Boeing proposes gas cloud to get rid of space junk
Oct 8, 2012, 7:45 AM | Updated: 8:57 am
A Boeing patent proposes using a gaseous cloud to remove old satellites and other debris from the Earth's orbit. (Rendering of space debris field courtesy NASA)
(Rendering of space debris field courtesy NASA)
With so many old satellites and other junk crowding space around Earth, a Seattle-area Boeing engineer has come up with a unique idea to get rid of the debris – use a cloud of gas.
Engineer Michael Dunn proposes targeting space junk with “transient gaseous clouds” dense enough to drag the orbital debris back into Earth’s atmosphere, allowing it to burn up, according to a patent application recently made public.
GeekWire reports the clouds would be created by a rocket at an altitude of at least 100 kilometers. While the gas would quickly dissipate, it would create enough drag on the space junk to pull it into the atmosphere.
It’s just an idea at this point, but it could be more efficient than other theories for getting rid of some of the space junk, such as attaching sails to defunct satellites or deploying robots equipped with nets to trawl for debris, New Scientist reports.
