Objects are not to scale for unavoidable reasons, but time is also not to scale. These two effects tend to cancel out.
People look at this visualization for what, 60 seconds? But the issue is that objects are zooming around up there for years-to-centuries.[0] The total volume of space swept out is massive.
Invariably the "not to scale" comments always get pointed out every time this is posted, but the temporal distortion (which makes people underestimate collisions) is never mentioned. Unless I mention it[1] of course... ;)
There's a much much better educational ESA video[2] which addresses some of the misconceptions in this thread, found via (of all places) Don Kessler's personal website.
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If you want an expert perspective on orbital debris (vs..... whatever these HN threads always turn into :D ) I highly recommend you check out NASA Johnson's Orbital Debris Quarterly.[3]
[2] As this video points out, collisions scale as density squared, which is why all major collisions have happened near 80 degrees latitude: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvZ3Lr-Tj6A
People look at this visualization for what, 60 seconds? But the issue is that objects are zooming around up there for years-to-centuries.[0] The total volume of space swept out is massive.
Invariably the "not to scale" comments always get pointed out every time this is posted, but the temporal distortion (which makes people underestimate collisions) is never mentioned. Unless I mention it[1] of course... ;)
There's a much much better educational ESA video[2] which addresses some of the misconceptions in this thread, found via (of all places) Don Kessler's personal website.
---
If you want an expert perspective on orbital debris (vs..... whatever these HN threads always turn into :D ) I highly recommend you check out NASA Johnson's Orbital Debris Quarterly.[3]
Sources:
[0] What really matters is altitude as this graph shows: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Orbital_Debris_Lifet...
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33210261
[2] As this video points out, collisions scale as density squared, which is why all major collisions have happened near 80 degrees latitude: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvZ3Lr-Tj6A
[3] https://www.orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/quarterly-news/