Ecuador's satellite possibly damaged by space junk impact

[graham228221]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-22635671

Would this be the first time space junk has properly damaged equipment?

I note that we don't really mention space debris as much of an issue in the late Information Age / early interplanetary age timeline. Have we assumed that sooner or later there's an easy solution to this problem?

Poor Ecuador

[stevebowers]

Would this be the first time space junk has properly damaged equipment?

Not really. There was a
collision in 2009 between two satellites

In 1996, the
Cerise satellite was hit by catalogued debris

I've seen
photos of paint fragments imbedded in window glass from the Shuttle, so it does happen.

What we need is some way to 'clean the vacuum' around the Earth, to prevent Kessler Syndrome, and especially once the Elevators are built, to prevent debris from impacting the cable.

[stevebowers]

I imagine that something like the 'vacuum cleaners' in the Planetes manga would need to be set up. Probably using remotely operated drones rather than emotionally-challenged young humans, although I appreciate the dramatic potential.

[stevebowers]

Several ideas for dealing with space junk are presented here
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article...-view=true
I like the frozen mist and the sticky ball ideas, although I guess that lasers and nets will probably be used more often.

One idea I had was a long tube with aerogel inside, filling the central third of the tube. You'd need to orient the tube so that the debris flies directly into the centre, impacting the aerogel, which sprays out into the tube but little or none leaves the ends. Maybe it would be possible to use some sort of snow as an aerogel, so that anything that does leave the tube would evaporate/sublime in the vacuum.