How giant lasers could get rid of space trash

Space debris is a huge problem, but we can fix it.
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Humans are filling the space around Earth with trash. Most of this junk comes from abandoned satellites, discarded jet engines, and other mission-related debris. And when these objects unintentionally collide, they explode into thousands of debris fragments that can seriously damage operational spacecraft. With a booming commercial space industry that has put an unprecedented number of new satellites in space in just the past few years, our space debris problem is only getting worse.
Scientists worry about a situation called the “Kessler syndrome,” coined in the 1970s, where a runaway chain reaction of collisions and fragmentation results in a cloud of debris around Earth so dense that it threatens future space missions.
But there are a few options to begin clearing out the debris surrounding us, most of them united in a strategy of slowing the objects down enough to de-orbit them - forcing them to reenter Earth’s atmosphere to be destroyed. For the largest category of debris, fragments measuring more than 10 centimeters in size, one solution would be to send a small spacecraft into orbit, where it would rendezvous with the large piece of debris and slow its orbit either by pushing or pulling it.
For the smallest class of debris, which spans a range of 1 millimeter to 1 centimeter in size, there are two main ideas. One would be to put a physical sweeper into orbit to catch or slow these tiny, untrackable fragments. The other would be to introduce a cloud of metal dust into orbit to weigh them down and drag them into Earth’s atmosphere.
For the class of space debris in the middle, measuring between 1 and 10 centimeters, the idea of using ground- and space-based lasers as a cleanup method has circulated for years. In this approach, a laser would use radar to track a piece of debris as it flies into view and then blast a pulse of energy at it. The goal is to nudge the debris enough to disrupt its orbit, ideally enough to slow it down.
Right now, NASA considers this the most cost-effective way to deal with most space debris, but it will take commitment from the international space community to implement any space debris removal strategies.
Further reading:
For more stories like this, check out Future Perfect, Vox's section focused on finding solutions to the world's biggest problems: www.vox.com/fu...
NASA's Cost and Benefit Analysis of Orbital Debris Remediation
www.nasa.gov/w...
NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office:
orbitaldebris....
The European Space Agency's latest on space debris:
www.esa.int/Sp...
Claude Phipps' 2014 paper, "L'ADROIT - A spaceborne ultraviolet laser system for space debris clearing"
ui.adsabs.harv...
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[@moralfuxery]

"before its too late". The bane of human existence

[@JaehaerysTheConciliator]

“A thing isn’t beautiful or tragic because it lasts, that’s only the case when it is destined to be extinct.” - Nabhan Mehrab Ali

[@zenmkultra]

​@@JaehaerysTheConciliatorcringe

[@John-jr5hj]

Prayer With You: Heavenly Father, Your Son Jesus Christ, born crucified resurrected For us ,Family ,Friends. Forgive Our Sins Give Us Eternal Life. In Jesus Christ's name.Amen

[@Floo_254]

Fr

[@benjaminkitaura498]

Space trash is the true cause of climate catastrophe! Where’s Greta and all her zombies?

[@samuelsternson8127]

Imagine your space-based anti-debris laser gets hit by space debris.

[@toolbaggers]

"debris" actually means enemy satellites and missiles.

[@CMT_Crabbles]

@@toolbaggersno. It means space trash.

[@axeivy]

@@toolbaggers Enemy? Bro, it's both the works of our allies too. Stop being so shallow minded. Had both our allies' and enemies' grandparents and their grandparents thought this through and not chase for space superiority, this conversation wouldn't've existed.

[@lachlanchester8142]

@@toolbaggersbro forgot about SALT 1 and 2

[@irvinclemente2368]

you wouldn't go to war with space debris without an armor 😉

[@rogueone9957]

That's too risky. I highly recommend picking up them one by one with hands.

[@agustdofficial8945]

The gov should provide trash can and cleaning service on space.

[@Aaron-n8o2g]

Don’t let a Sergeant Major hear you. They’ll have a whole detail of new Privates out there by 0830.

[@pakxenon]

This guy has watched Planetes.

