New Efforts Aim to Track, Remove Space Debris

...have the USAF get the Air Borne Laser (ABL) into space and put it to good use, "zapping" all that spacial flotsam!

Sorry too late....

http://gizmodo.com/5939593/the-awesome-5+billion-airborne-laser-is-in-the-boneyard-never-to-fire-again

OK, Plan B -- issue "fox-tail brushes & dust-pans" to each ISS resident and have them "clean-up" on "orbit 9" whenever they go outside to stretch their legs during a space walk (wink,wink).

How 'bout a little magnet fishin'?

You'll need a special magnet.

Didn't we have a big long talk about this already...best solution I remember was to use a laser to cause one side to plasma and jet the part back to earth.

Drew K

I would think altering the trajectory of space junk in an unpredictable way, would be dangerous to surrounding satellites...

Careful consideration would have to be taken before any piece is targeted. The goal would be to slow it so that the object will fall and burn up.

Is there a way we can move in orbit (even very slowly) without consuming fuel by using magnetic fields or solar wind or such? If so it would be a much better idea to collect the junk into a big single area where it could be harvested later. After all, it cost thousands for each nut and bolt to be put up there!

The solar wind would require an eccentric orbit that went outside the magnetic field that protects us from it. It could have it's trajectory corrected out there so it would collide with the object and trap it as it dipped closer.

Drew K

I don't know of any way to move around while in orbit without some sort of propulsion....It's a tough problem....

Like this? I know the article starts with "fictional or theorized" but how many science fiction tricks are now a reality?

I like the GIT thruster myself. The E.M. fields and solar wind are not quite reaction-less and demonstrate genuine forces.

Drew K

Once we get a good radar fix on each piece of space junk, then we can focus our tractor beams on the offending material and carefully guide it to a fiery death in our atmosphere.

We constantly track all debris and satellites, how do you think we are able to launch new satellites and space flights without hitting stuff, it's called the launch window....any attempt to destroy these objects that involves fragmentation would be like turning a 45 slug into a shotgun blast....Some debris is 10's of thousands of miles away....

FAQ's space debris....

http://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/faqs.html

Large Aerogel panels, deployed in the path of the smaller debris, Then lase the larger items, shattering them into small enough to be captured or burn up in the atmosphere.

Near Earth orbits could be cleared in about ten years or less. The Aerogel panels could be disassembled and returned to Earth.

Dragon

15000 Miles per Hour = 22000 Feet per Second
typical high velocity 45 cal = 1000 fps

"Ground control to Major Tom

Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong

Can you hear me, Major Tom?

Can you hear me, Major Tom?

Can you hear me, Major Tom?...."

with apologies to David Bowie.

I personally thought we got the mock up to fix a problem like this done a while ago