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Space Debris
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Space Spiders
and Other Icky Things
The primary problem in retrieving space debris is the availability of maneuvering and thrust fluids.
To de-orbit space debris requires reaction mass. A lot of the is debris is metallic. Taking a page from
nature. Spiders inject a fluid into their insect meals. This liquefies the soft parts of the insect which can
A Space Spider could liquefy, (convert to a plasma), some of the captured debris and use it for
reaction mass. It could put small pieces into a chamber, (or perhaps an open system using coils and
accelerator plates) and apply a small arc or corona to a metal surface to vaporize it. The vaporized
plasma could be accelerated by magnetic or electrostatic means to act as reaction mass. The small arc
is necessary to prevent the formation of slag or molten droplets. The arc should only remove a thin
portion from the surface of a large piece of debris. A small piece of metallic debris might be entirely
consumed.
Also to de-orbit debris there will need to be designated orbits, (or shapes of orbits), that these
slow delta-v machines can move through without endangering active satellites. It can eat small debris
to move to a higher orbit to get a large piece, then munch on that piece down to a lower orbit where it
will leave it to eventually enter the atmosphere. Eat and repeat as necessary.
Some have suggested getting the debris up to Earth's escape velocity rather than trying to bring it
back through Earth's crowded space. In nature, spiders can disperse their young with silk parachutes.
The Space Spiders might take the debris and assemble a pod for a light sail. Has anyone ever gotten
a light sail to actually deploy and then work in orbit?
The diminutive CubeSail craft, measuring 30 by 10 by 10 centimetres and weighing just 3
kilograms, has been designed at the Surrey Space Centre at the University of Surrey in
Guildford, UK. It has a solar sail that it can use for propulsion – harnessing the pressure of
sunlight, just as a boat's sail harnesses the pressure of the wind – but it can also use the sail as
an "orbital brake" to help it de-orbit to a fiery death in the atmosphere.
CubeSail, funded by the pan-European aerospace company EADS Astrium, will be launched
into low Earth orbit late next year. At an altitude of 700 kilometres, the "nanosatellite" will
unfurl its 5-by-5 metre sail, initially to test its usefulness for propulsion.
The Space Spider may use a lot of electrical energy so it will need sizable solar panels. From time
to time it will also need maintenance at a spiders nest in orbit where remotely operated (tele-presense)
robots could repair it. At this nest, consumable components like electrodes and digestive juices could
be replaced.
For smaller, more dispersed debris, I have other ideas. If this is of any interest to anyone please
contact me. I am willing to form a collaboration.
No interest = not worth the time or trouble to continue. Being ahead of your time pays pretty
badly.
Louis P. Quinn
February 2 2010
Modified 5 April 2010
and Other Icky Things
The primary problem in retrieving space debris is the availability of maneuvering and thrust fluids.
To de-orbit space debris requires reaction mass. A lot of the is debris is metallic. Taking a page from
nature. Spiders inject a fluid into their insect meals. This liquefies the soft parts of the insect which can
A Space Spider could liquefy, (convert to a plasma), some of the captured debris and use it for
reaction mass. It could put small pieces into a chamber, (or perhaps an open system using coils and
accelerator plates) and apply a small arc or corona to a metal surface to vaporize it. The vaporized
plasma could be accelerated by magnetic or electrostatic means to act as reaction mass. The small arc
is necessary to prevent the formation of slag or molten droplets. The arc should only remove a thin
portion from the surface of a large piece of debris. A small piece of metallic debris might be entirely
consumed.
Also to de-orbit debris there will need to be designated orbits, (or shapes of orbits), that these
slow delta-v machines can move through without endangering active satellites. It can eat small debris
to move to a higher orbit to get a large piece, then munch on that piece down to a lower orbit where it
will leave it to eventually enter the atmosphere. Eat and repeat as necessary.
Some have suggested getting the debris up to Earth's escape velocity rather than trying to bring it
back through Earth's crowded space. In nature, spiders can disperse their young with silk parachutes.
The Space Spiders might take the debris and assemble a pod for a light sail. Has anyone ever gotten
a light sail to actually deploy and then work in orbit?
The diminutive CubeSail craft, measuring 30 by 10 by 10 centimetres and weighing just 3
kilograms, has been designed at the Surrey Space Centre at the University of Surrey in
Guildford, UK. It has a solar sail that it can use for propulsion – harnessing the pressure of
sunlight, just as a boat's sail harnesses the pressure of the wind – but it can also use the sail as
an "orbital brake" to help it de-orbit to a fiery death in the atmosphere.
CubeSail, funded by the pan-European aerospace company EADS Astrium, will be launched
into low Earth orbit late next year. At an altitude of 700 kilometres, the "nanosatellite" will
unfurl its 5-by-5 metre sail, initially to test its usefulness for propulsion.
The Space Spider may use a lot of electrical energy so it will need sizable solar panels. From time
to time it will also need maintenance at a spiders nest in orbit where remotely operated (tele-presense)
robots could repair it. At this nest, consumable components like electrodes and digestive juices could
be replaced.
For smaller, more dispersed debris, I have other ideas. If this is of any interest to anyone please
contact me. I am willing to form a collaboration.
No interest = not worth the time or trouble to continue. Being ahead of your time pays pretty
badly.
Louis P. Quinn
February 2 2010
Modified 5 April 2010