Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
NanoTerminator Prevents Annoying Space Debris Build-Up
The nanoTerminator, recently released by TUI (Tethers Unlimited International), could help to prevent a rapidly growing problem in space - human-made debris from rockets and satellites. Although space is large (the volume of the known universe is about 1.9 x 10(33) cubic light years), space junk is a problem because it is concentrated right where we want to go - within a few hundred miles of the Earth's surface. Collisions with working spacecraft have already happened.
(NASA' actual space debris tracking)
These pieces of space debris range in size from flecks of paint and insulation to whole rocket stages and dead satellites. The greatest concentration of objects is found in the area between 550 miles and 625 miles above the Earth, above the orbits of the International Space Station and most shuttle flights. The US Space Surveillance Network tracks over 13,000 objects larger than ten centimeters.
The nanoTerminator™ is just 55 mm high and masses about 56 grams. It contains a 100-meter long space-survivable conducting tether and a simple spring-based deployment system. It can be integrated into a nanosat either externally or internally with an appropriate aperture for ejection. The module is designed to fit perfectly within the cylindrical ejection post of Ecliptic’s RocketPod CubeSat Plus.
(nanoTerminator on Earth and deployed in space)
When the satellite reaches the end of its operational phase, a release mechanism deploys the tether. Gravity gradient forces will orient the tether along the local vertical; the conducting tether will drag against the geomagnetic field, rapidly lowering the orbit of the nanosatellite until it burns up in the upper atmosphere.
Science fiction authors have thought about this for a long time. Arthur C. Clarke wrote about Operation Cleanup, required before the space elevator in his 1978 novel The Fountains of Paradise could be built. Read more about the Clarke connection (and more about how tethers work) in an earlier story about the Terminator Tether - EDT Solution To Space Debris.
Makoto Yukimura began publishing Planetes in Japan in 1999; the first graphic novel form was published in 2000. Planetes follows the story of a team of debris cleaners charged with clearing space junk from space flight paths.
Planetes cover art
The journal Science just published a new study about space debris; it starts with the simplifying assumption that no rocket bodies or spacecraft will be launched for the next two hundred years. Based on the data, it looks like new fragments from collisions will replace the population of objects that fall out of orbit and back to Earth. Beyond 2055, fragments from new collisions will actually cause the debris population to grow. We may need both nanoTerminators and space debris teams to clean up this problem.
Read Space Junk Cleanup and Space debris a growing problem; thanks to Fred Kiesche for writing in with the story and manga references.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 1/25/2006)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 2 )
Related News Stories - (" Space Tech ")
Tumblin' Tumbleweed Rovers To Eplore Mars
'His sensors out and working, and the whirring of the tape that sucked up sight and sound and shape and smell and form...' - Clifford Simak,
Tentacled Robot Captures Space Debris
Preventing annoying space debris build-up.
Reflect Orbital Sunlight On Demand
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors that circulate around the satellite, making it habitable.'
Elon Musk Wants Data Centers In Space
'Internally it’s made up of millions of components, but the most important ones are the thinking and memory parts of the Mind proper.' - Iain Banks, 1987.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Meta's Horizon Studio's Unique Avatars From Text Prompts
'Looks like she has bought the Avatar Construction Set and put together her own...'
VaMEx Biomimetic Mars Robot Inspired By Skink
'Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday.'
NEO Brain Computer Interface (BCI)
'The remains of the lace took on the rough shape of a brain...'
Did Frank Herbert Predict E-Ink Displays?
'A broken circle with arrows pointing to a right-hand flow appeared in the chalf.'
Monolith One Giant Industrial Metal 3D-printer
'The object seemed melted together like wax — nothing was distinguishable.'
'Mooncrete' Lunar Regolith Concrete (LRC)
'And here they began to build...'
China's 'Magpie Drone' Ornithopter
'Midges have many capabilities. To the untrained eye, they look like sparrows.'
MAI-Voice-2 Microsoft Text-To-Speech
'I made disks of my own voice to the number of five hundred very carefully chosen words.'
Tumblin' Tumbleweed Rovers To Eplore Mars
'His sensors out and working, and the whirring of the tape that sucked up sight and sound and shape and smell and form...'
Tentacled Robot Captures Space Debris
Preventing annoying space debris build-up.
Prufrock-MB2 Ready In Nashville
'It sounds to me as though you had invented a kind of metal earthworm.'
DIY Robotic Content Farming
'The chief wheeled to the master machine and pressed a button.'
Reflect Orbital Sunlight On Demand
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors that circulate around the satellite, making it habitable.'
The Amazing Lightfoot Electric Scooter With Solar Assist
'The steel tortoise gave MacKinnon a feeling of Crusoe- like independence.'
Fully Electric, Fully Automated Vegetable‑growing Agribots
'...then back to their work, though little enough it was on these automatic cultivators.'
Vero Robotic Dog With Vacuum Cleaner Feet
'Out of warrens in the wall, tiny robot mice darted.'
