Beyond "Gravity": the complex quest to take out our orbital trash

Tue, 29 Jul 2014 01:41:09 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/05/beyond-gravity-the-complex-quest-to-take-out-our-orbital-trash/>

"As 'Gravity' made clear to the general public, it’s getting crowded in
Earth orbit. In the nearly 57 years since Sputnik’s launch on October 4,
1957, Earth has seen a cloud of human-created objects continue to grow,
expanding like dandelion fluff around our planet. In 2014, there’s good
and bad news on the subject."

Orbital debris is becoming an increasingly serious problem that will
continue to make space travel more and more dangerous until we start
cleaning it up.  The classic anime 'Planetes' postulated a near future
where "orbital janitor" is an important but low-grade job.

Cheers,
        *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net                   Andrew Pam
http://www.xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
http://www.glasswings.com.au/             Partner, Glass Wings
http://www.sericyb.com.au/                Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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