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Space Debris
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The primary problem in retrieving space debris is the availability of maneuvering and
thrust fluids. To de-orbit space debris requires reaction mass. A lot of the is debris
is metallic. Taking a page from nature. Spiders inject a fluid into their insect meals.
This liquefies the soft parts of the insect which can then be sucked out of the carapace.
A Space Spider could liquefy, (convert to a plasma), some of the captured debris and
use it for reaction mass. It could put small pieces into a chamber, (or perhaps an open
system using coils and accelerator plates) and apply a small arc or corona to a metal
surface to vaporize it. The vaporized plasma could be accelerated by magnetic or
electrostatic means to act as reaction mass. The small arc is necessary to prevent the
formation of slag or molten droplets. The arc should only remove a thin portion from
the surface of a large piece of debris. A small piece of metallic debris might be entirely
consumed.
Also to de-orbit debris there will need to be designated orbits, (or shapes of orbits),
that these slow delta-v machines can move through without endangering active satellites.
It can eat small debris to move to a higher orbit to get a large piece, then munch on that
piece down to a lower orbit where it will leave it to eventually enter the atmosphere. Eat
and repeat as necessary.
Some have suggested getting the debris up to Earth's escape velocity rather than trying
to bring it back through Earth's crowded space. In nature, spiders can disperse their
young with silk parachutes. The Space Spiders might take the debris and assemble a
pod for a light sail. Has anyone ever gotten a light sail to actually deploy and then work
in orbit?
The diminutive CubeSail craft, measuring 30 by 10 by 10 centimetres and weighing
just 3 kilograms, has been designed at the Surrey Space Centre at the University o
f Surrey in Guildford, UK. It has a solar sail that it can use for propulsion –
harnessing the pressure of sunlight, just as a boat's sail harnesses the pressure
of the wind – but it can also use the sail as an "orbital brake" to help it de-orbi
t to a fiery death in the atmosphere.
CubeSail, funded by the pan-European aerospace company EADS Astrium,
will be launched into low Earth orbit late next year. At an altitude of 700
kilometres, the "nanosatellite" will unfurl its 5-by-5 metre sail, initially to
test its usefulness for propulsion.
The Space Spider may use a lot of electrical energy so it will need sizable solar panels.
From time to time it will also need maintenance at a spiders nest in orbit where
remotely operated (tele-presense) robots could repair it. At this nest, consumable
components like electrodes and digestive juices could be replaced.
For smaller, more dispersed debris, I have other ideas. If this is of any interest to
anyone please contact me.
If there isn't any interest shown or feedback, then it is not worth your time, then it
certainly isn't worth my time. I have other unrelated ideas and inventions that are
being neglected. Mortality does impose strict deadlines.
Louis P. Quinn
February 2 2010
Modified 5 April 2010
thrust fluids. To de-orbit space debris requires reaction mass. A lot of the is debris
is metallic. Taking a page from nature. Spiders inject a fluid into their insect meals.
This liquefies the soft parts of the insect which can then be sucked out of the carapace.
A Space Spider could liquefy, (convert to a plasma), some of the captured debris and
use it for reaction mass. It could put small pieces into a chamber, (or perhaps an open
system using coils and accelerator plates) and apply a small arc or corona to a metal
surface to vaporize it. The vaporized plasma could be accelerated by magnetic or
electrostatic means to act as reaction mass. The small arc is necessary to prevent the
formation of slag or molten droplets. The arc should only remove a thin portion from
the surface of a large piece of debris. A small piece of metallic debris might be entirely
consumed.
Also to de-orbit debris there will need to be designated orbits, (or shapes of orbits),
that these slow delta-v machines can move through without endangering active satellites.
It can eat small debris to move to a higher orbit to get a large piece, then munch on that
piece down to a lower orbit where it will leave it to eventually enter the atmosphere. Eat
and repeat as necessary.
Some have suggested getting the debris up to Earth's escape velocity rather than trying
to bring it back through Earth's crowded space. In nature, spiders can disperse their
young with silk parachutes. The Space Spiders might take the debris and assemble a
pod for a light sail. Has anyone ever gotten a light sail to actually deploy and then work
in orbit?
The diminutive CubeSail craft, measuring 30 by 10 by 10 centimetres and weighing
just 3 kilograms, has been designed at the Surrey Space Centre at the University o
f Surrey in Guildford, UK. It has a solar sail that it can use for propulsion –
harnessing the pressure of sunlight, just as a boat's sail harnesses the pressure
of the wind – but it can also use the sail as an "orbital brake" to help it de-orbi
t to a fiery death in the atmosphere.
CubeSail, funded by the pan-European aerospace company EADS Astrium,
will be launched into low Earth orbit late next year. At an altitude of 700
kilometres, the "nanosatellite" will unfurl its 5-by-5 metre sail, initially to
test its usefulness for propulsion.
The Space Spider may use a lot of electrical energy so it will need sizable solar panels.
From time to time it will also need maintenance at a spiders nest in orbit where
remotely operated (tele-presense) robots could repair it. At this nest, consumable
components like electrodes and digestive juices could be replaced.
For smaller, more dispersed debris, I have other ideas. If this is of any interest to
anyone please contact me.
If there isn't any interest shown or feedback, then it is not worth your time, then it
certainly isn't worth my time. I have other unrelated ideas and inventions that are
being neglected. Mortality does impose strict deadlines.
Louis P. Quinn
February 2 2010
Modified 5 April 2010
Space Spiders could also use laser scanners while on the Dark Side to look for small debris.
They could have long tentacles to reach out and grab it
Electrostatic Gecko fingers would allow them to grab small stuff.
They could have long tentacles to reach out and grab it
Electrostatic Gecko fingers would allow them to grab small stuff.
| Space Spiders and Other Ickky Things |