Enterprise In Space (EIS), a non-profit program of the National Space Society (NSS), and the Kepler Space Institute have partnered with Global Aerospace Corporation (GAC) to launch the “Orbital Debris Mitigation” competition. In order to drive innovation forward in technology to remove the space debris orbiting Earth, EIS and its partners are offering university student teams a chance to propose experiments for space debris mitigation.
To enter the contest, university student teams may submit a white paper in either one of two competition categories. Category one is to design an experiment that fits on a CubeSat to detect, track or collect orbital debris. The second is to design an experiment to help evaluate the performance of GAC’s Gossamer Orbit Lowering Device (GOLD) that will de-orbit a CubeSat. To learn more about the competition, see the video presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AA5T7A70CVs .
“Currently, there are over 500,000 pieces of space debris orbiting the Earth and traveling up to 17,500 miles per hour, potentially causing serious damage to any satellite or spacecraft,” said Kerry Nock, President of GAC. “At GAC, we have invented a device for removing this debris called GOLD which uses a lightweight, continuously inflated envelope to increase the drag area and accelerate the natural orbital decay process of antiquated satellites and large orbital debris by orders of magnitude.”
Up to three members of the grand prize winning team will receive complimentary registration to present their white papers at the National Space Society’s International Space Development Conference ® (ISDC), May 25-29, 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri. Grand prize winners will have their experiment results paper published in Ad Astra magazine and an industry trade journal for orbital space debris mitigation and remediation. One member of the grand prize team will also receive an R. S. Kirby Memorial Scholarship, valued at $5,000, from the Kepler Space Institute to be applied towards a full certificate program. The R. S. Kirby Memorial Scholarship aims to encourage space advocates the world over.
I have said things to people before, but not to you I suppose. I proposed ‘Flypaper’ on a satellite or a number of them. The idea is that as a satellite orbits (except in geostationary of course) every 90 minutes, I believe, then a plate on its leading edge would scoop up anything before it and it would stick to it by making a small crater in a substance which you have designed for the purpose. Then the junk is part of the satellite which is easier to deal with. An orbiting sat travels millions of miles around the Earth and if a number of them had this, over time some pieces would be scooped up by it. All you would need is to add this to an existing piece of hardware.