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Operation clean up.


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I heard an interesting article on Radio fours "Inside Science". ESA are now planning to send up their cleaner satellite to test the viability of both the net and harpoon systems. They will take up their own cube sat, release it, then capture and de-orbit it. They will then move on to bigger targets to perfect their methods.

 

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technology/Clean_Space/e.Deorbit

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Yes it does look interesting Martyn. It's a problem that needs tackling, but it sure must be difficult to do... ?

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Some clever minds at work there! About time we 'de cluttered' our space :)

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I'm surprised this is being thought about. Surely it's not financially feasible to send a "hoover" up into space and capture old satellites. At the end of the day all they are are scrap and we already have enough of that here on Earth. These objects are not that huge and unless they contain precious metals that is going to pay for it all.

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I think they realise that if they get a collision like that Iridium and the Chinese one that created all that debris a few years ago, they could end up with a run away cascade effect that would finish every satellite in that orbit and maybe others.

A case of pay now or pay more later. 

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Not before time in my humble opinion.

The amount of rubbish floating around up there is unbelievable.

Heck lets face it we have screwed up this planet with our rubbish and contamination why should we get away with doing the same to space.

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Glad someone is trying to solve the problem.

 

There are people up there working with stray bullets flying around! A fleck of paint at 17000 mph could kill or destroy a spacecraft, satellite or space station. Apparently there are hundreds of thousands of stray bits flying around including nuts and bolts which can't really be tracked as well as the bigger stuff.

 

Reminds me of the film Gravity.

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