[@L154N4LG4IB]

@@pakxenonI just finished the first episode a few minutes ago lol

[@rebornvirgin]

ez work for us viltrumites

[@CyclingSteve]

There was a paper quite recently that looked at the electromagnetic impact of conductive spacecraft junk in our orbit, the findings make the tungsten dust idea sound like a planned extinction event.

[@LabGecko]

_"We don't know who struck first, us or them. But we do know it was us that scorched the sky."_

[@Aaron-n8o2g]

@@LabGeckobeat me to it. Good job.

[@tungsten2009]

what's it from? @@LabGecko

[@LabGecko]

@@tungsten2009 _The Matrix_

[@tungsten2009]

cool. downloads the information straight to my brain@@LabGecko

[@appropriateinput]

Humans are... dirtballs; even in space. 😂😂😂

[@Digitron001]

Oh my, I totally agree.

[@weekiely1233]

This is different

[@toolbaggers]

@@weekiely1233 Hitler, Stalin, different or basically the same?

[@direktive4]

so's the earth?

[@sailingadventurer]

I can't wait to find plastics in mars

[@samin3997]

How about using a mirror? A laser from the ground and a mirror in space. I don't know if it would reduce the intensity of the laser.

[@toolbaggers]

it would. have you ever seen any laser used in real world scenarios? this is pure science fiction

[@myrlyn1250]

@@toolbaggers I own a handheld 5 watt laser (that I bought on Amazon) that will set wood on fire from 5 meters away. It would probably work a lot better aimed by a computer and in the near vacuum of space. It also burns paint off of metal, which would give thrust to the object. physics is cool! ;)

[@LabGecko]

​@toolbaggers ​said _"have you ever seen any laser used in real world scenarios"_ Look up StyroPyro's laser build _"StyroPyro long-range LASER turret in my yard" using an off-the-shelf 2 Kw laser he modded. It could easily burn things at 220m, and if you look at the 30 min mark he explains the projected max range. And he did this on a homemade focuser using PVC on a shaky tower. Or check CNet's vid _Real Laser Weapons Used by the US Military_ on the US Navy's 30Kw laser system. _"Anyone who could play XBox or PS4 games could use the [LaWS]"._ And that was in use in 2014. Much more powerful ones are in use now. We can afford those on military vehicles all over the world, but no, taking out space trash is too much work.

[@kentslocum]

I don't see why the US Space Force isn't already doing this. Not only is space debris a matter of national security, but why wouldn't they want a space-based laser in orbit, just in case?

[@Someone-sq8im]

Atmosphere will make the space laser ineffective at ground based targets

[@kentslocum]

@@Someone-sq8im World militaries already have ICBMs and cruise missiles for hitting terrestrial targets. Space-based laser systems are for redirecting space debris and disabling enemy satellites.

[@Someone-sq8im]

@@kentslocum ah, that does make some sense.

[@ForSureSid]

Everytime your mum tells you to put the trash in the bin, make sure to throw it into space

[@omuribep]

Thank you for this very instructive video. It is definetely an issue that shoul be dealt be ASAP !!

[@weekiely1233]

It is

[@tillthiemann6448]

Is there any research done on what the residue gases of burnt up space debris does to the atmosphere?

[@weekiely1233]

Some but it’s such a low amount of emissions it’s not even a concern atm

[@sH-ed5yf]

Nothing

[@toolbaggers]

@@weekiely1233 Just throw the garbage in the ocean said our grandparents.

[@weekiely1233]

@@toolbaggers so when they mitigate debris it’s bad and when they don’t it’s bad? Make your mind up

[@myrlyn1250]

There is approximately 16,000,000 kg of meteors entering the Earth's atmosphere every year, and an unknown amount of radioactive dust floating around from all the nuclear weapons testing in the last 80 years or so. A few hundred (or thousand) satellites shouldn't make too much of a difference.

[@loyalfilm]

So the laser is like a mini Death Star super laser, but directed towards space instead of a planet.

[@dgthe3]

Feels like, in order to prevent the militarization of space, any such system would need to need to be an international operation. Consequently, the lasers couldn't be ground based or else the country that owns said ground could conceivably use the lasers for their own purposes. So space based is the only option that feels appropriate. Have a small group from USA, China, Russia, etc, who all need to sign off on any firing. The laser could work in bursts: bank energy for 20 firings; get approval on 20 targets; repeat.

