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Giant Balloons Could Solve Space Junk Problem
An anonymous reader writes "More than 100,000 objects bigger than a centimeter wide hover around our planet, accounting for 4 million pounds of junk that befouls our atmosphere and threatens the expensive satellites we actually want in orbit. Dr. Kristen Gates, of Global Aerospace Corporation, proposes that we can clear the skies by attaching a football field-sized balloon to dead satellites, which would increase the orbital drag, eventually bringing a satellite down into the atmosphere where it would burn up. The GOLD — or Gossamer Orbit Lowering Device — unit is easily inflated in space, and best of all, if the deployed GOLD balloon collides with space junk, it won't deflate or break the junk into smaller, less manageable bits."
I'm having a problem understanding how filling low-earth-orbit with Zerg Overlords is a good thing.
Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
Because it will never catch them?
You can test this at home with this simple procedure.
1. Get a sheet of mylar and some sticks, an emergency blanket will do.
2. Using the mylar and some sticks make a your balloon. The sticks will help to simulate the structures that can hold their shape.
3. Tie this off to any structure. That structure will be the stand in satellite.
4. Cover the balloon in glue.
5. Get out your favorite high power firearm and fire some rounds at the balloon. These will be the space junk.
6. see if any bullets, your simulated space junk, got stuck in the glue