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NASA To Build Laser Space Broom For ISS

Posted by Hemos on from the fun-with-accelerated-light dept.

Andy_R writes: "The BBC is reporting that NASA is to build a laser "broom" that is designed to sweep debris in space away from the path of the International Space Station." It's being tested - the plan is to destroy debris between one to ten centimeters in length.

1 of 157 comments (clear)

  1. Why launch MORE junk? by cgifool · · Score: 5
    Trials of the system are due to start in 2003. The US space shuttle will launch dummy targets of a similar size, and a laser back on Earth will attempt to lock on to them.

    I don't understand, there's TONS of junk already up there that they're tracking all the time. Why release MORE of it to test with??