On Fri, 19 Jan 2018 19:52:18 -0500, Bald Eagle wrote:

>> Wouldn't that debris naturally be in some different orbit, because of
>> its different speed?
> 
> It depends on the mass.  Two equal masses [w][c]ould occupy the same
> orbit.
> 
> But you can have circular orbits, elliptical orbits, and you also have
> 360-degrees of rotation around both orthogonal axes - so you could be
> travelling at 70,000 mph in one direction, and get t-boned, or hit by an
> object head-on in the "oncoming lane".
> 
> Then there's the whole perturbation thing, so all of the orbits are
> going to have some variation over time....

Yup, agreed.  On ISS they occasionally have to perform collision 
avoidance maneuvers (an article in 2015 reports they'd done about 25 of 
them at that time).



-- 
"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and 
besides, the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw

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