Space Warfare and Accidents
Arthur C. Clarke wrote an article called, "War and Peace in the Space Age," in which he suggested that an artificial satellite in retrograde orbit could use "a bucket of nails" to destroy an SDI (anti-warhead) satellite. This premise was ridiculed on account of the vastness of space and the low probability of an encounter.
Nevertheless, a satellite in retrograde orbit could pose a major hazard to other satellites, especially if it was placed in the Clarke belt, where geostationary satellites orbit. This risk highlights the fragility of communication satellites and the importance of international cooperation in preventing space collisions due to negligence or malice.
Read more about this topic: Artificial Satellites In Retrograde Orbit
Famous quotes containing the words space, warfare and/or accidents:
“Oh, my. I’d forgotten how much I hate space travel.”
—George Lucas (b. 1944)
“What an admirable training is science for the more active warfare of life! Indeed, the unchallenged bravery which these studies imply, is far more impressive than the trumpeted valor of the warrior.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The day-laborer is reckoned as standing at the foot of the social scale, yet he is saturated with the laws of the world. His measures are the hours; morning and night, solstice and equinox, geometry, astronomy, and all the lovely accidents of nature play through his mind.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)