[@Housewarmin]

I think we should just get a big trash bag, and scoop.

[@reddcube]

Humans are amazing. We litter everywhere: in the deep oceans, across the land, into space, and even other planets.

[@vpt6276]

It's funny how such persistent problems can be easily solved by using giant lasers

[@matt.eick28]

Like the Death Star? Not even a big Star Wars fan but pretty easy to see this one

[@AuxbrainInc]

Why aren't any of these companies called CleanX?

[@danielshults5243]

Fund your space laser concept by selling collision insurance to satellite owners.

[@Mathias3710]

"Let's dump heavy dust into our atmosphere! That won't backfire."

[@antigonemerlin]

What is this doomerism in the comments? I am personally glad that there are enough people working on the issue who haven't just thrown up their arms and given up. Humanity solved the ozone hole, we can deal with this issue too.

[@YOOM100]

A system of space mirrors with boosters to guide its angle/trajectory in middle earth orbit would allow ground lasers with a renewable/constant power supply to bounce its beam at an X angle to hit the debris in lower earth orbit downward toward the atmosphere so it can burn up. The solution is always lasers, magnets and mirrors.

[@dop3204]

just call for Supermans help

[@AshC137]

This reminds me of 'Helping Hand' from 'Love Death and Robots' (iykyk)

[@helpfulcommenter]

I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said... "I drank what?"

[@OliviaJanda-f9b]

Humans are... dirtballs; even in space.

[@weekiely1233]

Space debris is different

[@rcnhsuailsnyfiue2]

Space laser expert Marjorie Taylor Greene has been talking about this for years 🧠 Old news, Vox!

[@davidh.4944]

Every story is new to somebody, no matter how long it has been around. And the video itself stated explicitly that the concept has been around since the 90s.

[@Thepriest39]

We can’t even teach people here on earth to not litter. Just putting it into a trash can is apparently to difficult.

[@kuritech]

If i had a nickel for every NASA related problem that was solved by a broom id have two nickels, which isnt a lot but odd it happened twice

[@schwobbel]

the worst thing about all of this is that we cant accurately track the objects in the lower earth orbit, not even the big ones, so we cant even tell if objects are going to hit, its more of a chance that they hit each other. i think thats a thing vox shouldve explained aswell

[@toolbaggers]

Anti-satellite and anti-ballistic missile systems under the guise of 'cleaning up space.' Ronald Reagan would be proud of this Star Wars laser system.

[@Tjalve70]

We can track them. But we can't track them with 100% accuracy. So we can conclude that a satellite has a risk of being hit by a certain trackable piece of debris. But we can't in advance be 100% certain whether it will hit or not.

[@antigonemerlin]

Just in time for the near future too, as major powers are developing more anti-satellite capabilities (ie, those lasers which are so useful for blinding spy satellites).

[@Digitron001]

Not only are we polluting our planet, but also space. Another reason for extraterrestrial life not visiting a planet filled both in and around with junk. GG humans.

[@weekiely1233]

This isn’t pollution and it’s much harder to fix

[@pvanukoff]

@@weekiely1233 I think you need to look up the definition of pollution.

[@weekiely1233]

@@pvanukoff “Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance or energy” Maybe you should’ve before telling me to

[@pvanukoff]

@@weekiely1233 Space debris is a contaminant (man-made junk) in a natural environment (the space around earth) that can cause adverse change (it can cause damage to desired satellites, and makes deploying new stuff into orbit more challenging and dangerous), and it is in fact a substance. I'm just confused as to why you claim that it's not pollution.

[@weekiely1233]

@@pvanukoff not a substance or energy and not impacting space itself. Space is the same regardless of is there’s satellites there or not. It impacts us not space which would be needed for the definition to be accurate Why are you so obsessed with twisting a definition to its extreme when it’s obviously not a pollutant and that simply degrades its meaning which is detrimental to actual conservation work? Is having a loaded word more important than that words integrity to you?

[@jonathana9236]

Lately I’ve been hearing about lasers in the sky causing fires ?

[@dankscytheok8864]

Should we hold all space agencies accountable to help clean up?

