Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

JAXA To Use Fishing Nets To Scoop Up Space Junk

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the sounds-like-a-super-hero dept.

An anonymous reader writes "We've seen high-fallutin proposals to tackling the space junk problem before — and now the Japanese space agency JAXA has teamed up with Japanese fishing net maker Nitto Seimo to haul in some of the 100,000-plus objects of space junk orbiting the planet. AJAXA satellite will deploy and release a kilometers-wide net made by Nitto Seimo of ultra-thin triple layered metal threads. The net will gradually be drawn into Earth's magnetic field and burned up along with the abandoned satellites, engine parts and other litter it's collected."

5 of 210 comments (clear)

  1. But, but... by Locke2005 · · Score: 4, Funny

    What are they doing to make sure the net doesn't also entrap space dolphins?

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  2. Theoretical Problem. by Onuma · · Score: 5, Interesting

    One potential snag in their line (see what I did there?) could be the fact that some of these objects are moving in different or opposing directions. A single BB at 20000 km/h can burn through a solar panel array, what's to stop it from passing through a fine net? It'll still clean up lots of junk even with a greater-than-anticipated amount of holes, but there will certainly be discrepancies between projected results and actual.

    --
    What else can happen when an unstoppable force collides with an immovable object?
  3. News from the future: by Stenchwarrior · · Score: 4, Funny

    "ABC News reports that since JAXA launched it's 'Space Net', mysteriously all communication and research satellites have been taken offline, except the ones belonging to Japan. As a result, stock prices for communications companies world-wide have plummeted except, of course, in Japan and have created panic and chaos on a global scale. Companies are now struggling to build and deploy hundreds of new satellites, but in the meantime are forced to piggy-pack services across Japan-based companies. For now, ABC news must be referred to as JBC. Back to you, Chou Youn..."

    --
    Loading...
    1. Re:News from the future: by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That would have been a lot funnier if you'd used a Japanese name instead of a Chinese one in the punchline. But hey, Chinese, Japanese, what's the difference? "Arr rook arike" to you, I suppose.

      --
      The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
  4. Why not recycle it? by Plazmid · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Instead of throwing all that potentially valuable material into the pacific ocean, why not coral it all into one big "trash heap" and recycle it? After, it takes a lot more energy to put something into orbit than it does to move something to another orbit. At the very least, the trash heap could serve as a testing ground for space manufacturing processes.