The International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC) has released its first position paper titled Space Elevator Survivability Space Debris Mitigation in the form of a 76 page self-published book. Authored by Cathy Swan, Peter Swan and Robert "Skip" Penny the report states unequivocally that space debris will not be a show stopper for the space elevator.
"The International Space Elevator Consortium has placed this position paper as a recognition that the space debris problem is an engineering one and can be mitigated. The question: "Will space debris be a show stopper for space elevators?" is answered emphatically. NO! The mitigation concepts presented change the issue from a perceived problem to an engineering concern; but, by no means is it a significant threat. This pamphlet illustrates how the development office for a future space elevator can attack this problem, predict probabilities of collision, and convert the concern into another manageable engineering problem."
Issues addressed in the report include;
- The probabilities of collision in low earth orbit, in geosynchronous earth orbit, and in medium earth orbit.
- The growth rate as it threatens an operational space elevator.
- A reasonable approach for space elevator developers to ensure infrastructure safety.
- Approaches to interrupt sources of debris.
- Mitigation of risk for the space elevator community through design, operations, policiesm and lowering the threat.
The report is available as a paperback for $14.50 or you can download it in PDF format for $5.99.
In a related news item, it was just a couple of weeks ago that news surfaced that the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) was to team up with a fishing company to address the debris problem in a unique way.
- Japan's space agency teams up with fishing net maker to collect space debris
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