Everywhere humans have ever gone, they have left garbage in
their wake. This includes space, too. Right now, there are
thousands of man-made satellites orbiting Earth, most of which
can be classified as space junk. Obviously, with so much
floating around space, it is only natural that space program
planners are growing increasingly concerned over risks to future
missions. Well, according to a recent proposal, a new kind of
satellite could serve as a cosmic cleaner, mopping up near-earth
orbit of space junk. So, how could it work? According to its
designers, the TAMU Space Sweeper satellite would launch into
space, hereupon it would start spinning. Directed toward a piece
of debris, the satellite would then catch it in a robotic arm,
fling the junk down toward Earth and a burn-up in the
atmosphere, and then, using the momentum from the first
encounter,fly to another target and so-on. The benefits here:
minimal fuel and no need to develop new technology. The Space
Sweeper is currently in development of Texas A&