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Tiny Cube Drags Space Debris From Orbit

Posted by Soulskill on from the no-not-the-borg dept.

krou writes "A team from Surrey Space Centre has developed a device called a CubeSail, designed to be attached to satellites and rocket stages in order to drag space debris from orbit. CubeSail is a nanosatellite, weighing 3kg (6.6lb), and measures 10cm x 10cm x 30cm. Within its frame is a polymer sheet that unfurls itself once in space. 'The simple deployment mechanism features four metal strips that are wound under tension and will snap into a straight line when let go, pulling the sheet flat in the process.' The overall idea is that 'Residual air molecules still present in the spacecraft's low-Earth orbit will catch the sheet and pull the object out of the sky much faster than is normal.' Sir Martin Sweeting, the chairman of SSTL, who supported the research, said, 'We would be looking to put it on our own satellites and to put it on other people's spacecraft as well. We want this to be a standard, essential bolt-on item for a spacecraft; and that's why it's very important to make it small, because if it's too big it will interfere with the rest of the spacecraft.' The team is also hoping that CubeSail can act as a propulsion system, using 'solar sailing' to help satellites keep their orbits more efficiently."

15 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. Tiny cube by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Gah!
    Am I the only one who read that as "Time Cube Drags Space Debris From Orbit"? Slashdot ows me a new monitor. This one's all covered in coffee now...

  2. Re:Did they just... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    One that works in space and opens itself when triggered? Yes, apparently.

  3. Cube? by bunratty · · Score: 5, Funny

    measures 10cm x 10cm x 30cm

    Someone tell these guys what a cube is.

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    What a fool believes, he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.
    1. Re:Cube? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      How about BrickSat? :-)

    2. Re:Cube? by gmuslera · · Score: 4, Funny

      The one measured there already assimilated 2 more of its kind.

    3. Re:Cube? by B+Nesson · · Score: 4, Funny

      Man, you guys must hate ice cube trays.

  4. A sail? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 4, Funny

    Residual air molecules still present in the spacecraft's low-Earth orbit will catch the sheet and pull the object out of the sky much faster than is normal.

    When I was younger, we called this "a parachute".

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    Ezekiel 23:20
    1. Re:A sail? by xs650 · · Score: 2, Funny

      When I was younger, parachutes were used to make things fall out of the sky slower, not faster.

    2. Re:A sail? by eln · · Score: 4, Funny

      Get with the times, grandpa. Making yourself fall slower is what the previous candy-ass generations did. These days, skydivers use lead parachutes and reach much faster speeds than your loser generation ever did.

    3. Re:A sail? by Bugamn · · Score: 2, Funny

      When I was young, we used to fall using our feet. In the snow! Uphill! Both ways!

  5. cube ? by Spaham · · Score: 3, Funny

    "10cm x 10cm x 30cm"

    what a cube !

  6. Companion Cube? by Bugamn · · Score: 4, Funny

    This Weighted Companion Cube will accompany the satellites through space. Aparture Science is sure this will reduce the number of insane satellites in orbit.

    1. Re:Companion Cube? by schmidt349 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Well, I mean, re-entry would probably qualify as an "emergency intelligence incinerator..."

  7. Do not be deceived by size of this pilot vessel! by ClosedSource · · Score: 3, Funny

    But first, the tranya.

  8. ObFrink by sharkey · · Score: 2, Funny

    There could be cubes the size of gorillas in there!

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    --
    "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.