No TV, no sat nav, no internet: how to fix space's junk problem - video

[Judi Lynn]

Ian Anderson, Joseph Pierce, Ryan Baxter and Paul Boyd, Source: The Guardian

Wed 1 Apr 2020 05.12 EDT

As Elon Musk's Starlink and Jeff Bezos's Project Kuiper race to create high-speed internet using satellites orbiting Earth, there's a small problem that could get in the way: debris. From dead spacecraft that have been around since the dawn of the space age to flecks of paint smashing windows on the International Space Station, rubbish is clogging up our orbits. And with objects moving as fast as 15,500mph (25,000 kmph), the satellite services we've come to depend on are at constant risk of collision. So how to fix the problem with junk in space? Ian Anderson investigates

- video at link -

https://www.theguardian.com/science/video/2020/apr/01/no-tv-no-sat-nav-no-internet-how-to-fix-spaces-junk-problem-video

[Ghost Dog]

1. Something else that's unsustainable

and a threat to peace.

[DetlefK]

2. My idea:

Space junk is only a problem when it is orbiting Earth: when its velocity and altitude have a specific relationship.

We need a Space Shuttle style ship... with a giant electromagnet. I'm talking at least 10 Tesla. (The strongest commercial electromagnets are 15 T, I believe.)

At a predetermined time and orbit, to be coordinated with all space-faring nations, we turn on the electromagnet for a few minutes/hours. All metal-particles in the magnetic field will ever-so-slighty have their trajectory changed. One of two things will happen:

1. They will spiral to a higher altitude. And as they have the wrong velocity for that altitude, they cannot make a closed orbit and drift away into space.
or
2. They will spiral to a lower altitude. And as they have the wrong velocity for that altitude, they cannot make a closed orbit and drift to lower and lower altitudes and burn in the atmosphere.