Space Trash: The Next Big Pickle

Earth's orbit has a bit of a litter problem. Hank outlines a few ways scientists have thought of to help clean things up.

Like SciShow? Want to help support us, and also get things to put on your walls, cover your torso and hold your liquids?
--
Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet?

[TheGreatMoonFrog]

Most people dream of being the first person to mars, or the first person to find life, or the first person to visit another solar system. I want to be a space garbage truck driver.

[tudortescoveanu]

we should move all the junk into junk rings so will be like saturn

[SwitchFeathers]

Send up a giant magnet, collect everything, then incinerate the whole thing.

With plasma.

Never fails. I solved my tax returns this way.

[JPQed]

I love the freighter idea because I can just imagine awesome and massive ships roaming around sucking up everything.

[Tweetymorris]

there was an anime created which focused heavily on this topic called Planetes. In that show their solution to this problem included having people (much like space garbage men) collect the debris and either reuse it or scrap it into earth's atmosphere. they talked a lot about the Kessler Syndrome in the show too. very interesting and thought provoking.

[hourof]

One of the many reasons aliens won't visit us. It is damn hazardous.

[TheSilverSmitih]

There planning to send robots to collect the space trash? Time for outer space Wall-E

[kingofthegifs]

an anime called "planetes" is about this very problem... one of the few space anime where physics were very realistic and the technology not only plausible, but in a way practical... i could see us going in their direction.

[ZoggFromBetelgeuse]

There are interstellar companies specialized in this sort of thing. The nearest one to your system is the Castor and Pollux Orbital Cleaning Agency.
Btw, I think they work with huge portals wiping the orbit sector by sector, with the exit portals being near the local sun.

[haymaker]

If we put a laser on the pole wouldn't the earth be the death star?

[ballooniecat]

What about a satellite that generates a big magnetic field around itself? Ferrous debris would be drawn to it naturally, but the other trick it would use is a laser to ionize surrounding debris. Once ionized, the debris would be subject to the magnetic field. With enough delta-V, the satellite could then drag this debris into a graveyard orbit where it could later be picked through for resources.

The other idea I had was a satellite full of water. Once in space, it uses a set of robot arms with nozzles to 3D-print a shell of ice around itself, dramatically increasing its cross-sectional area. Then it just maneuvers into a region of high-density space junk and lets all the little bits collide with its ice shell, clearing that region like a big snowplow. Two problems I can see 1) the small bits of ice that flake off the shell on impact have enough kinetic energy to become dangerous debris fragments all by themselves and 2) the ice shell's integrity is compromised by all those impacts and it breaks apart into large, hi-speed chunks. Still seems like something worth considering.

[EvelynDayless]

They should make a robot that can disassemble the debris and use it to make copies of itself, which will go off to other pieces of debris and do the same until all the debris is quickly cleared and then we can have them do something cool like build a lunar base or conquer earth

[brookcie]

I like the collection and burn up in re-entry method, clean and simple.

[RobbJones]

How about electromagnets. Put a few into orbit, let them collect the majority of the metallic pieces and over time their size would grow, thus their mass, and thus their gravity, pulling in some of the non-metallic pieces. Eventually let them pull each other and then before you know it you have a landfill moon! We could put space parks on it and let people walk their space dogs and catch space Pokemon on it!

[vespervespero]

Yeah i got one, stop throwing your shit into orbit.

[vladreborn]

ah. i've been looking for that anime for a long time now. saw the first 4 episodes and never got to finish it. thanks for the memory refresher.

[jafajr]

OH! I have a video idea that might be pretty cool. Sensory deprivation, an explanation of everything from float tanks, to the silent room that makes people go mad. I've often thought about why these things happen.

[ThyeAnxietyEffect]

"Don't worry scientists are working on ways to fix it", I love scientists :)

[levihowell]

Send up a GIANT roll of super sticky tape, all the little flecks and debris will just get stuck. Or like giant thin slices of double sided super sticky tape. I expect my check when this happens tho

[zeekertron]

There was a whole hard scifi anime series called "Planetes" about this. It followed a crew that worked for an independent corporation in space.They collected debris.