
Japan to test magnetic net to clean up space junk circling Earth - lelf
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2539934/Fishing-space-Japan-test-magnetic-net-clean-space-junk-circling-Earth.html
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userulluipeste
I'm confused. Does the space junk need to be cleaned? If it's on low orbit, it
will suffer atmospheric drag and will eventually fall back on earth; if it's
on higher orbits then it doesn't differ much from other "natural" junk that
existed since before space age. Am I missing something here?

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gizmo686
I think the problem is that the space junk from us tends to be in a stable
orbit, because we specifically positioned it to be in a stable orbit. And it
would tend to inhabit the same elevation as we like our satellites. Also, I
suspect that most natural junk would not still be in orbit, as it would likely
have already fell back to Earth, or left orbit. This isn't to say that all of
the junk is ours, but it makes sense that a significant amount is.

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thinkpad20
Nice! I had been wondering if this project was still alive. I hope they're
successful; it sounds kinda like a long shot though.

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gizmo686
Any insight on why is sounds like a long shot? It seems like the goal is to
reduce the amount of junk, not eliminate it, so they can afford a pretty high
miss rate.

