot down?

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Eberid t1_j8gq59g wrote

Not in atmosphere; it is already plummeting toward the ground.

In orbit? Sure. Happens all the time.

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CremePuffBandit t1_j8gpii8 wrote

Things in low orbit have to travel about 17000 mph / 28000 km/h to stay in orbit. Once they get low enough to enter the atmosphere, all that kinetic energy gets turned into heat and melts basically everything. Some stuff can survive and make it to the ground, but it would fall pretty quickly.

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smsmkiwi t1_j8gp39j wrote

These are balloons, pure and simple. Space junk plummets to earth once it has reentered. It doesn't float around at 40k feet for days on end.

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ApprehensivePower116 t1_j8goypi wrote

OK yeah space junk is definitely what it is like fuck gravity right

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Squancher_2442 t1_j8gyzs7 wrote

Empty rocket canister floating at 40,000 feet? I don’t think so. We have this thing called gravity

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triffid_hunter t1_j8gq3y1 wrote

Space junk is hypersonic (LEO orbital velocity is ~7.5km/s ie ~mach 22) and thus burns up when it hits the atmosphere - and if it's large enough to not all burn up before it sheds most of its speed, it'll plummet to the ground rather than floating around in the air until taken down.

If you're thinking hydrogen fuel tanks, their walls are much thicker than weather balloons and would drop like a stone if one somehow survived reentry (eg protected by some larger structure that burned up).

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Zonerds t1_j8gpvqe wrote

Yeah the space junk charges up on their anti-gravity particles and re-enter the atmosphere (without burning up) to float at 20-40 mph until shot down.

Solved!

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StevenPsych t1_j8h5ogl wrote

Look at the reported altitude of those objects and then look at the altitude of low earth orbit. Trying not to be rude about it but come on man just one simple google search before making a full post about something should be standard practice.

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peter303_ t1_j8hmzt8 wrote

One sounded like an escaped "Happy Birthday" balloon. Wait until all those Valentines Day balloons escape. That will massively terrorize the US military.

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[deleted] OP t1_j8gtth7 wrote

Jesus christ, just prepare your anuses already. Its obviously aliens.

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mustafar0111 t1_j8hkrpz wrote

No, orbital crap would burn up on reentry to smash into the ground.

I'm actually a little concerned at the number of shoot downs and the fact the authorities can't even say what some of the stuff they are shooting down is.

For the ones they can identify as Chinese balloons or whatever, that is one thing.

But for the other stuff I'd generally freaking hope you know what you are firing at before you launch a missile at something.

Historically, the shoot first and ask questions later approach often has eventually lead to some tragic results.

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space-ModTeam t1_j8hpc56 wrote

Hello u/Dracopug13, your submission "Are the unidentified objects actually space junk?" has been removed from r/space because:

  • Such questions should be asked in the "All space questions" thread stickied at the top of the sub.

Please read the rules in the sidebar and check r/space for duplicate submissions before posting. If you have any questions about this removal please message the r/space moderators. Thank you.

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