Tiny Cube Drags Space Debris From Orbit

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."

Comments

Tiny cube

[Anonymous Coward]

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...

Re:Unfurled once it reaches orbit?

[Scrameustache]

Maybe I'm not getting it, but it seems to me that the article says that the device is unfurled once the satellite reaches orbit, so it starts to decay the orbit immediately?

FTFS: "rocket stages in order to drag space debris from orbit"

The immediate deployment option is for things that immediatly become debris. A scheduled deployment would be used for satellite decomissioning.

Cube?

[bunratty]

measures 10cm x 10cm x 30cm

Someone tell these guys what a cube is.

Re:Cube?

[marcansoft]

Sounds like it's a CubeSat, a standardized tiny satellite that can be launched in large groups (relatively) cheaply. CubeSats are nominally 10x10x10, but you can have double width and triple width versions.

Re:Cube?

[gmuslera]

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

Re:Cube?

[B Nesson]

Man, you guys must hate ice cube trays.

A sail?

[K. S. Kyosuke]

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".

Re:A sail?

[eln]

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.

Companion Cube?

[Bugamn]

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

Re:Should be required

[Jenming]

It seems to me getting things into space is _really_ expensive. I would be much more impressed with a device that took space debris and dragged it all together. That way it could eventually be recycled in space. Instead of just burning it up.