[@brianfong5711]

9:29 There are 6 songs called "critical condition" on APM, which one did you use? Again, list your full music bibliography. Name your artist or album or something.

[@mnelisi]

And here I thought the video was about taking all of earth’s trash and sending it to space

[@Yutappy99]

We could use the space debris as a shield against coronal mass ejections.

[@weekiely1233]

No

[@ricarlorichards9200]

Soon, we are gonna need a space clean-up.

[@hakeemcanonio3840]

Very informative

[@TheTuttle99]

Im no scientist but boy that tungsten dust idea sounds TERRIBLE

[@JJadx]

can't we just fill up orbit and then just armor up satellites and rockets? ez fix.

[@helpfulcommenter]

This? This is ice. This is what happens to water when it gets too cold. This? This is Kent. This is what happens to people when they get too sexually frustrated.

[@RadialSeeker113]

Will this not heat up the atmosphere?

[@tedyshor]

Call the magnet fishing guy 😅

[@roguesample]

It’s a sad testament to how much waste we can create when it potentially poses a risk of humanity never leaving the planets atmosphere again

[@Newstatejournal1]

Excellent!

[@diamonddanmc6077]

What if we a lazer from the ground to a special satelight that will redirect it to the junk satelight thus sending it towards the atmophere.

[@balasarathi9001]

0:35 is that sound from a PUBG nade? Looks eerily similar

[@TurinTuram]

very interesting thank you

[@tim..indeed]

These things will be used as weapons against enemy satellites before we know it.

[@toolbaggers]

Anti-satellite and anti-ballistic missile systems under the guise of 'cleaning up space.' Ronald Reagan would be proud of this Star Wars laser system.

[@toolbaggers]

Who do you think will run this program? NASA or the Space Force? Waste Management or Lockheed Martin? 🤔🙄😮😥🤮

[@saammahakala]

6:05 Will this action be interpreted as a declaration of war due to unintended damage to U.A.P.'s caught in its sight?

[@entropycat]

Why your music volume is higher that the speech volume?

[@fg786]

I don't get the part with the lawers. Isn't that a typical draw situation: "Proof you shot US debris!" "No, you prove it was your debris!" Nobody will ever find out whatever you shot, nor can we probably. Or simpler: "Proof that we even hit stuff in the first place" I mean who's missing their space debris? Are there actually records not only that something is at that altitude going that direction and it's also coming from satellite XYZ?

[@jeremyheminger6882]

Spies Like Us... add a mirror to the satellite and bounce the ground based laser off if it to hit the debris from above.

[@jeremyheminger6882]

Of course, in the movie, this didn't turn out so great. I imagine if you miss you, you might hit something or someone on the ground.😂

[@Someone-sq8im]

Atmosphere will make the LASER considerably less powerful

[@kuroshite]

8:07 Grenade from PUBG!

[@tomkrajewski3391]

Now the atmosphere people are complaining about the pollution from burning in the atmosphere

[@Someone-sq8im]

Most spacecraft are made of metal and ceramics IIRC, neither of which will burn up

[@real90sweden10]

lasers? robots? man space is becoming more like star wars every day

[@toolbaggers]

Anti-satellite and anti-ballistic missile systems under the guise of 'cleaning up space.' Ronald Reagan would be proud of this Star Wars laser system.

[@jeffkevinph]

they found out that the space debris defends us, now they are clearing them for us to experience the full brunt of the sun.

[@Searchingtheworld7183]

İmagine the lasers are use in the space war.

[@nunya___]

But if you Push a object Higher with a ground based laser it would de-circularize it's orbit enough to cause it's orbit to degrade.

[@NPJGlobal]

Even in space, the Japanese are the cleanest, you couldn't make that up!

[@herzogsbuick]

the video says most communications satellites are in LEO -- i've always thought most were in geostationary orbit? at least until like starlink and stuff, i'm pretty sure that's wrong, but not 100%

[@weekiely1233]

It’s true. Most in in LEO with constellations like Iridium and Orbcom

[@rizizum]

Well, there are about 600 satellites in GEO, Stalink alone has around 5000 satellites, so there you go

[@secondengineer9814]

Audio mixing wasn't great on this...

