Proposal to find and zap space debris

[Panich52]

EarthSky

Proposal to find and zap space debris

Tiny debris particles cause wear and tear on active satellites.  A team wants to find it and zap it with a laser to cause its fall back into Earth's atmosphere.

http://earthsky.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e56e7a92b1c5790f7343ef95a&id=fdbd0ea387&e=dc13e7b006

[DetlefK]

1. A short calculation why this won't work:

Let's say, the laser has an output of 1 MW (weaponized lasers are in that range). Divide that by the velocity of speed 3*10^8 m/s and you get the mechanical force that the beam exerts on the target: ~3*10^-3 Newton.

(The dispersion-relation of photons is E = pc.)

Let's say, the particle has a mass of 10 gram.
F = m*a
That means, the acceleration would be 0.3 m/s².

Let's say, the particle is moving at 100 m/s and you want to change its velocity by 10% to force it into a graveyard-orbit.
10/0.3 = 33 seconds

You would have to hit a particle smaller than an inch and moving at 100 m/s for 33 seconds.