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A British satellite, designed to test debris cleanup methods in space, managed to trap a simulated piece of junk in orbit with a large net. On Sunday, September 16th, the vehicle, known as the RemoveDEBRIS satellite, deployed its net on board, which then captured a nearby target probe that the vehicle had released a few seconds earlier. The demonstration shows that a simple idea like a net can be an effective way to clean up all the material in orbit around the Earth.
The RemoveDEBRIS satellite is designed to test many different methods for cleaning up unwanted data, which has become a growing problem since we started launching rockets into orbit. Thousands of dead and uncontrollable objects remain in orbit, including missing satellites, exhausted launchers and other debris from other spacecraft. And all this mail is moving fast, at over 17,000 miles per hour. The more debris in orbit, the more likely it is that these parts collide at high speeds, creating more debris that could pose a threat to other spacecraft.
The US Department of Defense's space surveillance network currently tracks about 8,000 objects in orbit with terrestrial antennas, to calculate the chances of two large pieces crisscrossing one another. However, many engineers are trying to find ways to clean garbage to reduce the risk of collision. It is difficult, however, as these objects move quickly and removing them without creating more debris is difficult. Some engineers have developed extremely innovative concepts, such as space lasers capable of heating spacecraft or electrified wires that can cause objects out of orbit.
However, the RemoveDEBRIS satellite, built by Surrey Space Center at the University of Surrey, aims to test much more discrete ways of removing space debris. In addition to experimenting with a deployable network, the satellite is also equipped with a harpoon capable of launching objects, as well as a sail that can help slow down debris and make it fall faster on Earth. The plan is to see if these technologies can even work before trying them on future spacecraft to clean the debris.
"We thought that technologies such as harpoon or net are relatively inexpensive," said Guglielmo Aglietti, director of Surrey Space Center and lead researcher for the RemoveDEBRIS project. The edge in April after the launch of the satellite. "If we can demonstrate affordable technologies, it is very likely that this will happen."
RemoveDEBRIS was launched at the International Space Station in April, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Then, in June, the satellite was loaded into the microsatellites deployment unit of the Kaber Nanoracks and deployed in the space. He has been in orbit since then, and this weekend he began the first phase of his experiments.
The idea behind the network is relatively simple: capture a piece of material and drag it into the atmosphere of the Earth, where it will burn. To see if this idea could work, RemoveDEBRIS was equipped with a small standardized satellite called CubeSat, which it deployed on Sunday. The small satellite drifted outward and then inflated a balloon to increase its overall size (to represent larger and more realistic debris). Once the CubeSat was more than 20 feet away, the RemoveDEBRIS vehicle pulled its net. Masses on the edges of the net surrounded the target to ensure that it did not come off the trap.
The Net CubeSat is expected to land on Earth a month or two ago, but if this concept is used in the future, the ideal would be that the network also contains a technology capable of pulling the debris down. "After catching something with a net, you want to tow your debris to bury it in the atmosphere," said Aglietti. "In our experience, we have just tested the network. We do not test the towing part.
However, RemoveDEBRIS will test a way to pull debris to the Earth. He will experiment with something called a drag sail, designed to slow down space vehicles in orbit. In low Earth orbit, where most of this debris resides, there are still small particles in the atmosphere of our planet that are constantly bombarding objects. These particles push the spacecraft slightly, pushing them out of their orbit and dragging them towards the Earth. And the more space a ship has, the more it is bombarded by these particles. For example, increasing the surface of a vehicle with a sail, for example, helps to reverse it faster on Earth.
In the coming months, RemoveDEBRIS will deploy a thin sail that will do just that and eventually pull the satellite out of its orbit. But before that, the vehicle will first try its harpoon on board. Soon, RemoveDEBRIS will deploy a flat target that will extend outside the spacecraft. Soon after, he will fire at his harpoon and try to hit the target. The test is intended to demonstrate another way of capturing a spaceship.
In addition, RemoveDEBRIS is equipped with special cameras and LIDAR technology that could also be used to visualize space debris and facilitate navigation. All this aims to show that these tools could be used one day to clean up real missing satellites.
"If the demonstration succeeds, we will learn a lot of useful things," said Aglietti. "The idea is that there will be real missions to capture a real debris." Such space debris capture satellites will need to have on-board thrusters to catch up with rapidly moving debris. But Aglietti hopes that RemoveDEBRIS will inspire confidence that these methods are practical. "We think it will be a good stepping stone to prove that the building blocks for the elimination of space debris are viable," he said.
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