Space Junk Mitigation
The first design is a space laser that would float in space and shoot down pieces of space junk.
The second design is a large metal net that would trap the space junk inside, and then fall down to the atmosphere and burn up.
The third design is a collection box that would collect junk with an electromagnet, and then shoot the junk back down to earth to burn up.
The second design is a large metal net that would trap the space junk inside, and then fall down to the atmosphere and burn up.
The third design is a collection box that would collect junk with an electromagnet, and then shoot the junk back down to earth to burn up.
Design Brief
Three Space Junk Incidents
A woman in Turley, Oklahoma, got hit in the shoulder in January 1997 with a lightweight fragment of charred woven material. The object was identified as debris from a Delta 2 booster, which reentered the Earth's atmosphere on Jan. 22, 1997. Fortunately she was uninjured.
On Jan. 21, 2001, a Delta 2 third stage, reentered the atmosphere over the Middle East. Its titanium motor casing, weighing about 154 pounds, slammed down in Saudi Arabia, while a titanium pressurant tank landed near Seguin, Texas, and the main propellant tank plunked down near Georgetown, Texas.
The original reentry plan for the Skylab space station called for it to remain in space for eight to ten more years. Due to unexpectedly high amounts of drag however, Skylab came back down too early. On July 11, 1979 Skylab re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and disintegrated, raining debris along a path over the southern Indian Ocean and Western Australia.
Incidents of Space Junk Damage
Model
This system is a collection box that would float freely in space. It has miniature rockets on its sides to propel it towards the space junk where it would collect metal pieces with an electromagnet that is inside the box. The electromagnet would turn on when the box got close to the junk, draw in all the metal pieces that are around 5 meters long or smaller. The actual box is a 10 meter cube, so it can hold many pieces of junk, but the openings are only 5 meters in diameter. After the junk is stored inside and the box starts to get full, the electromagnet would reverse its polarity and shoot the junk it collected out of the second opening towards the earth so the junk could burn up in the atmosphere. Its lifespan is as long as the fuel in the rockets remains, and when the fuel gets too low, the box will propel itself back to earth and land in a place where it could be retrieved and reused.
Conclusion
•Explain a major deterrent for amassing space junk.
A major deterrent for amassing space junk is that space junk can damage active satellites and other important objects and can potentially fall back down to earth uncontrollably and destroy things on the ground.
•Describe a viable system to protect a spacecraft from space junk.
A spacecraft could have extra metal plating in areas that are likely to be hit by space junk or areas that need to be protected because they have important or delicate parts.
A major deterrent for amassing space junk is that space junk can damage active satellites and other important objects and can potentially fall back down to earth uncontrollably and destroy things on the ground.
•Describe a viable system to protect a spacecraft from space junk.
A spacecraft could have extra metal plating in areas that are likely to be hit by space junk or areas that need to be protected because they have important or delicate parts.