JAXA is going fishin!

From an article in Inhabitat is a rather unique proposal among many. It seems the Japanese space agency JAXA is teaming up with net manufacturer Nitto Seimo to go fishing in a most unusual fishing hole, for an even stranger catch. Nitto Seimo will build a kilometers-wide net made of ultra-thin triple layered metal threads. This net will be cast in Earth orbit where it will scoop up space junk.

From the article:

• The net will gradually be drawn into Earth’s magnetic field and burned up along with the abandoned satellites, engine parts and other litter it’s collected.

The USA has proposed something on a bit grander scale. From the article:

• The U.S., is proposing a satellite rigged with hundreds of butterfly-style nets that would hurl their catch toward the South Pacific, where it wouldn’t cause any damage. The satellite and nets could be reused.

Whoever shoulders the task, it will prove to be herculean. The junk in orbit consist of everything from spent rocket stages and defunct satellites. Debris includes slag and dust from solid rocket motors, paint flakes, coolant released by RORSAT nuclear powered satellites to even clusters of small needles!

In mid-2009 NASA updated the debris estimate. NASA places the number of large debris items over 4 inches at 19,000, up to approximately 4 inches at about 500,000, and estimates that debris items smaller than 1/2 inch probably exceeds tens of millions.

Wikipedia article

Hayabusa returns!

Here is a short youtube video of the re-entry of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hayabusa capsule. This spectacular finish to a mission that started in 2003 to visit and sample the near-Earth asteroid, Itokawa, and return those samples to Earth. Hayabusa was also a test bed to research several new engineering technologies such as electrical drive engines and autonomous navigation plus many new technologies for retrieving and returning samples to Earth. Hayabusa is the first craft to visit, land on an asteroid and return to Earth.


from boing boing

First-Ever Solar Sail Deployed

Wired has an article on the recent developments of the Japanese IKAROS spacecraft. The diminutive craft is the test bed for a feasibility study on "Solar Sails". The picture from JAXA shows the sail as it begins to deploy. Controllers are being cautious in stating that it will be a few weeks before they know anything at all of the sail's performance because of the variable in the system. First the structure is fantastically lightweight, being only as thick as a red blood cell and over 600 square feet in size makes it incredibly susceptible to damage. Even a slight breeze would tear the sail to shreds. Since there are no "breezes" in space, that is not a concern. What can damage the sail according to those in the know said “The things we’re watching for are all their dynamical behaviors that you ultimately can’t model and that might cause undue stress on the material,”

The sail will use the minuscule force imparted by a photon, which isn't much but adds up in time. It is hoped that this type of propulsion will be used on long duration mission.

Wired article here

Boomerangs DO work in space - it would seem!

JAXA has finally gotten around to releasing video of astronaut Takao Doi’s successful space boomerang toss conducted inside the International Space Station’s Harmony Module in March.

I first heard about this on Pink Tentacle's blog and posted a blurb about it (here) and it would seem that despite what you might think.... the lowly boomerang works just fine in a micro G environment. Watch the video below