Work started on the first Polish satellite industry – Polish Radio

                             Even the largest space debris can get caught in the network, and then to help them safely burn up in the atmosphere. Poles design space garbage truck for ESA.
                         

For now, virtually. The first trial network for clearing away space engineers have prepared the Polish-Italian consortium. They checked already running in virtual reality and in zero gravity.

In space, there are thousands of space debris. – They arise eg. As a result of collision of objects in space. After the collision the Russian satellite constellation Iridium satellite was founded more than three thousand pieces. Part of the space debris are elements supporting missile amounting objects into orbit – says Dr. Eng. Karol Seweryn from the Space Research Centre.

Such useless and circulating orbits of objects present a risk instruments exploring space. – Even small space debris, on the order of 5 cm, flying at a speed of several kilometers per second. It’s much more than the speed of a rifle bullet fired – explains Dr. Seweryn.

One of the biggest space debris is a satellite Envisat closed since 2009. In 2022 years, the European Space Agency plans to get rid of this troublesome satellites through space garbage.

In the realization of the first part of this plan specialists from ESA helps Polish-Italian consortium. – Such space mission costs millions of dollars and has to go from the first shot. There is no room for experimentation – says Wojciech Gołębiowski director.’s Technical SKA Poland, which participates in the project. Hence the tests in virtual reality.

Polish engineers prepared a simulator in which you can design the network, determine the thickness of the thread, the shape of the mesh. Late in the virtual world network, you can launch and track its flight, looking like a stretch individual strands entwine like weights satellite.

The truth of the simulator predictions verified by comparing its results with the real experiment in weightlessness in the Canadian institute of the National Research Council, which is organizing parabolic flights. Earlier they prepared a prototype launcher grid and a small model of the Envisat satellite, and their Italian colleagues – 25 mesh. In February, on the plane Falcon 20 conducted 20 experiments that were successful.

In the real task of catching Envisat space garbage will have to get close to him at the appropriate distance, observe his movement and the right time to shoot the network. This wraps around the space junk, combining it with a rope space garbage truck. Together they will circulate around the Earth’s orbit gradually decreasing until it burned up in the atmosphere.

After ENVIS caught will be the next objects.

(ew / PAP Learning in Poland)