Vacuum cleaner!

[kayshapero]

Anybody else out there remember an old (and short lived) TV show called "Salvage One"? OK, this isn't a garbage collector, more of a broom, but Japan's about to test a device to remove some of the scary amounts of crud circulating in orbit and dump it into the atmosphere to disintegrate.

Japan to Test Space Junk Cleanup Tether Soon
By Miriam Kramer, Staff Writer Space.com

January 17, 2014 06:30am ET


Japanese scientists are getting ready to launch a test of a space junk-cleaning tether, according to press reports.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) researchers are developing an electrodynamic tether designed to generate electricity that will slow down space-based debris, according to a report from Agence France Presse.

The slowed-down space junk will fall into lower and lower orbits until burning up harmlessly in Earth's atmosphere.
(more)

Comments

[lemmozine.livejournal.com]

I remember the show and the space junk episode.

[seawasp]

How could anyone forget a show starring Andy Griffith as a junkyard spaceman?

Even more obscure was Quark, which featured Richard Benjamin as a space trash collector who was always getting involved in Enterprise-level problems.

[kayshapero]

Oh yes, I remember Quark fondly. "Is The Source dangerous?" "Only when it's on your side."

[kayshapero]

Oh, shoulda mentioned I'm making another try at the "songs about obscure sf shows" category next Kazoo Awards because I couldn't find enough in the short time I had last year. So, anybody who happens to know of a Quark or Salvage One song, or cares to write one would be welcome to... :)