TapTechNews August 4th news, there is a large amount of trash floating in space. Recent data indicates that there may be more than 25,000 objects orbiting the Earth currently. Up until now, we have seldom been able to observe these trashes closely.
A probe launched by Japanese researchers has been tracking an abandoned rocket for months, and the images recently transmitted back by the probe clearly showed the state of this space trash for the first time. This rocket was launched 15 years ago, weighing about 3 tons and being about 35 feet (TapTechNews note: approximately 10.67 meters) long, and has been floating in the Earth's orbit, posing a risk of colliding with other objects.
In order to solve the space trash problem, Japan launched the ASTROSCALE-JAPAN Active Removal of Space Debris mission. The probe launched in February this year successfully approached and took high-definition images of this abandoned rocket, which is the first time that humans have publicly released close-up photos of space debris taken by another spacecraft.
Despite 15 years in the space environment, the shell of this rocket is still intact and in good condition, looking very similar to when it was just launched. In addition to assessing its physical condition, the research team also observed the rotation speed and trajectory of the rocket in space to provide data support for subsequent cleaning work.
However, cleaning space debris is not an easy task. These wastes are not designed for docking or being captured, so new types of spacecraft need to be developed to complete the capture task. Japan plans to develop a second-generation spacecraft to carry out the cleaning task after collecting the data of this mission.
Cleaning space debris is a huge challenge and requires global cooperation. Currently, European and American space agencies have also proposed similar plans, hoping to jointly clean space in the next decade.