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MagicHamsta t1_jbvutwj wrote

Reply to comment by wsclose in Scientists call for global action to clean up space junk by thebelsnickle1991

Why? Why not just shoot it down/up instead? Enough lasers could probably do something. Or what if we shoot the debris with some sort of gas to knock it out of orbit?

>Just gotta catch it first.

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sifuyee t1_jbvy7w9 wrote

Actually they have been proposing using lasers for a while now and it seems promising: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51946228_Removing_Orbital_Debris_with_Lasers

While using gas would work too, it rapidly disperses, requiring an enormous supply and potentially dragging down working spacecraft too.

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MagicHamsta t1_jbwh89e wrote

I see that as an absolute win. Couldn't we gas bomb the area to clear out large swaths of space?

> While using gas would work too, it rapidly disperses,

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sifuyee t1_jbwhqdb wrote

Well, you *could* but it would be very expensive because the rapid dispersal means you'd need so much of it do do anything that you'd require thousands of rockets just hauling gas to orbit. While that would drive down the cost of rockets individually, no one has that kind of money to spend.

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Jasrek t1_jbycit8 wrote

It rapidly disperses in the sense that the gas scatters too much to actually influence anything's orbit. For you to use it to clear out any swath of space, you would need an enormous amount of gas released at a high velocity. And even then, since all the debris is constantly moving, it's not like that area is now 'clear'. You just have slightly less debris at that orbital inclination. Or slightly more debris, depending on the design of your gas bomb.

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wsclose t1_jbvz45w wrote

But then we would miss the opportunity for Space junk athletes and competitions.

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