Are you aware of how much crap is floating around in earth’s orbit? Seriously, our planet has space trash circling the planet like flies circle a fresh, steaming pile. According to the US Department of Defense, we have reached a “tipping point” in regards to the mess that is beyond the sky.
In a modest estimate, there are over 370,000 pieces of space trash orbiting the earth and it has become a problem. This trash is mainly composed of old, defunct satellites, as well as the hardware and components that once helped them operate. Some of it is rather large–other pieces are nothing more than rivets, nuts, bolts, screws and small implements that have the potential to cause big problems.
What kind of problems could this space junk cause, you ask? Good question. Among the useless satellites, there are those that allow you to holla via mobile phone, get to where you want to go via GPS, listen to your favorite commercial-free radio and of course, enjoy an HD feed to your television. When these entities collide, bad things happen.
Recently, a monster pile of junk was on a collision path with the International Space Station, creating a tricky maneuver for operators–such a collision could have been detrimental to the station.
Will we ever learn to develop a contingency plan before we launch–pun intended–into new ventures? Three hundred seventy thousand pieces of junk blazing through space. Who you gonna call? NASA? Nope. Russia? Nah.
Japan to the rescue.
Following in the great tradition of those who brought us Playstations 1, 2 and 3, raw fish, Toyota and the way of the Samurai, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency is developing a ridiculously large metallic net to be launched into space. This net is being designed and manufactured by fishing net giant, Nitto Seimo, and in theory it will collect an incredibly large mass of junk, before plummeting back towards earth to burn up as it re-enters the atmosphere.
The plan is to launch the net within the next two years.
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