Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/04/24/miniature-space-janitors-to-sw.html
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Am I the only one who remembers Quark?
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Giant Space Maids
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No, you aren’t. A few years ago I rewatched it on DVD, and you know what? 13-year-old me should be embarrassed.
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More competition for Half Section.
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RPI 1: What should we call it?
RPI 2: Well it’s a net in the sky.
RPI 1: Skynet?
RPI 2: Yeah, great idea!
But seriously cleaning up the junk-o-sphere is a good thing.
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Miniature space janitors to sweep up orbiting debris
What happens to the humans that used to vacuum up space, where do they find work now?
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And when the miniature space janitors break down - who cleans them up?
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Ah! I missed the obligatory:
I, for one, welcome our new miniature space janitor overlords.
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Good idea, don’t stop believing. If we’re going to get off this mudball, we need to clean up our act.
However: long-term, who is going to pay for the cleanup? Can we impose the costs of cleanup on the polluters, or what?
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If we have the math to get close to each of these bits of debris, then we have a more sustainable (in terms of energy) way to clean them up:
Build a satellite with a solar panel and a motor connected to a pusher plate. The satellite approaches the debris, lines up the pusher plate, and shoves the debris into a decaying orbit while simultaneously also pushing itself into a higher orbit or on to the next bit of debris. This pusher/cleaner essentially jumps from one bit to the next.
Said another way, this satellite is a sort of “Skywalker”, hoping from piece to piece.
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Well that’ll be my new band name.
Or…
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Orbits don’t work like that.
If they need crew, they’ll want to start with someone with experience.
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“That’s for clean-ups in outer space.”
(Video is cued.)
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129 million pieces of debris.
4 removed per 3 cubesats, or 1.33 per cubesat.
Our current record is 104 satellites launched on a rocket.
SpaceX better seriously ramp up their launch cadence!
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There are too many little bits of rubbish for that to work well. How about launching a satellite into a retrograde orbit, equipped with a tank of gas. When its radar shows it is flying through a high density of debris it releases a cloud of gas which transfers enough momentum to the debris to make it move into a lower orbit.
A link with a little more info for people not familiar with the series 
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Ah, you beat me to it: https://youtu.be/--MCDUV08eE
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