ICBM to remove space junk.

[kiwi1960]

I just made a comment on another post about a damn fine looking tank and mentioned this idea, I wonder if its possible and if anyone can do it.

It would BE very popular.

Imagine an ICBM silo/bunker on the KSP grounds that could fire missiles to remove space junk!

You click on the bunker, select your target, then it goes back to the KSP grounds view, and a missile launches from the silo.

You could have a lot of fun with this, as in, errors. Hitting the wrong target or whatever. But all going well, your space junk explodes, and with luck, nothing remains.

I know there is a mod to remove space junk, but its just totally unrealistic.... click a button and ALL junk vanishes. To me, space junk is a problem that any planet will have to deal with eventually, and Earth is beyond that point now, but with K.S.P. ... we can think ahead.

Also, if multi player is ever bought to KSP stock standard, then you could have fun, in a war, blowing each others ships out of the sky. (sure, makes it hard, but you could have a setting where the only things the ICBM can target is junk... (debris) so that would ensure its not all just a shooting war...

Anyone?

[Clockwork13]

Would be cool. Would there be any cost or requirement to launch a missile?

[jwenting]

problem is shooting a rocket at the junk and making it go BOOM would only add more junk...

[RainDreamer]

Wouldn't it be better to use lasers to deorbit those things rather than a missiles that carries more junk up there? If a missile is really needed, might as well sending up a space junker ship that collect debris and bringing them back home for recycling.

[nobodyhasthis]

I prefer to use explosives from the KIS mod. Although a nice mission to set up is going up with a full de-orbital package. This is either hooked on object in EVA or in later tech levels has a grabber claw or KAS harpoons. Once connected a quick burn will destabilize the orbit of the junk. In more advanced stages of the game these de-orbit packages are probes that can let go and return to orbit again to be used on another intercept mission.

[cicatrix]

Actually, from a realistic standpoint, launching a rocket to destroy space debris will only produce more debris.

[kiwi1960]

Creating more debris, possibly... unless the modder could write a dll or something that actually does remove (destroy) anything with say 200 feet of the explosion.

As for cost, of course, there is no such thing as a free lunch. as for career mode, you could be given a mission to destroy space junk, and have to develop better targeting and the like.

To me, this would be the easiest most realistic way to remove space junk. Sure, you could do it the time consuming way... but that would get to be a drag after the 500th junk clearing mission.

Lasers would be good... to a point. Maybe both missile and lasers.

Early on in my game, when I had hardly any mods loaded, I'd have to send stuff up using massive rockets, and those stages are still in orbit. I'm trying to keep the game as realistic as I can without cheating, so just removing the junk wouldn't be realistic. My motto for KSP is that all actions have consequences. That is why when My Jeb was killed, I did not bring him back to life. So.... there is space junk... keeping it realistic... I could plant explosives on the junk, but that would be tedious, and to some point, launching a rocket might actually just replace some junk with what is removed.

Again, keeping it realistic... this would be the best option. Besides, China tested a satellite killing missile recently, Russia has them and although they would deny it, I'm betting the USA does as well.

Did I mention it would also be fun....

[cicatrix]

Actually in my current career I leave all the junk. When I have nothing better to do (i.e. waiting for another transfer window) I use klaw to catch the debris and either deorbit them or bring them down for recovery. I wish we had a robotic arm like in Space Shuttle to actually catch something and deposit it in the cargo bay. I tried to create something like that using KAS and IR but it was far too cumbersome for me to actually handle that thing.

This strategy helps keeping my LKO relatively clean (especially since I started adding a probe core, a battery and separatrons for deorbiting). It gets harder to manage junk on the Mun and Minmus orbits. Never bothered with the junk around other planets though.

Edited June 24, 2015 by cicatrix

[VenomousRequiem]

I hate to be THAT person, but an ICBM is an Inter-Continental Balistic Missile, so that wouldn't particularly be an ICBM.