ElI5: How does anything in space not just get destroyed by high speed objects accelerating through space? How can we have space stations that are not blasted with huge holes from impacts?
In: Engineering
Space is *really* empty.
The accumulation of high speed debris in Earth orbit is certainly a concern as the number of lost screws and rocket boosters and satellites continues to grow, but you’re unlikely to hit anything significant while wandering interplanetary space.
We do occasionally see small impacts from micrometeorites on the shields and solar panels of space probes – and a piece of the ISS did get clocked by something a few weeks ago if I remember correctly. A larger piece of random space gravel big enough to punch a significant hole in something important is always a possibility, but it hasn’t happened to any of our missions yet.
Latest Answers