Japan scientists test tether to clear up space junk

[Buster's Uncle]

Japan scientists test tether to clear up space junk
AFP
17 hours ago



This artist's impression released September 1, 2011 by the European Space Agency shows the debris field in low-Earth orbit based on current data, not items in their actual size or density



Tokyo (AFP) - Japanese space scientists are set to trial a tether they hope will help pull junk out of orbit around Earth, clearing up tonnes of planetary clutter, they said Thursday.

Researchers at The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have developed what they called an electrodynamic tether made from thin wires of stainless steel and aluminium.

The idea is that one end of the strip will be attached to one of the thousands of dead satellites or bits of rocket that are jamming up space and endangering working equipment.

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 chance to crash to the planet's surface.

"The experiment is specifically designed to contribute to developing a space debris cleaning method," said Masahiro Nohmi, associate professor at Kagawa University, who is working with JAXA on the project, told AFP.



Graphic on debris and defunct space hardware that currently orbit the earth (AFP Photo/Adrian Leung/John Saeki)


Nohmi said a satellite developed by the university is expected to be launched into space on February 28, with the tether aboard.

"We have two main objectives in the trial next month," he said. "First, to extend a 300-metre (1,000-foot) tether in orbit and secondly to observe the transfer of electricity."

The actual reeling in of orbiting rubbish will be the objective of future experiments, he said. A spokesman for JAXA said the agency also plans to conduct its own trial on a tether in 2015.

More than 20,000 bits of cast off equipment, including old satellites, pieces of rocket and other fragments are uselessly orbiting the Earth in a band 800-1,400 kilometres (500-900 miles) from the surface of the planet at terrific speed.

Their presence causes problems for space scientists who have to try to prevent them colliding with functioning kit because of the huge damage they can cause.


http://news.yahoo.com/japan-scientists-test-tether-clear-space-junk-105907197.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Japan to Test Space Junk Cleanup Tether Soon: Report
SPACE.com
by Miriam Kramer, Staff Writer  January 17, 2014 10:21 AM



This NASA graphic depicts the amount of space junk currently orbiting Earth


 
Japanese scientists are getting ready to launch a test of a space junk-cleaning tether, according to press reports.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) researchers are developing an electrodynamic tether designed to generate electricity that will slow down space-based debris, according to a report from Agence France Presse.

The slowed-down space junk will fall into lower and lower orbits until burning up harmlessly in Earth's atmosphere.

Scientists are planning to launch a satellite that will test part of the system on Feb. 28. "We have two main objectives in the trial next month," Masahiro Nohmi, associate professor at Kagawa University, who is working with JAXA on the project, told the AFP. "First, to extend a 300-metre (1,000-foot) tether in orbit and secondly to observe the transfer of electricity."

"The experiment is specifically designed to contribute to developing a space debris cleaning method," Nohmi said.

The scientists aren't planning on capturing any orbital debris during February's test launch. However, that could be the goal of a future test. AFP also reports that JAXA may launch a tether test sometime in 2015.

Upper stages of launch vehicles, defunct satellites, flecks of paint and other pieces of fast-moving space junk can all threaten active spacecraft. In 1996, a French satellite was damaged by debris from a rocket that exploded 10 years earlier, and a 2007 anti-satellite test launched by China introduced more than 3,000 pieces of debris to space, according to NASA.

As of Sept. 2013, NASA officials estimate there are more than 500,000 pieces of debris the size of a marble or larger orbiting Earth. More than 20,000 pieces of space junk are larger than a softball, but there are millions more that are too small to track, NASA officials have said.

Aside from the tether idea, scientists have also come up with other methods for cleaning up space. CleanSpace One is a spacecraft developed by the company Swiss Space Systems and is designed to grapple satellites and plunge them both into Earth's atmosphere. The robotic Phoenix spacecraft would scavenge parts off derelict satellites to use in new space operations on orbit.


http://news.yahoo.com/japan-test-space-junk-cleanup-tether-soon-report-152120489.html