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Focus on growing threat of space debris


Waspie_Dwarf

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The continuing growth in space debris poses an increasing threat to economically vital orbital regions. Next week, hundreds of top experts from across the globe will meet at Europe's largest-ever debris forum to share their latest research findings and discuss potential solutions.

Satellite operators worldwide, including those flying telecom, weather, navigation, broadcast and climate-monitoring missions, are now focusing their efforts on controlling space debris.

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Hope they can come up with a solution. Maybe a giant vacuum cleaner.

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Hope they can come up with a solution. Maybe a giant vacuum cleaner.

There are many potential solutions, sadly a vacuum cleaner isn't one of them, space basically being a vacuum already.

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A technology that can clean up the debris can also be used to removed working satellites, say in a war. I think this is the main reason for the conference. Some countries don't want the States unilaterally developing such a technology.

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A technology that can clean up the debris can also be used to removed working satellites, say in a war. I think this is the main reason for the conference. Some countries don't want the States unilaterally developing such a technology.

Getting a bit paranoid there aren't you Frank? Your argument makes little no sense.

Firstly, if what you are trying to do is prevent the US having a military capability why do it through an international civilian organisation?

Secondly it's a bit late anyway. The US, Russia and China already have anti-satellite capabilities. To take out an enemy satellite there is no need to carefully remove it from orbit, you simply shoot it down. Spending vast amounts of money to safely de-orbit it makes no sense at all when you can use a much cheaper missile.

The removal of space debris has long been a goal of ESA's (do a search and you will find several topics on ESA's and space debris that I have posted in the past). There is no hidden agenda here, this is exactly what it says it is.

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Political difficulties may also extend to the hardware and methodologies used to remove space debris from orbit because they may be construed to have the potential dual use as a weapon to either disable or de-orbit functioning space objects. Development and use of technology and methodologies may proceed without the intent of using them for harmful purposes; however, political and diplomatic posturing by other space faring nations and non-space faring nations alike could brand space debris removal efforts as a guise for more threatening activities simply because the potential exists for the technology and methodologies to be used in a manner inconsistent with their true purpose.

http://www.onorbitwatch.com/feature/legal-and-political-issues-space-debris-removal

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That's a massive non sequitur you've employed there.

It's a fairly large jump from "there are political difficulties" with space removal because of the "potential exists" for the technologies to be "construed" that they can be used in a nefarious way to claiming that they are actually being developed as weapons, a claim not made in you quote.

It is a monumentally massive jump from that quote to your initial claim:

I think this is the main reason for the conference. Some countries don't want the States unilaterally developing such a technology.

The article you quoted in no way backs up your claim. You are going to have to do better than that if you want to show that it your claim is nothing more than paranoia on your part.

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Hope they can come up with a solution. Maybe a giant vacuum cleaner.

.

like the one they had in spaceballs....?

:-)

may the schwartz be with you!!

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Well I think it does back up my claim. A lot of countries, including Vietnam, see this emphasis on cleaning up space debris as an excuse for deploying technology that will later be used to keep them from having their own space program.

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There is an awful lot of valuable metal up there that many people would love to sell for scrap.

(Sorry about the edit. Didn't have my glasses on.)

Edited by moonshadow60
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It seems a shame the space debris cannot be repurposed. A great deal of expense goes to simply orbiting an object. There is talk of mining asteroids. But, can an industry be realized in recycling these satellites and the alike as an orbiting junkyard? Can the mass of these combined objects perhaps be used to shield the earth from future encounters with errant asteroids by altering trajectories while still at a great distance?

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It does present a question,? What must it be like on the ISS really? It must be quite the worry in the backs of all our crews that visit that Station.

but I only counted one shooting satr last night in the North Eastern sky, there were supposed to be many comming into our thick fermage !

Man I miss Mid ! :tu:

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High time to do something about this mess.

Perhaps some sort of magnetic device could do the job.

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Is hoping a small meteorite falls in my back yard containing a symbiotic entity that needs an host... Then all would hear of the great venom; or black spider-man.. ;)

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This problem reminds me of the old Andy Griffith show where he did just that. He built his own space craft and went into space to get the space junk. I can't remember the name of the show right now.

I know, I showing my age. :yes:

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It seems a shame the space debris cannot be repurposed. A great deal of expense goes to simply orbiting an object. There is talk of mining asteroids. But, can an industry be realized in recycling these satellites and the alike as an orbiting junkyard? Can the mass of these combined objects perhaps be used to shield the earth from future encounters with errant asteroids by altering trajectories while still at a great distance?

Sounds good.

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it's worth the tries but also space debris is always a risk but with that i am not saying that we shouldn't prevent or find ways either you know.

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Sounds like this is an increasing concern with officials.

Hope they can figure out a reasonable solution.

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I wonder if I'm going to have to pay a tax on this as well because we littered space :P

I wonder if space travel did disturb the natural flow that keeps it away from earth?

(It's not what I'm banking on but just a curious idea, I'm not really a space person :P)

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There was a tv comedy based on removing trash from orbit.

Has anyone seen my broom.

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"Scientists estimate that there could be as many as 29,000 objects larger than 10cm, 670,000 objects larger than 1cm and 170 million objects larger than 1mm in orbit around the Earth.

Anyone need a good used 5 mi long bridge?

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Maybe that's why we haven't been visited by aliens -- by the time they have the technology to get here they've so cluttered their own solar system with debris they can't.

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