Swiss Propose Launching "Clean Space One"

[PPI Brian]

Switzerland is generally best known for their obnoxious clocks, comically over-sized cowbells, and killer hot chocolate, but on occasion they do come up with other good ideas, and this is one of them: CleanSpace One, a little space-borne janitor designed to grapple onto obsolete satellites and other space junk and forcibly de-orbit them.

http://www.youtube.com/v/qTAv7TsnjzA

[adminsandiegohaunted]

Sounds like something I may be listening to in the future. I used to have fun monitoring telemetry systems from all sorts of satellites. Here is a quick vid of me decoding NOAA 17 as it passes over our Western sky.
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/satellites/satInfo.php?satID=126

http://www.youtube.com/v/QS5v8fMSLaM


I forgot NOAA 17 isn't functioning correctly so here is the blank screen decode.

[PPI Brian]

Thank you for sharing your video, Dan. It's amazing that you were able to pick up and decode the signal from NOAA 17. 

[PPI Karl]

Why did it take so long for someone to implement such a sensible and much-needed mission?!  I couldn't be happier about this.  Go, Swiss!

[PPI Brian]

Why did it take so long for someone to implement such a sensible and much-needed mission?!  I couldn't be happier about this.  Go, Swiss!

Money. 

Remember that corny TV show from the late 70's called "Salvage 1"? LOL! Andy Griffith made his money by deorbiting satellites. Perhaps space law will finally evolve to the point where satellite launchers and operators and required to deorbit their dead satellites. Then we will see companies eagerly sweeping debris from low earth orbit. 

[PPI Karl]

Why did it take so long for someone to implement such a sensible and much-needed mission?!  I couldn't be happier about this.  Go, Swiss!

Money. 

Remember that corny TV show from the late 70's called "Salvage 1"? LOL! Andy Griffith made his money by deorbiting satellites. Perhaps space law will finally evolve to the point where satellite launchers and operators and required to deorbit their dead satellites. Then we will see companies eagerly sweeping debris from low earth orbit. 

I do remember that show!  In the years after the Cold War, satellites and conservation (as we called it back then, instead of environmentalism) were the ideological marriage of proud nationalists and hippie liberals, alike.  I think the key is getting people to think of the space around our planet as part of the environment, so that space junk is considered an environmental risk--instead of just pretending it's a clutter issue, or that they're no more a hazard than rogue shopping carts.  (Hey, maybe A&E should do a special Hoarders episode about it.)

[adminsandiegohaunted]

(Hey, maybe A&E should do a special Hoarders episode about it.)

Ha ha that is good Karl!

[PPI Debra]

(Hey, maybe A&E should do a special Hoarders episode about it.)

Ha ha that is good Karl!

lol!
Hoarders in Space. hmm..