S
somber_pieces
Guest
RE: Orbital Space Junk?
What would be the best thing to do with orbital space junk, send it out into deep space, Nudge it into a controlled re-entry trajectory, or park it some where for recycling at a later date.
Would it be viable to put a robot tug to seek out the larger bits of junk & dead satellites in orbit, to do this kind of work?
It could probably have ion engines for main & navigational thrusters.
Be ground controlled for sensitive tasks.
If its fuel reserves were depleted it could jettison its main fuel tank into a re-entry trajectory after a full replacement tank is sent up at a later date.
Or it could periodically meet up with a separate auxiliary tank & top off when it needs to, for continued operations.
At least its something that "can" be done, instead of ignoring the problem. The tech already exists. At least its an option.
*By the way, which country is responsible for putting the majority of the "junk" up there in the first place?
What would be the best thing to do with orbital space junk, send it out into deep space, Nudge it into a controlled re-entry trajectory, or park it some where for recycling at a later date.
Would it be viable to put a robot tug to seek out the larger bits of junk & dead satellites in orbit, to do this kind of work?
It could probably have ion engines for main & navigational thrusters.
Be ground controlled for sensitive tasks.
If its fuel reserves were depleted it could jettison its main fuel tank into a re-entry trajectory after a full replacement tank is sent up at a later date.
Or it could periodically meet up with a separate auxiliary tank & top off when it needs to, for continued operations.
At least its something that "can" be done, instead of ignoring the problem. The tech already exists. At least its an option.
*By the way, which country is responsible for putting the majority of the "junk" up there in the first place?