Re:NASA Astronauts Return Home in SpaceX's Crew Dragon Space...
by gregoriol on Sunday August 02, 2020 @06:17AM
(#24027688)
Even without self-destruct, a satellite not programmed to be captured could simply fire some thrusters if it detects an orbit change, and that would likely make some big dammage inside the capturing shuttle.
Re:NASA Astronauts Return Home in SpaceX's Crew Dragon Space...
by geomark on Sunday August 02, 2020 @08:16AM
(#24028205)
As part of just normal station keeping it might do that.
Re:NASA Astronauts Return Home in SpaceX's Crew Dragon Space...
by yencabulator on Sunday August 02, 2020 @01:32PM
(#24030057)
That's typically ion thrusters, isn't it? That's very low mass at very high speed, and would probably take hours to even leave scorch mark. It would feel like a slow breeze.
Of course, military use could do something different, but that's more along the lines of "pack a kilogram of explosives in a pipe bomb".
If I was a military satellite designer, heaven forbid, I'd definitely include that in a world that included the possibility of stealing satellites. The capability, quietly communicated between the powers, would be enough to ensure that the satellite would never be stolen. And therefore, the billion-dollar kidnapping capability becoming useless.