[@tpot725]

See also: The Drake Equation

[@HRm708]

Sooo for trash And not for Hawaii or Texas. 🤔

[@toolbaggers]

Only the military could/would use such a system. It's like GPS or the internet, where civilian uses are only a mere side effect of the military industrial complex.

[@heinrichmuller7974]

if it gets bad enough, maybe it'll protect us from an alien invasion ... i try to see the upside to things lol

[@Budicles]

Why can we not use the space laser, put a sunlight gathering satellite behind laser in tandem, harness the suns energy and recharge the batteries , so to speak, of the laser. No power issues. No atmosphere distortion issues. If not this then what about a laser wall vs laser broom. Stretch out a series of lasers creating a wall of energy with the above suns energy power solution to have a wall of lasers vaporize the 0 to 10cm items.

[@rizizum]

They're obviously gonna use solar panels to power the laser, the thing is, you don't have unlimited energy doing that, power will still be a restraint, unless you use some huge solar panels

[@rebeccamontague9811]

Who all will absorb the cost of this? Doubt it will include China.

[@alazario1082]

This isnt practical as the lasers would create more debris right? Correct me if im wrong

[@Digitron001]

The laser only accelerates or decelerates debris. Meaning their velocity would be increased/decreased to that of the size of the object and it's danger. If it poses the threat to hit out satellite we can use lasers to just give them a push out of their path, the debris would get this energy or force that they would get placed in a different orbit, possibly large enough for them to get lost in the unknown. If not the debris would just fall back into earth and burn up in the atmosphere. These 2 are the only cases possible, out of which neither of them create more debris.

[@hieronymusbutts7349]

I think about things like this. A satellite that targets and ionises small particles to then attract them with electrostatic forces - a nuclear-powered laser satellite that can knock satellites out of orbit or disintegrate small space debris into harmless sizes I read a paper about using lasers to target onto a satellite and increase its temperature, which somehow then increases its drag and causes it to deviate out of orbit until it falls back to earth. Problems: it's hard to target them from the earth, because you need to stay on target for a long time and you're trying to hit a penny with a pistol from 4 miles away - and it's hard to get the necessary power up into space.

[@toolbaggers]

Anti-satellite and anti-ballistic missile systems under the guise of 'cleaning up space.' Ronald Reagan would be proud of this Star Wars laser system.

[@Someone-sq8im]

@@toolbaggersstop copy pasting

[@incognitotorpedo42]

If flecks of paint are dangerous, that makes the idea of "harmless sizes" sound hard to attain. Seems like you really want to de-orbit everything.

[@Freddy-zq6vi]

@marjorie taylor greene, you might be right

[@pinkace]

Why should TAXPAYERS pay for this!? Private companies are the ones putting their satellites in space for profit, therefore it should be THEIR job. Give this task to the private sector, I bet they'll fix it quickly to preserve their own profit margins.

[@Someone-sq8im]

Where’s the money to be gained from space lasers?

[@pinkace]

@@Someone-sq8im the companies putting satellites in space are private entities. This space junk poses a threat to THEIR investments. It's in their own private interests to clean up space junk that could damage their property.

[@weekiely1233]

Satellites and debris are completely different Companies like SpaceX leave no debris from launches and all commercial satellite operators are required to have disposal plans to mitigate debris Most debris is from the Cold War specifically russian. Modern debris comes overwhelmingly from Russia and China not private companies

[@weekiely1233]

@@pinkaceso because they’re the ones impacted we as civilians should also be paying for climate change mitigation on earth? Or do you want companies to pay for everything you don’t like?

[@pinkace]

@@weekiely1233 well, space x is not flying rockets for fun, the whole idea is to fly SATELLITES up there for private businesses.

[@helpfulcommenter]

Did you want to borrow my pajamas?

[@araki585]

Algorithm used to recommend me Vox videos a lot, but not lately huh.

[@Huebz]

It’s ironic they say the sweeper is to expensive but don’t ever acknowledge the unthinkable costs that will be incurred when we lose most or all GPS and global communications satellites.

[@chrisoconnell8432]

This video was talking about things in low earth orbit. GPS and most communications satellites are in mid to high/Geostationary orbit. There's more space and less debris in those orbits so its less of a concern.

