If we're so smart, why don't we invent something to clean up the space debris?
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If we're so smart, why don't we invent something to clean up the space debris?
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11-14-2012, 06:22 PM
From this thread:
http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?1...sg-1461611 The picture mrlynn posted looks like a good place to start. Something like a swimming pool cleaner or Roomba.
11-14-2012, 06:30 PM
Space is big. Even "Earth Orbit" space. Really really big.
Many of the objects are small (a small bolt, etc). They're all moving very fast. It's a big mess. "Doing something about it" is not particularly easy. So far, no one has come up with a realistic (sub-multi-trillion-dollar) plan that has any hope of "doing something about it". Best ideas involve a very powerful laser or particle beam to "brake" debris so that its decay into lower orbits is accelerated... even that would take a century to make much difference.
11-14-2012, 06:46 PM
A large portion of the space debris field was intentionally made.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_West_Ford http://web.archive.org/web/2007031220013...00289.html Though the authorities claimed that most of the debris from Project West Ford fell out of orbit, much of it is actually still in space and periodically reenters in clumps.
11-14-2012, 07:10 PM
West Ford was small potatoes compared to the accidental Iridium collision, and then the stupid Chinese just HAD to wave their weenies and blow up a satellite IN ORBIT (rather than during re-entry).
There *are* a large number of DARPA class projects looking into the issue, but as Paul F so aptly paraphrased Douglas Adams, Space is big. It's all about the volume. Imagine if your entire living room was filled with carpet and kittens in all three dimensions and you had to vacuum up the cat hairs. Individually. Using a process that would require you to aim the vacuum from your office across town. |
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