According to Jake Abbott, the Earth will soon have its rings, like Saturn: they will be made of space junk, and it is necessary to find a solution soon
The problem of space waste is becoming more pressing day by day. The recent risks of collision experienced on the International Space Station are just the tip of an iceberg that begins to seriously worry the scientific community, more and more committed to finding a solution to the problem of "space junk".
Like Saturn's rings
In the field of space debris, since 1978 there is a theory that hypothesizes the worst possible scenario: it is called Kessler Syndrome, and was proposed by NASA consultant Donald J. Kessler.
As the rings of Saturn
In the field of space debris, there is a theory that hypothesizes the worst possible scenario: it is called Kessler Syndrome, and was proposed by NASA consultant Donald J. Kessler. Kessler.
According to the famous theory, the amount of debris wandering around in low Earth orbit will at some point become so high that objects in orbit will increasingly be involved in collisions.
The impacts in turn will generate more debris, in an endless spiral that could make even the use of telecommunications satellites, not to mention space exploration, impossible in the near future.
This is only the worst possible scenario: there are now dozens of studies in the field for the recovery of space debris, but we need to progress quickly, and some of these projects will finally become operational.
A recent ESA report confirms the presence of more than 170 million debris in orbit larger than a millimeter, of which about 670 thousand larger than a centimeter.
And even more recent is the statement by Professor Jake Abbott of the University of Utah that "Earth will soon have its rings, like Saturn, but they will be made of space garbage."
Magnets to collect "the rings of debris"
According to Abbott, Earth could look very soon like Saturn: "most of the debris is traveling on Earth's orbit," Abbott argues, which is precisely why the idea of a simple robotic arm capturing it doesn't convince the professor.
The speed at which orbiting objects move is greater than 7 kilometers per second: at such speeds, a probe can move an asteroid, and debris of a few millimeters can become a fearsome object. "Trying to stop them with a robotic arm," Abbott argues, "would mean breaking the arm and creating more debris."
How then to prevent the creation around Earth of those "Saturn rings" made of debris that could impede the progress of space exploration and complicate communications on the planet?
In a recent paper published in Nature, the research team led by Abbott proposes what he calls "the first tractor beam in history": a large magnet capable of attracting and slowing down the course of the debris, then collect them and get them out of the way.
The project exploits the so-called eddy currents, or Foucault currents, generated by the variation of the magnetic flux within a variable magnetic field. A huge magnet would operate on top of a robotic arm, so that the currents would be generated at the right height.
Magnets are one of the most popular solutions to the space debris problem, and Abbott's tractor beam is one possible solution: "It's all about engineering from now on," Abbott concludes, "just build it and launch it.