[@rolfs2165]

@@chrisoconnell8432 But when low Earth orbit is so polluted that you can't get through any more, you can't replace broken satellites in higher orbits. _That_ is going to be our biggest problem with all that space debris, at some point it stops us from leaving the planet.

[@Huebz]

@@rolfs2165 exactly. It won’t be immediate but we won’t be able to replace or repair. Plus after a collision event, the debris isn’t all stuck in L.E.O.

[@chrisoconnell8432]

@@rolfs2165 Well yeah, thats why they're working on reducing space junk. There won't be a moment where we go from being able to access space to unable to access it. As space junk gets worse there will be smaller and smaller windows where we can access space. So when they say its "too expensive", they really mean its not urgent enough. Everyone is well aware of the importance of GPS and comm sats.

[@alphagt62]

@@chrisoconnell8432yes, I’m sure you’re right about how they are thinking about the cost. But as the man said in the video, one major collision could cause a chain reaction that could cause us to go from access to no access. All within a few hours.

[@Digitron001]

Everytime your mum tells you to put the trash in the bin, make sure to throw it into space

[@satyasankalpapanigrahi9416]

😂😂😂 how it would fly up into to the empty desserted of lone space vacuum.

[@toolbaggers]

Mum traditionally threw everything into the 'space' known as the ocean.

[@KazehayaKhai]

I cant imagine Wall-E visually predict how vast the space debris are

[@weekiely1233]

Those renders aren’t accurate

[@micahbush5397]

​@@weekiely1233Well, they had to make the debris recognizable.

[@asasial1977]

This is Gordon Shumway's job

[@pfefferle74]

Kudos to Vox for consistently using metric units.

[@williamwade2674]

yeah great way to alienate the majority of their audience

[@Aeroleaves]

guess what NASA and SpaceX uses? @@williamwade2674

[@BoB-gt4xt]

​@@williamwade2674just adapt to the better system 🤦🏿‍♂️😂

[@williamwade2674]

@@BoB-gt4xt it’s not that simple bro even if i adapt all the roadways signs and other stuff are still in customary so i’d have to convert everything so it’s really unrealistic unless the government is will to standardize the metric system

[@tPlayerioT]

​@@williamwade2674yeah what do you use? feet?

[@Rjgxxx]

Imagine us being able to address an existential issue before it became an issue 😵‍💫

[@jayjya]

Don’t tell me what to do

[@weekiely1233]

That’s literally what’s happening.

[@geogao6867]

@@jayjya😊

[@blip-hn6is]

what if we used nukes?

[@weekiely1233]

@@blip-hn6is wouldn’t fix it. Would make it worse Nuke would cause an emp that would knock out most satellites (see operation fishbowl for an example) and would shred satellites too close causing more debris directly

[@rehanpoonawalla7406]

You know we have a serious problem with trash/waste management when even in space- it is abundent.

[@weekiely1233]

It’s not that abundant. Renders are often not accurate to scale. It’s more of a future risk Plus most is old, Chinese or Russian.

[@toolbaggers]

Anti-satellite and anti-ballistic missile systems under the guise of 'cleaning up space.' Ronald Reagan would be proud of this Star Wars laser system.

[@Joel-ew1zm]

This is so weird. I literally had a dream about this exact concept last night, and here we are: a video about it this morning.

[@hallunolla]

Next time try dreaming about a cure for aging.

[@thatwastakenagain]

i want one for how to make sure a robot doesn't take my job or something

[@Psycandy]

that's not weird. the day before, something happened which got you thinking about this, or maybe not but it otherwise was on your mind. your dreams are there to resolve issues, as it were, to practice for what might possibly come. it's also why dreams are so scant on details but the focus of dreams are premonitions, so you should expect events to follow dreams. of course, your mind sometimes gets it wrong, like badly, so as a precaution, wipes your memory and basically counts on deja vu

[@jensenraylight8011]

Is creating a Space Roomba is still too difficult to do?

[@weekiely1233]

Yes

[@Ensensu2]

Space-Plow

[@nickp.4995]

It got stuck and its just spinning in circles on the test run

[@jeffbenton6183]

How exactly is a vacuum cleaner supposed to work in the vacuum of space? (Sidenote: just responding to the inevitable in advance, - yes, I know it's a joke, I'm just a buzzkill).

