# Musk's StarLink is already impacting astronomy **URL:** \ **Category:** Internet\ **Created:** [November 20, 2019, 10:10am UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/musks-starlink-is-already-impacting-astronomy/4004 "2019-11-20T10:10:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PHolder](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/www.twit.community/pholder/32/2439_2.png) [@PHolder](https://www.twit.community/u/PHolder)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 10:10am UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/musks-starlink-is-already-impacting-astronomy/4004/1 "2019-11-20T10:10:52Z")
> **[That Starlink Problem Astronomers Were Worried About Is Totally Happening](https://www.sciencealert.com/starlink-is-being-an-absolute-nuisance-to-astronomers)** > > For the modern astronomer, satellites are just a part of life. There are more than 2,000 active ones currently orbiting Earth, and the smartest minds in space photography have managed to work out clever ways of removing the occasional fly over from t I never really thought it was a great idea to pollute the skies with satellites that attempt to solve a problem better solved by existing infrastructure. It seems the risk of wasting a valuable limited commodity (unobstructed line of sight between earth and space) is not worth the proposed benefits, especially considering that the service is not likely to be free, or even necessarily affordable. (Note that Tesla cars are not exactly the cheapest choice on the market… and Musk doesn’t seem overly preoccupied by poverty.) I also worry about the very real possibility of a cascade failure making the entire near earth zone unusable for decades or centuries or more. > **[Kessler syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome)** > > The Kessler syndrome (also called the Kessler effect, collisional cascading, or ablation cascade), proposed by the NASA scientist Donald J. Kessler in 1978, is a scenario in which the density of objects in low Earth orbit (LEO) is high enough that collisions between objects could cause a cascade in which each collision generates space debris that increases the likelihood of further collisions. One implication is that the distribution of debris in orbit could render space activities and Every sa... ---
**Author:** ![big\_D](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/www.twit.community/big_d/32/1023_2.png) [@big\_D](https://www.twit.community/u/big_D)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 10:24am UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/musks-starlink-is-already-impacting-astronomy/4004/2 "2019-11-20T10:24:25Z")
I think Musk should watch a re-run of Gerry Anderson’s UFO series from 1970-1973. ---
**Author:** ![Mistershipwreck](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/www.twit.community/mistershipwreck/32/19117_2.png) [@Mistershipwreck](https://www.twit.community/u/Mistershipwreck)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 12:29pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/musks-starlink-is-already-impacting-astronomy/4004/3 "2019-11-20T12:29:30Z")
I’ve been reading stories about this before they were even launched. Yes, if he puts them all up there, like he wants, I think this will be a major problem. ---
**Author:** ![baldycanuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f17d59/32.png) [@baldycanuck](https://www.twit.community/u/baldycanuck)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 12:46pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/musks-starlink-is-already-impacting-astronomy/4004/4 "2019-11-20T12:46:57Z")
Ungrateful astronomers. Don’t they know who Elon Musk is? 🙃 ---
**Author:** ![AppleNUTS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@AppleNUTS](https://www.twit.community/u/AppleNUTS)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 2:30pm UTC](https://www.twit.community/t/musks-starlink-is-already-impacting-astronomy/4004/5 "2019-11-26T14:30:31Z")
Ground-based astronomy was doomed from the moment Sputnik was launched. We need the next Hubble Space Telescope.