LOOK UP
Hours Monday-Thursday 2pm-10pm $3 craft- w/DJ JR
Monday 22nd - Jukebox Tues Feb 23rd - USS Open Mic Comedy Fri March 20 - Buckets of Beer starting at $8 (2-8pm) HappyFri Hour:Feb The Chris Then: The Isaac(6:30-9:30) Ryder Band 26th:Michels TheBand Marsupials $5 cover (No Covers) Sat March 21 - The Isaac Ryder Band Sat Feb 27th: TC Guitar Guys (6:30-9:30) $5 cover Sunday March 22 KARAOKE ( 10pm-2am) Sun 28th: Karaoke Thurs -$2 off all drinks and $2 Labatt drafts w/DJ Ricky T
by Stephen Tuttle Now that we’ve solved all our earthly problems, perhaps we should look skyward. There are issues lurking up there.
if these satellites run into each other. According to NASA, that isn’t just possible; it’s “inevitable.” And that could be a problem.
This all started in October 1957, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, which did nothing more than blink and send a simple radio signal. Many alive at the time watched the little orb whizzing across the night sky, a marvel of sorts. The United States joined the party by launching Explorer 1 just four months later. Since then, 11 countries have launched something into space and several more have built satellites carried by those space-capable countries.
Most of those satellites provide us with telecommunications, broadcasting, data transmission, and weather data. In other words, our television viewing, our smartphones, and our online activities are dependent on satellites. (This does not include various satellites launched under the aegis of the military. Most are likely for surveillance and monitoring, but we don’t know what our own military has up there, much less what China, Russia, and others have launched.)
Depending on which information you read, there are somewhere between 100,000 and 500,000 human-made objects orbiting around Earth. Most are what we consider “space
They are nearly all on different trajectories in different orbits, at different speeds, and everyone involved tries very hard to prevent collisions, but they do happen. When two
In 2009, a U.S. Iridium communications satellite and an obsolete Russian military satellite did collide, resulting in a debris field of more than 500 pieces now rocketing around the globe at about 22,000 mph.
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, there are currently about 3,000 operational satellites up there. But we actively track nearly 15,000 objects bigger than four inches in length. The orbit of these satellites range from 150 miles to 22,500 miles above Earth. Those in what is considered Low Earth Orbit (LEO) — that’s 500 miles or fewer above Earth — typically zip along at about 17,000 miles per hour or faster, a speed required to keep them in orbit while fighting off Earth’s gravitational pull. Those much farther out use a geosynchronous orbit; they stay over the same spot on Earth as we rotate. All of them, near or far, will eventually succumb to gravity and re-enter our atmosphere in a fiery death. Some of those objects, like the International Space Station (ISS) and others, due to a propulsion system of their own, can delay the inevitable with some minor repositioning. But they will all eventually surrender to the laws of gravity, too. In fact, according to NASA, at least one such re-entry happens every day. Nearly all will burn up without a trace, a momentary flash in the sky. Some of the larger vessels might have parts that will survive and crash to Earth, as happens a handful of times annually. But no person has ever been injured by falling space debris, and no property damage has ever been recorded, so that isn’t the threat. The real risk is our dependence on spacebased technology — and what happens
FROM 9pm-1am:OPEN-6PM Kung Fu Rodeo
Get it in the can night - $1 domestic, Wed - Friday-Sunday noon-10pm
spectator
junk”: obsolete satellites, spent booster rockets and nose cones, human waste (they don’t store it in the International Space Station), various failed materials, nuts and bolts, a Tesla vehicle with a dummy in the driver’s seat launched by SpaceX, even an astronaut’s spare glove lost during a spacewalk.
HAPPY HOUR DRINK SPECIALS Tues - 4-8pm: The Pocket Mon March 16- $5 martinis, $5 domestic beer pitcher, $10 craft beer pitcher.
REMEMBERING THE DOUBLE A
objects going about 17,000 mph collide, the resulting debris field, accelerated by the impact and unimpeded by gravity or atmosphere, travels at what scientists call “hypervelocity,” as much as twice their normal orbital speed. Even small pieces of debris traveling that fast could cause catastrophic damage to whatever they impact. That could cause even more debris or, at a minimum, disable whatever is hit. The neighborhood is getting even more crowded now, thanks to the creation of microsatellites, mostly used for communication, as small as 4-by-12 inches. India released 104 satellites in one launch back in 2017, and SpaceX recently carried and released 60 slightly larger microsatellites. In 2009, a U.S. Iridium communications satellite and an obsolete Russian military satellite did collide, resulting in a debris field of more than 500 pieces now rocketing around the globe at about 22,000 mph. In 2007, China intentionally destroyed an obsolete communications satellite while illegally testing an anti-satellite weapon. That debris field contains at least 2,500 pieces. (Weapons in space are prohibited by treaty, but we’re pretty certain the US, Russia and China all have deployed such technology.) Collisions in space aren’t theoretical but a reality sufficient to require monitoring by both NASA and our Department of Defense. And there isn’t much we can do about the uncontrolled space junk and debris fields except move satellites we can move and hope others avoid collisions by luck. Satellites are out-of-sight, out-of-mind objects on which we rely every day. Look up and cross your fingers because your next social media post, your next online visit, and your next must-watch television show are all dependent on those scientific marvels avoiding each other.
941-1930 downtown TC check us out at unionstreetstationtc.net
Y TUESDA TRIVIA TIO PA ON THE PM 7-9
An affectionate look back... Featuring 150 color photos, maps, postcards. Available at The Bookstore, Frankfort; and Horizon Books, Traverse City and Cadillac. For signed copies direct from author, send $30 check or M/O (priority shipping included) to: D. C. J. Burkhardt, P.O. Box 61, Wishram, Wash., 98673
PATIO AND INDOOR - Sunday-Saturday Noon-10pm (kitchen open noon-9pm)
DRINK SPECIALS (3-6 Monday-Friday): $2 well drinks, $2 domestic drafts, $2.50 domestic bottles, $5 Hornitos margarita DAILY FOOD SPECIALS (3-6pm): Monday - $1 chips/salsa Tuesday - $1 enchiladas Wednesday - $5 potato basket (fries or tots) Thursday - $5 hot pretzels w/ beer cheese Friday - $5 fried veggies (cauliflower or mushrooms) TO-GO ORDERS AVAILABLE - 231-252-4157
Noon - 10pm - 221 E State St. downtown TC
MEN’S, WOMEN’S & KIDS OUTERWEAR & SKI EQUIPMENT
DART SALE! 20% guaranteed Throw a dart for a chance up to 50% OFF! Sale begins 2/19 and ends 2/27. some exclusions apply
231-946-8810
890 Munson Ave • Traverse City • www.donorrskihaus.com Northern Express Weekly • february 22, 2021 • 7