[@endrankluvsda4loko172]

Space fly paper

[@RamdomView]

There's a Manga+Anime about this topic - Planetes.

[@stasgold]

Lasers in space 👍 Count me in 😂

[@Artyomi]

Make sure you make them Jewish, then the whole right wing will go nuts, courtesy of MTG.

[@w203wuda]

You're saying we could use a Gundam, right? Amuro ikimasu!

[@Jcledera]

My cats would love this

[@ryanbrown982]

Finally, a video on laser brooms. The concept of using nets to catch trash has always seemed ridiculous. A drop in the ocean. But a laser broom can be located in a single location and target orders of magnitude more pieces of debris than even a fleet of net satellites.

[@blacksmith67]

A net or grasping arms would only be used for big objects, such as satellites that are a meter or more.

[@TheAmericanAmerican]

Oh sure, we can have laserbeams in space but when will I get my sharks with frigging laser beams attached to their heads!? 😤

[@LiamPieters1995]

Awesome, thanks a lot for bringing space lasers to people's attention! Really well-made video. I have been an avid supporter of space-based laser removal since 2018 and published a paper on its feasibility (small-scale debris removal using space-based lasers, by L.Pieters and R.Noomen). One small correction: at 6:18 you mention the space-based laser would have a more favourable angle wrt the debris object. While this is true, the orientation you show isn't the most favourable. You want to be hitting the debris objects as head-on as you can. This way you decrease the velocity, which makes the object de-orbit and burn up in the atmosphere the fastest. Let's hope this method gets realised in the near future.

[@collindwebb]

Yes, shooting a laser to push an object towards earth would just change its orbit a little; it wouldn't help de-orbit any debris we need to worry about.

[@tofferr]

Ah, so the ground based one would also be most effective at a head on angle... but to achieve that it has to go through so much atmosphere. Any idea what the optimal angle is for ground based? Other considerations?

[@LiamPieters1995]

@@tofferr ground based lasers are less worried about the geometry, since they can’t change their orientation anyway. They are always going to follow the target flying overhead for the max amount of time. Indeed, an object close to the horizon has better geometry but the laser spot size increases drastically as it has to traverse almost 1500 km to reach an object at 600 km altitude. I believe somewhere around 45 degrees angle the two effects balance out and the effect is largest

[@sprout8426]

i'm so glad i found this comment. I'm writing a report on this topic and was struggling to find material 😭😭 edit: I read your paper! and enjoyed it way too much. I'm just a college student so I doubt my comment would be of much value but I was invested the whole way through. What a well written paper!

[@junxndre]

WALL●E is becoming a reality

[@betterchapter]

It's still mind-boggling to think that lasers were once considered "a solution in search of a problem" lol

[@LauraGibson-f4n]

Is there any research done on what the residue gases of burnt up space debris does to the atmosphere?

[@JohnChamberlin-hx6uq]

Interesting; FYI almost all communication satellites are in Geosynchronous Orbit (26K miles above the earth), not Low-Earth Orbits. GPS is in a Walker Constellation around 12k miles up.

[@SamuelVincent-w5q]

I'm confident that the increased interest in this technology isn't solely due to concerns about space debris. It also holds potential as a secondary application for disabling enemy satellites.

[@TheGreyLineMatters]

This is what they call wishful thinking, we can't even clean the litter off the ground we walk on to work every day.

[@Psycandy]

the whole point of nano satellites is to be infuriatingly difficult to eradicate but if they collide in sufficient numbers, will eventually make a pretty sparkly ring around the planet. Tossing anything into orbit can only help.

[@byoslandry]

Using a laser would create smaller but deadly debris, You need to de-orbit the trash to burn up

[@larrythehedgehog]

I see my idea for a bunch of Wall-E's equipped with jetpacks deployed into LEO wasn't considered...

[@calex5591]

Wow, a story that’s not about some identity politics. I actually watched this one bc it was interesting

[@nachiketp20]

Scientists must look for garbage in other planets if they want to look for human life in other planet 😂