Wanna See a Space Harpoon? Step inside Fishing in Space! NASA effort to Clean up OffWorld Debris

Just saw this and its pretty cool but effort should be spent on the home world where we live before resources are spent OFFWORLD for cleaning junk!!!
WOW i just used Off -World in an actual reality based sentence LOL Holy crap!!!!



www.cnn.com...

Looks to me like a bunch of college boys with too much time on their hands and too much money to piss off.

Don't they know how to build a graviton emitter?

a reply to: TheJesuit

Perhaps this is the reason why aliens don't visit.

"Let's avoid this planet, it looks like they've launched all their waste into orbit. What a dirty place!"

I do agree it needs to be cleaned up but so do our oceans. Perhaps a space-junk tax is in order making those responsible pay for the cleanup. And I don't mean passing the cost on to the public.

a reply to: TheJesuit

It's NASA....what would you suggest they do? walk around the base with waste pickers before they continue with space stuff....lol

They work in space, they're cleaning up space. I think they are setting a good example....unless they are just testing their new "satellites we don't want-remover".

Peace

a reply to: TheJesuit

Oldest piece of space junk is Vanguard 1 which just past 60years in space (March 17, 1958)

it was first satellite to use solar cells for power - transmitted for 6 years until 1964 when fell silent

a reply to: TheJesuit

The problem isn't grabbing an object in space, we've been able to do this for a long time. The problem is getting into the same orbit as the space junk, and space junk goes all different directions.

Let's see them do this same experiment on an object with a 35,000mph closing speed, or a 17,000mph crossing vector! That's the real issue.

Then there's the other issue. Let's say it's a large piece of space junk, like say an old broken satellite. Okay, you've grabbed a hold of it...now what?

Even if the Space Shuttle was still in existence today it couldn't:

a.) Get to the altitudes where the majority of the space junk is, and...

b.) You couldn't just stuff some random junk in the cargo bay because it would rip the Shuttle apart returning to Earth. Not to mention the fact the Shuttle was designed to lift stuff into space, not really bring random stuff back. Yes, the Shuttle did return to Earth with some things, but these were very specialized things which went up with the Shuttle and something very similar size shape and weight came back.

Easier just to create a satellite with lasers on it, and just vaporize space debris.

Ground baser lasers have come a long way in a short time.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk
Just thinking out loud here..

Wouldn't it be more logical to push all space debris in an inward trajectory? Wouldn't it burn up?

Peace

a reply to: incoserv

I tend to agree. I have no idea what value this experiment proved, if anything at all.

Maybe it just proved money really does grow on trees.

a reply to: operation mindcrime

In principle the idea works, but you'd have to attach some sort of propulsion to whatever the object was, you couldn't just shove it. Ol' Newton can be a PITA sometimes with his equal and opposite reaction stuff.

Yes, much of it would likely burn up, but as we see from time to time, some of it might survive reentry also. And unless you have control over where the de-orbit takes place you can't really control where the object comes down. The most desirable spot is the space junk graveyard in the Southern Ocean, but hitting that spot is not as easy as it sounds.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

As far as I am aware the only things that survive re-entry are hydrazine tanks.(I may well be wrong) There have been quite a few "Mysterious space balls" threads here over the years. At the end of the day, the ISS seems to miss all this debris so I am guessing it is do-able but the cost is probably a major factor.

All right. Once they got a full load of garbage, where are they planning to put it?

I fear for the moon.

a reply to: LightSpeedDriver

Well, they have actually had to adjust the altitude of the ISS several times to avoid known space junk. They also parked the ISS in an orbit which is relatively free of space junk. This was a conscious thought. for just this reason too.

a reply to: Trueman

Would it be really immature to reply with Uranus?

Peace

a reply to: grey580


If you've learned nothing else, remember to never wear a red shirt on an away party. John Scalzi explains in his book.

originally posted by: Trueman
All right. Once they got a full load of garbage, where are they planning to put it?

I fear for the moon.

Ideally.

Set a collision course with the sun.

Presto chango no more space garbage.

originally posted by: LightSpeedDriver
a reply to: TheJesuit

Perhaps this is the reason why aliens don't visit.

"Let's avoid this planet, it looks like they've launched all their waste into orbit. What a dirty place!"

I do agree it needs to be cleaned up but so do our oceans. Perhaps a space-junk tax is in order making those responsible pay for the cleanup. And I don't mean passing the cost on to the public.

But the consumer always pays, that is how it works. Taxes, fees, and fines always are passed down to the consumer, the people running these companies are not going to get a reduction in pay.

originally posted by: operation mindcrime
a reply to: Trueman
Would it be really immature to reply with Uranus?
Peace

Maybe they can sell all the crap to the same aliens that stole Al Bundy socks.