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Calculating atmospheric drag on satellites for a Cubesat [pdf]

35 points · 8 comments · walrus01

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  1. snthd · · focus · HN ↗
    Related - spaceweather.com measure drag using the decay of starlink orbits.

    <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;spaceweather.com&#x2F;starlink&#x2F;starlink_drag_explainer.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;spaceweather.com&#x2F;starlink&#x2F;starlink_drag_explainer.ht...

    1. stymaar · · focus · HN ↗
      Clever idea, too bad they didn&#x27;t bother writing down their blog posted themselves and post AI slop instead.
      1. voxleone · · focus · HN ↗
        &gt;&gt;AI writing is everywhere -- except here. This website is written by Dr. Tony Phillips, a carbon-based lifeform with 30 yrs of forecasting experience.

        Could they be lying?

        1. jagged-chisel · · focus · HN ↗
          You can’t lie on the Internet.
    2. WalterGR · · focus · HN ↗
      Discussed here: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=49848227">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=49848227
  2. snthd · · focus · HN ↗
    <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20260924014030&#x2F;https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.osti.gov&#x2F;servlets&#x2F;purl&#x2F;1124870" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20260924014030&#x2F;https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.osti....
  3. ck2 · · focus · HN ↗
    could LEO sats have pitot tubes? would they work at ultra-low drag?

    my Stryd has a pitot tube and can detect 1mph wind fairly accurately

    some advanced drones also have pitot tubes

    * <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Pitot_tube" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Pitot_tube

    * <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;store.3dr.com&#x2F;pitot-tube-set&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;store.3dr.com&#x2F;pitot-tube-set&#x2F;

    1. echoangle · · focus · HN ↗
      I don’t think so, the pressure you’re measuring would be extremely small. The air at that altitude is acting as a free molecular flow, there’s not a lot of molecules that exert pressure. I think you would need some exotic detector that essentially can detect individual molecules hitting the surface, the pressure itself is tiny.
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