© JAXA/AFP/File | Japan's unmanned cargo spacecraft, "Kounotori" is to blast off from the southern island of Tanegashima around 10:30 pm local time attached to an H-IIB rocket
Posted on 12/09/2016 4:23:07 AM PST by csvset
Japan launching 'space junk' collector
09 December 2016 - 12H05
TOKYO (AFP) - Japan will launch a cargo ship Friday bound for the International Space Station, carrying a 'space junk' collector that was made with the help of a fishnet company.
The vessel, dubbed "Kounotori" (stork in Japanese), is to blast off from the southern island of Tanegashima around 10:30 pm local time (0130 GMT) attached to an H-IIB rocket.
Scientists at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are experimenting with a tether to pull junk out of orbit around Earth, clearing up tonnes of space clutter including cast-off equipment from old satellites and pieces of rocket.
More than 50 years of human space exploration since the Soviet-launched Sputnik satellite in 1957 has produced this hazardous belt of orbiting debris.
There are estimated to be more than 100 million pieces in orbit, posing a growing threat to future space exploration, scientists say.
Researchers are using a so-called electrodynamic tether made from thin wires of stainless steel and aluminium.
The idea is that one end of the strip will be attached to debris which can damage working equipment -- there are hundreds of collisions every year.
The electricity generated by the tether as it swings through the Earth's magnetic field is expected to have a slowing effect on the space junk, which should, scientists say, pull it into a lower and lower orbit.
Eventually the detritus will enter the Earth's atmosphere, burning up harmlessly long before it has a chance to crash to the planet's surface.
JAXA worked on the project with Japanese fishnet manufacturer Nitto Seimo to develop the cord, which has been about 10 years in the making.
"The tether uses our fishnet plaiting technology, but it was really tough to intertwine the very thin materials," company engineer Katsuya Suzuki told AFP.
"The length of the tether this time is 700 metre (2,300 feet), but eventually it's going to need to be 5,000 to 10,000 metre-long to slow down the targeted space junk," he added.
Previous experiments using a tether have been done in recent years.
A spokesman for the space agency said it hopes to put the junk collection system into more regular use by the middle of the next decade.
"If we are successful in this trial, the next step will be another test attaching one tip of the tether to a targeted object," he added.
The cargo ship launched Friday is also carrying other materials for the ISS including batteries and drinking water for the astronauts living there.
© JAXA/AFP/File | Japan's unmanned cargo spacecraft, "Kounotori" is to blast off from the southern island of Tanegashima around 10:30 pm local time attached to an H-IIB rocket
Oh goodie, let’s create a cobweb of wires that are miles long in orbit.
Frankly, at the cost per pound of putting stuff up there it would seem someone would begin to realize this stuff has value. It would seem there could be a tidy profit in recycling this stuff.
The stuff still belongs to whoever paid to make it and put it up there. And some of it is classified in nature.
This could lead to some interesting lawsuits.
Even had a hot crew
Ha, I remember that show.
And after reviewing the crew roster you posted, I remember why I liked that show
wait... they want to attach a tether to pieces of junk?
If they are that close to a piece of junk, why not just just give it a push ?
I understand that It’s a kamakazi that drags a piece of junk along with it , everything is supposed to burn up on reentry.
History of tethers in space:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_tether_missions
I looove Space Junk! d;^)
We used to joke that we needed a vacuum cleaner....pun intended....
Shuttle got hit by a lot of stuff (including some man made stuff).
It would seem there could be a tidy profit in recycling this stuff.
As prefab pieces it is worth keeping in orbit, but space vehicles are so specific and specialized that I doubt much of it could be used as-is. A space-baced smelter and casting platform could use it. If NASA had kept main shuttle fuel tanks in orbit, we could have a large habitat there by now.
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