> Here it will be shown that the mass of the conductive particles left behind from worldwide distribution of re-entry satellites is already billions of times greater than the mass of the Van Allen Belts.
That estimates the mass of the Van Allen belts at 11 grams
Which makes me wonder about the disparity in energy levels between the classes of particles and if its a case of talking about icebergs vs superheated steam.
It seems they're using different kinds of particle counts for the mass of the Van Allen belts and the mass of the satellites and meteors. The high-energy dissociated subatomic particles in the Van Allen belts do not form from decaying meteorites or satellites unless you put those meteorites and satellites in a particle accelerator.
And further, the 'textbook undergraduate physics problem' of finding the magnetic field outside a conductive shell assumes that infinitesimal concentrations of aerosolized conductive particles form a fully conductive shield.
Yes, I understand that when heated to a plasma these concentrations matter, but it's disingenuous to compare them in the way the article does.
> Here it will be shown that the mass of the conductive particles left behind from worldwide distribution of re-entry satellites is already billions of times greater than the mass of the Van Allen Belts.
made me say "really?" so i went and found this: https://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov/earth/RBSP7.pdf
That estimates the mass of the Van Allen belts at 11 grams
Which makes me wonder about the disparity in energy levels between the classes of particles and if its a case of talking about icebergs vs superheated steam.
See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_West_Ford