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| Science & Technology | |
| Big harpoon is 'solution to space junk' | |
| 2018-03-27 | |
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| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #9 I like it MP. Collect and anchor the debris in Lagrange points. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2018-03-27 15:41 |
| #8 Solar sails are best used when you can use weeks, or months for the delta-V to change orbits. Low thrust also means low mechanical strength needed for the tether and the micro-sat pulling the junked satellite. As for tacking... change the geometry of the sail for steering. |
| Posted by: magpie 2018-03-27 15:04 |
| #7 I've yet to see how solar sails could work properly in LEO (where the junk is). You orbit in 90 minutes and half that time you are facing into the solar wind and half the time you are facing away. You can't tack like a boat. How does it work? Do you only get speed half the time and unfurl the sails and coast the other half? |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2018-03-27 14:46 |
| #6 Small micro-sats with solar sails that loft the bigger satellites into an orbital junkyard -- think of them as resources. For smaller debris put up some solar-powered lasers that will de-orbit the pieces. It just takes time and an in initial investment. |
| Posted by: magpie 2018-03-27 14:16 |
| #5 Big harpoon seems a stupid idea to me. You puncture space debris and you're likely to send a lot of little debris everywhere and at orbital velocities that can be dangerous. Also debris is likely to be tumbling so the odds of the harpoon deflecting off the target is pretty high and might make the thing spin off more junk. What they need are drones that can attach and fire enough propellant to send the bigger debris into a burn-up orbit, then detach and move along to the next big chunk (or to refuel from some kind of mother ship/spaceplan). |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2018-03-27 14:05 |
| #4 Don't worry the crew of the Toy Box are on the case. |
| Posted by: Thrise Shomble3667 2018-03-27 08:56 |
| #3 Do we really want Captain Ahab on a Falcon Heavy? |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2018-03-27 08:11 |
| #2 Also GAY SEX in Kenya! |
| Posted by: Jack Chaiter7913 2018-03-27 08:05 |
| #1 |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2018-03-27 04:37 |