Space junk

[frogmarch]

http://www.oobject.com/category/space-junk

snip:

Here are some examples of things we put in space that came back down. They went up shiny and futuristic and what came back looks like medieval remains.

~~

2 examples:

[sakabatou]

1. We need an orbital trash collector

[HopeHoops]

5. Where's Wall-E when you need him?

[frogmarch]

6. Plans for removing it

are being developed.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/janitor-satellite-and-trash-collector-ideas-to-clean-up-space-of-dangerous-junk/

SCIENCE (February 15, 2012)

‘JANITOR SATELLITE’ AND ‘TRASH COLLECTOR’: IDEAS TO CLEAN UP SPACE OF DANGEROUS JUNK

snips:

One such idea, according to Txchnologist, comes from Eugene Levin, who is senior scientist at STAR Technology and Research Inc. based in South Carolina. Levin’s idea involves manipulating the electromagnetic fields to tether debris as a “trash collector” of sorts. The “Electrodynamic Debris Eliminator” (EDDE) would either bring the junk it collects back to Earth for reuse or would bring it down lower into Earth’s orbit for a “controlled re-entry”:

...

Swiss scientists also announced plans Wednesday to launch a “janitor satellite” specially designed to get rid of space junk. The 10-million-franc ($11-million) satellite called CleanSpace One — the prototype for a family of such satellites — is being built by the Swiss Space Center at the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology in Lausanne, or EPFL.

(video demonstration showing how it would work)

Launch of the satellite is expected within three to five years and its first tasks will be to grab two Swiss satellites that were launched in 2009 and 2010 but will be phased out of use, EPFL said. The U.S. space agency NASA says more than 500,000 pieces of spent rocket stages, broken satellites and other debris are orbiting Earth. Txchnologist points out that the floating junk is still technically private property, making who pays for what and how it is cleaned up a challenge.
...

The European Union has proposed its own draft rules for operating in space and the United States views that document as a starting point. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned last month of the space environment is threatened by space junk, and said the U.S. will hold talks with the EU to set informal rules aimed at limiting debris.

~~

I'm glad solutions to the problem are being worked on, and I hope something is implemented soon. Wow, what a mess it is up there!

[crimsonblue]

2. It isn't junk!

I just don't want to throw it away, because you never know when you will need it again!

[frogmarch]

7. I know what you mean.

I'm like that too!

The good thing is that some of the space junk could be recycled once it's been returned to Earth.

[kentauros]

3. Dev-O

[frogmarch]

8. It keeps coming.

It keeps coming. It keeps coming.

It smashed my baby’s head. Space junk.

And now my Sally’s dead. Space junk.

Thanks for the music video. Hard to understand all the lyrics, but I think I got the gist of them.

[6000eliot]

10. The television show Dead Like Me

featured a character who was killed by being hit by a space toilet.

[frogmarch]

11. How awful! What an

embarrassing way to go. Did mourners get the giggles?

On Northern Exposure, Maggie's boyfriend was killed by a falling satellite.

I remember not wanting to laugh when I watched that episode and feeling ashamed that I did.

[jakeXT]

4. It's our ring system, other planets have natural ones, we have junk

[frogmarch]

9. Wow! What a

superb video! It was fascinating to watch, and I learned a lot from it..

Yes, other planets have natural rings, and we have junk rings.

Thanks for posting. I loved the video, and I’m going to pass it around.

[jakeXT]

12. You can find all of the episodes on youtube

http://m.imdb.com/title/tt1051155/episodes?

But not every topic is equally interesting