Apart from destroying the environment, space debris is also very dangerous for astronauts. (Photo: NASA)
JAKARTA – NASA dares to pay a company a lot of money to clean up space debris because it is very dangerous. It was stated that the institution was ready to disburse funds of up to USD 850,000 or around IDR 13 billion.
TransAstra obtained this contract from NASA. “This is like picking up rubbish on the side of the highway. “It’s just much more complex and expensive,” said Joel C. Sercel, founder and CEO of TransAstra, quoted from Business Insider, Monday (25/9/2023).
Besides damaging the environment, space debris is one of the biggest dangers facing astronauts in low Earth orbit today.
The European Space Agency estimates that more than 330 million pieces of space junk surround the Earth. Space debris can reach speeds of up to 17,500 mph and pose a risk to astronauts, space shuttles and satellites.
TransAstra has developed a waste-catching bag in space. These pockets were originally developed to capture asteroids that, in the future, could be mined for rare elements.
However, more and more Sercel and his team are researching mining asteroid , they are becoming increasingly aware of the space debris problem. “And we think this is a very good solution for cleaning up orbital debris,” Sercel said.
TransAstra’s plan is to use bags attached to small spacecraft that can fly with space junk in low-Earth orbit.
Once in position, the craft opened its bag and closed the space junk, then loaded it. To prevent bags from tearing, TransAstra is testing bags made from Kevlar and other strong, space-proven materials.
2023-09-25 00:24:26
#NASA #Pays #IDR #Billion #Clean #Space #Debris
