This net thing is a great yarn, but I'm sorry to say it's just not true. As the good people at Sciencepoint out, the original press-release was about a space tether that could be used to collect debris. It's now gotten way out of hand.
Of course a space "net" isn't going to work. The amount of space you'd have to cover is enormous, and in many cases there's no way to discrimnate between junk and LEO satellites. Also, the relative velocities of the different bits of debris mean that the net would be literally trying to catch bullets.
Slashdot Mirror
This net thing is a great yarn, but I'm sorry to say it's just not true. As the good people at Science point out, the original press-release was about a space tether that could be used to collect debris. It's now gotten way out of hand. Of course a space "net" isn't going to work. The amount of space you'd have to cover is enormous, and in many cases there's no way to discrimnate between junk and LEO satellites. Also, the relative velocities of the different bits of debris mean that the net would be literally trying to catch bullets.