applied scientist in China have successfully deployed an extremist - thin sail attached to a rocket part to hasten its departure from blue Earth field and reduce the amount ofspace junkaimlessly floating above our planet .
The 269 - square - pes ( 25 - satisfying - meter ) canvas unroll after launch from a Long March 2D rocket on June 24 . Although the mission was not publicize beforehand , the Shanghai Academy of Spacecraft Technology ( SAST)announceda few days afterward that the puff canvass had been successfully deployed to assist with the deorbiting of the rocket component , which wo n’t happen for another two years or so .
When unroll , the kite - shaped canvass growth the atmospheric pull exercise against the object it ’s impound to , thereby speed orbital decay . The rocket part will then meet its destiny much sooner , deorbiting and burning up in Earth ’s standard pressure on its agency down . It ’s a potential low - cost solution to the ever - growing problem of space detritus .
This kite-like space sail will help deorbit a rocket component within two years.Image: Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology
The recently launch retarding force sheet is made from super tenuous material , about the same thickness as one - one-tenth the diameter of a human hair . The component that it ’s presently attached to , the cargo adapter of the rocket ’s upper point , weighs around 661 pounds ( 300 kilograms ) and is orbiting the Earth at an ALT of approximately 305 miles ( 491 klick ) , accord to SAST . The rocket is expected to get dragged down to lower altitudes with increased friction due to the sail and reenter Earth ’s ambience in about two geezerhood .
China has been a number reckless lately when deorbiting its rocket . In April , debris that was likely due to a Chinese arugula that decompose on re - entryfell onto a western settlement in India . Similarly in May 2021 , aChinese Long March 5B rocket engine fell into the Indian Oceanafter making an uncontrolled reentry through Earth ’s atmosphere . A year earlier in May 2020 , another incoming Long March 5B rocketcausedpieces of rubble to fall onto two villages in Cote d’Ivoire , damage people ’s homes .
The drag sail will help remove the rocket engine from Earth ’s celestial orbit sooner than it would have on its own , but it ’s not clean whether China will answer for for where pieces of the rocket might shine for forefend populated areas .
It ’s hop-skip that the new engineering will aid in exculpate orbiting space dust . The Department of Defense ’s global Space Surveillance web is currently cut through more than 27,000 pieces of orbital rubble , and many more smaller piece in the near - Earth environment , accordingto NASA . Ideally , as countries continue to expand their space programs , they will also figure out a way to deorbit their spacecraft not only more speedily , but also less noxiously .
More : The Coolest Images Taken by NASA ’s New Horizons Spacecraft .
Atmospheric entryPollutionSpaceflight
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