Japan Teams Up With Fishing Net Maker To Haul In A Catch of Space Debris - Polidicks

[QUOTE]The proliferation of space debris surrounding our planet isn't just a theoretical problem--flying extraterrestrial garbage can cause damage to satellites, manned and unmanned space missions, and even the International Space Station. So we've seen quite a few proposed solutions already, but this is one of the best: Japan's space agency is partnering with a leading Japanese fishing net company to create a high-tech space net to capture all that unwelcome detritus above us. JAXA, Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency, is collaborating with Nitto Seimo Co, a fishing net manufacturer responsible for the first strong knot-less net, on a very special kind of net. This one will be made of super strong 1mm triple-layered threads, which when extended will span several kilometers of space. The net will be launched with a satellite, and when detached, will begin orbiting Earth, collecting the miscellaneous engine parts, particles, and abandoned satellites that litter that region. Interestingly, the net is designed as a one-time-use tool. That's different from DARPA's proposed net strategy, which would employ hundreds of nets aimed at redirecting space debris into the atmosphere to be either burned up or land harmlessly in the South Pacific. But this Japanese net is much larger, intended to collect as much debris as possible, and then let the Earth's magnetic field slowly draw it closer and closer to the planet, at which point it (and all of the debris in its clutches) will combust in the atmosphere. [img]http://www.popsci.com/files/imagecache/article_image_large/articles/space%20debris.jpg[/img][/QUOTE] Source: [url]http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-02/japan-teams-fishing-net-maker-magnetic-space-debris-net[/url]

Wow, awesome.

Time to take out the trash I guess

Japanese fishing finally does something good.

Let me guess. Sea Shepherd is going to get a spaceship and try to save the space whales from the Japanese space-whaling fleet.

[IMG]http://www.thespacereview.com/archive/696a.jpg[/IMG] Can't be the only one who thought of this.

So I guess all the whaling was just a warm-up?

You were.

[QUOTE=Ironic Man;27801859]You were.[/QUOTE] You missed.

This is my kind of recycling.

That's a big net.

So whats the catch?

Nobody watched Planetes? :saddowns:

Now that is a big catch... That is so fucking awesome

Those Crazy Japanese. :v:

wouldn't launching the net make more space debris [editline]2nd February 2011[/editline] or does nothing detach

Given the environment of this fishing trip, it surely will be the [I]deadliest catch.[/I]

[QUOTE=Eudoxia;27802644]Nobody watched Planetes? :saddowns:[/QUOTE] I watched it. first episode I thought it stupid.

doesn't like a rock the size of a pin head, hit with the force of a pistol round in space? i hope this is strong enough

Soon we got space fishers! I guess space pirates ain't far away. But i guess the milky way will be a 1.0 security system.

[QUOTE=Last or First;27801460]Let me guess. Sea Shepherd is going to get a spaceship and try to save the space whales from the Japanese space-whaling fleet.[/QUOTE] Sea Wrex will accompany him.

I wonder how much money in scrap there is just floating up there

[QUOTE=GoldenGnome;27801763]So I guess all the whaling was just a warm-up?[/QUOTE] [img]http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs22/f/2008/023/c/b/Space_Whale_by_Kinzoku_Wolf.jpg[/img] The ultimate haul

The title made me think they were trying to retrieve space debris that landed in the ocean. This makes more sense though.

We're whalers on the moon, We carry a harpoon. But there ain't no whales So we tell tall tales And sing our whaling tune.

[QUOTE=Brage Nyman;27804117]Soon we got space fishers! I guess space pirates ain't far away. But i guess the milky way will be a 1.0 security system.[/QUOTE] I feel incredibly nerdy for getting that joke.

Heh. i wrote a story once for a school project which was based on the Armageddon story. It turned out though that the big unidentified object that everyone thought was a meteorite actually was an alien warship and that the aliens where going to destroy mankind because we had been littering the space with junk. Kind of a nice moral to the story when i think about it. (Mankind destroyed the aliens and kept on littering so i guess that makes the moral invalid)

[QUOTE=Brage Nyman;27804117]Soon we got space fishers! I guess space pirates ain't far away. But i guess the milky way will be a 1.0 security system.[/QUOTE] You do realize the milky way is a galaxy not a solar system, right?

[QUOTE=Eudoxia;27802644]Nobody watched Planetes? :saddowns:[/QUOTE] 3rd favorite anime series ever... Having a physical net is a stupid idea, the debris will carry enough momentum to either fold the net up on impact or tear right through it. A much better idea would be something like an electromagnetic bumper on the prograde side of the ISS to deflect nearby debris out of it's orbit and into the atmosphere. You can project a MUCH larger electromagnetic field than any net you could feasibly build and launch.

[QUOTE=GreenLeaf;27811309]Heh. i wrote a story once for a school project which was based on the Armageddon story. It turned out though that the big unidentified object that everyone thought was a meteorite actually was an alien warship and that the aliens where going to destroy mankind because we had been littering the space with junk. Kind of a nice moral to the story when i think about it. (Mankind destroyed the aliens and kept on littering so i guess that makes the moral invalid)[/QUOTE] The moral is wrong. The only litter that's a problem is the one orbiting Earth and nobody but Earthicans would have a problem with that. Littering outside Earth's orbit wouldn't hurt anyone either because there's already tons of stuff out there.