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Astronauts eject UK-led space junk demo mission
A UK-led project to showcase methods to tackle space junk has just been pushed out of the International Space Station.
The RemoveDebris satellite was ejected a short while ago with the help of a robotic arm.
The 100kg craft, built in Guildford, has a net and a harpoon.
These are just two of the multiple ideas currently being considered to snare rogue hardware, some 7,500 tonnes of which is now said to be circling the planet.
Previously: SpaceX Launches CRS-14 Resupply Mission to the ISS
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Space Junk Removal Testing Craft Ejected From the ISS
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(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday June 22 2018, @05:15PM (2 children)
De-orbit things isn't hard, as long as you don't care about destruction. That is precisely what this British Net and harpoon experiment is designed to demonstrate. Its a small step from increasing the pre-existing drag, to adding very small rockets on your net,
NASA re-captured several satellites using the Shuttle. Fixed some, replaced their motors and re-deployed them, and retrieved and landed at least one satellite. http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/dev/hillger/Shuttle-related.htm [colostate.edu]
The shuttle couldn't reach geostationary satellites.
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(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 22 2018, @05:29PM (1 child)
This is a bit like cleaning up that mass of plastic floating in the ocean. It's not that hard to do, it's just a massively huge project.
The big stuff is relatively easy, it's those small fragments from when satellites are hit or destroyed by the Chinese that are the real challenge
(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday June 22 2018, @07:55PM
Clearly nobody intends to do it that way. This mission is simply a test mission for the British system designed to remove larger pieces.
Since all you have to do is slow space junk down, there are plenty of other less expensive ways to handle the smaller particles.
https://thespacereporter.com/article.php?n=lasers-could-one-day-be-used-to-destroy-space-debris&id=19156 [thespacereporter.com]
http://www.newsweek.com/china-plans-destroy-space-junk-giant-lasers-781276 [newsweek.com]
https://www.voanews.com/a/australia-space-debris-laser/4314349.html [voanews.com]
http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/space-debris/mitigation/d-sat-space-debris-mitigation-satellite-mission/ [spacesafetymagazine.com]
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.