Europe plans space claw to capture orbiting junk
By Daniel Clery Dec. 1, 2020 , 2:00 PM
The European Space Agency (ESA) today finalized a contract to launch a mission in 2025 that will be the first to capture and dispose of a piece of orbiting space junk. The ClearSpace-1 mission, built by Swiss startup ClearSpace, will home in on a piece of debris the size of a washing machine, grapple it with a four-armed claw, and escort it down to a lower orbit where the duo will enter the atmosphere and burn up. Darren McKnight, a space debris expert at the technology company Centauri, applauds ESA for being one of the few agencies to take action. But he is concerned by the slow progress in removing orbital debris, which he believes will increasingly threaten working satellites and astronauts. “If we don’t get started soon, we’re going to be in big trouble,” he says. “We need to take baby steps fast.” Clic AQUÍ para seguir leyendo y ver la imagen.
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