Design Brief
Client: NASA
Target Consumer: International space programs
Designer(s):
Problem Statement:
The rising population of space debris increases the potential danger to all space vehicles.
Design Statement:
Design a system that will mitigate space junk impact or reduce the volume of space junk.
Constraints:
· Use the design process
· Brainstorm/sketch at least 3 ideas
· The system can be deployed to any orbit
· Power source
· Must have a failsafe system (not to become junk itself)
· Cheap to operate
· One Weebly page per group (link page)
· One minute presentation
· Prototype example (Inventor or model)
Target Consumer: International space programs
Designer(s):
Problem Statement:
The rising population of space debris increases the potential danger to all space vehicles.
Design Statement:
Design a system that will mitigate space junk impact or reduce the volume of space junk.
Constraints:
· Use the design process
· Brainstorm/sketch at least 3 ideas
· The system can be deployed to any orbit
· Power source
· Must have a failsafe system (not to become junk itself)
· Cheap to operate
· One Weebly page per group (link page)
· One minute presentation
· Prototype example (Inventor or model)
RESEARCH
Several hundred thousand pieces of waste, commonly known as space junk, litter low-Earth orbit, potentially causing hazardous conditions for rockets and satellites. Space junk, which ranges from tiny paint flecks to bulky decommissioned satellites and spent rocket stages, is reaching a tipping point. After decades of assuming that low-Earth orbit could handle almost unlimited waste, space agencies have recently realized that the current density of space junk is high enough for collisions to start becoming inevitable, with each crash potentially creating hundreds of new objects to worry about.
We researched the idea of shooting the junk down using high-powered laser pulses. The heat from the laser blasts would vaporize a minuscule part of a piece of space junk, resulting in a plasma jet that could slow the object down enough to bring it out of Earth orbit.
NASA has considered many proposals for cleaning up space, including mesh nets strung between inflatable booms or unmanned collecting barges that would fly around picking up trash. They have even previously contemplated a ground-based laser removal system: a medium-powered laser that would use the small momentum imparted by photons to nudge an object out of orbit. But such an approach would be mostly limited to lighter objects, leaving behind the most hazardous material, said Kessler, who is NASA’s former Senior Scientist for Orbital Debris Research.
More powerful lasers, with roughly 150 kilowatts of power, should be capable of adjusting the orbit of almost any size object. The smallest debris (less than 3 feet in size) would burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere after being slowed down and falling out of orbit, while larger pieces might need to be aimed properly to land in the Pacific Ocean.
Still, the technique requires caution, said Kessler.
“If you’re not careful, you might hit the wrong part of a satellite or could vaporize enough to cause it to explode,” he said.
To solve this problem a dedicated 10-meter telescope could be built with the necessary capabilities to track space junk and properly calculate where and how to hit it. All of the technology needed for such a facility, including a large enough mirror and powerful enough laser, currently exists or is under development.
Several hundred thousand pieces of waste, commonly known as space junk, litter low-Earth orbit, potentially causing hazardous conditions for rockets and satellites. Space junk, which ranges from tiny paint flecks to bulky decommissioned satellites and spent rocket stages, is reaching a tipping point. After decades of assuming that low-Earth orbit could handle almost unlimited waste, space agencies have recently realized that the current density of space junk is high enough for collisions to start becoming inevitable, with each crash potentially creating hundreds of new objects to worry about.
We researched the idea of shooting the junk down using high-powered laser pulses. The heat from the laser blasts would vaporize a minuscule part of a piece of space junk, resulting in a plasma jet that could slow the object down enough to bring it out of Earth orbit.
NASA has considered many proposals for cleaning up space, including mesh nets strung between inflatable booms or unmanned collecting barges that would fly around picking up trash. They have even previously contemplated a ground-based laser removal system: a medium-powered laser that would use the small momentum imparted by photons to nudge an object out of orbit. But such an approach would be mostly limited to lighter objects, leaving behind the most hazardous material, said Kessler, who is NASA’s former Senior Scientist for Orbital Debris Research.
More powerful lasers, with roughly 150 kilowatts of power, should be capable of adjusting the orbit of almost any size object. The smallest debris (less than 3 feet in size) would burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere after being slowed down and falling out of orbit, while larger pieces might need to be aimed properly to land in the Pacific Ocean.
Still, the technique requires caution, said Kessler.
“If you’re not careful, you might hit the wrong part of a satellite or could vaporize enough to cause it to explode,” he said.
To solve this problem a dedicated 10-meter telescope could be built with the necessary capabilities to track space junk and properly calculate where and how to hit it. All of the technology needed for such a facility, including a large enough mirror and powerful enough laser, currently exists or is under development.
Sketches
Final Design
Conclusion Questions
1. Explain a major deterrent for amassing space junk.
A major deterrent for amassing space junk would be that space junk can be dangerous if left in space.
2. Describe a viable system to protect a space craft from space junk
A viable system to protect the space craft from junk is a force field like the one on the death star.
1. Explain a major deterrent for amassing space junk.
A major deterrent for amassing space junk would be that space junk can be dangerous if left in space.
2. Describe a viable system to protect a space craft from space junk
A viable system to protect the space craft from junk is a force field like the one on the death star.