Japan tests innovative magnetic tether for slowing space junk
Source: BBC
Japan tests innovative magnetic tether for slowing space junk
9 December 2016 Asia
Japan has launched a cargo ship which will use a half mile- (700m)-long tether to remove some of the vast amount of debris from Earth's orbit.
The tether, made of aluminium strands and steel wire, is designed to slow the debris, pulling it out of orbit.
The innovative device was made with the help of a fishing net company.
There is estimated to be more than 100 million pieces of space junk in orbit, including discarded equipment from old satellites, tools and bits of rocket.
Many of these objects are moving at high velocity around the Earth at speeds of up to 28,000km/h (17,500mph) and could cause catastrophic accidents and damage to the world's orbital telecommunications network.
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Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38265676
[font size=1]The automated cargo ship - called Stork or Kounotori in Japanese[/font]