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A Starlink satellite broke apart in orbit after suffering an unexplained "anomaly"
(www.scientificamerican.com)
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this post was submitted on 02 Apr 2026
186 points (99.5% liked)
Mildly Interesting
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The actual name of this phenomenon is "the Kepler effect"
Its where the decades of space junk, grow to such a degree that they keep hitting other satellites and becomes the equivalent of a pinball machine with other satellites.
Its a big issue many have tried to solve
It's Kessler Syndrome, in case anyone wants to read up on it.
Ok hear me out... MAGNETS
Hundreds of em all in a big ball. Tie it to a counterweight and then spin that fucker through lower orbit like a skip-it and soak up all the debris!
Nothing could possibly go wrong.