9 DB: Cleaning up orbital pollution << Prev Next >>
by: ColonelZen	IP: 228.87	rated: 0-0	posted: 2007-02-26 22:46:44
Posted to: http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2007/02/taking-break-from-politics-cool-stuff.html#comments     ColonelZen said...     On orbital debris "pollution" I once read that there existed a proposal to clean up such by orbiting very large very low pressure "balloons" in a counter rotational orbit (since most craft are orbited in the same direction of earth's rotation) to clean up such debris.     The impact would rob most debris of sufficient energy that it would de-orbit and burn, but the balloon itself having a large area and little need of structural strength would continue for hundreds of orbits sweeping thousands of pieces of dust, loose nuts, tools, and small broken parts before itself returning and burning in the atmosphere.     Of course there are logistics problems with making sure they don't impact active satellites, and the orbital mechanics of such a structure and the engineering of maneuvering could be "interesting", but I have no reason to see why such a sweep operation would not work.     Is there some reason such a "sweeper" program wouldn't work? Wouldn't it make more sense to prepare such a cleanup than bemoan the possibility of disaster?     -- TWZ   4:06 PM