Added 1 new A* page:"Japan tests innovative magnetic tether for slowing space junk" says the BBC, and they go on to describe the test, where a robot cargo ship heading to the International Space Station towed a half-mile long cable in a bid to find a solution to the estimated 100 million pieces of man-made junk now threatening ships in orbit: "the lubricated, electro-dynamic tether will generate enough energy to change an object's orbit, pushing it towards the atmosphere where it will burn up." But experts "caution that the Japanese scheme will only work for bigger pieces of junk"; other schemes being suggested include "harpooning, sweeping, lassoing and dragging debris into the atmosphere for burning."
|