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Re:ISS throws away 2.9 tons of trash into orbit by ufoolme on Tuesday March 16, 2021 @07:41AM (#26475435)
Anyone know why they didn’t just keep it around, surely having a few old batteries and a bit more shielding around the ISS might have come in handy? Was it risky to keep them around or did the extra weight (even in a basically weightless environment) come at a cost to maintaining orbit?
Re:ISS throws away 2.9 tons of trash into orbit by Leo_Verto on Tuesday March 16, 2021 @11:07AM (#26477701)
The ISS has to regularly perform station keeping, i.e. it has to expand fuel to raise its continuously decaying orbit. Any additional weight would increase the fuel required for this.