University researchers flag cislunar space debris concerns University researchers flag cislunar space debris concerns
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the_fungible_man on September 27, 2024 10:16 pm >In terms of moon-circling rubbish, there is no natural cleaning mechanism like the drag Earth’s atmosphere induces on orbiting flotsam. >Fragments circuiting the airless moon just stay there, bound in the lunar gravity. That depends on the orbit and altitude. Most low lunar orbits (<100 km) are unstable and decay relatively quickly due to the effects of lunar MASCONs. Above ~700 km, perturbations due to the Earth serve to destabilize lunar orbits. Debris is never good, but implying it will persist forever in cislunar space is disingenuous.
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>In terms of moon-circling rubbish, there is no natural cleaning mechanism like the drag Earth’s atmosphere induces on orbiting flotsam.
>Fragments circuiting the airless moon just stay there, bound in the lunar gravity.
That depends on the orbit and altitude.
Most low lunar orbits (<100 km) are unstable and decay relatively quickly due to the effects of lunar MASCONs.
Above ~700 km, perturbations due to the Earth serve to destabilize lunar orbits.
Debris is never good, but implying it will persist forever in cislunar space is disingenuous.