01-02-11, 01:12 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2009
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Japan's space agency teams up with fishing net maker to collect space debris
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The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Nitto Seimo Co aim to tackle the increasingly hazardous problem of debris damaging space shuttles and satellites.
The new system involves launching a satellite attached to a thin metal net spanning several kilometers into space, before the net is detached and begins to capture space waste while orbiting earth.
During its rubbish collecting journey, the net will become charged with electricity and eventually be drawn back towards earth by magnetic fields – before both the net and its contents will burn upon entering the atmosphere.
Inspired by a basic fishing net concept, the super-strong space nets have been the subject of extensive research by Nitto Seimo for the past six years and consist of three layered metal threads, each measuring 1mm diameter and intertwined with fibres as thin as human hair.
The company, which became famous for inventing the world's first machine to make strong knotless fishing nets in 1925, is aiming for the fuel-free system to be completed within two years.
As many as ten million pieces of human-made debris are estimated to be circulating in space at any one time and the issue has long been a cause for concern, because of the potential for collisions with satellites and shuttles.
The majority of the debris in space is believed to consist of small particles but some objects are larger, including spent rocket stages, defunct satellites and collision fragments.
The orbital paths of space shuttles are constantly monitored for debris, with chipping of the windows caused by smaller pieces of waste often occurring to in-transit shuttles in the past.
The International Space Station is fitted with special impact shield known as the Whipple Bumper, which is designed to protect the structure from damage caused by collisions with minor debris.
More serious incidents involved the 2006 Atlantis shuttle, which was hit by a small fragment of a circuit board which created a small hole through the radiator panels in the cargo bay.
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That's nice of them.
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