Cleaning up space debris with sailing satellites
Monday, February 3, 2014 - 09:00
in Astronomy & Space
Since the birth of space flight in 1957, the number of man-made objects orbiting the Earth has grown every year. There are now more than 15,000 such objects larger than 10cm, at least those that we know of. Even very small particles can pose a risk to spacecraft, because of the high relative velocities at which they travel. Not only can space debris affect critical equipment such as communications satellites, but it can also endanger manned space flights.