Spider net in space

1998/10/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Materialak
• Patenteak/Asmakizunak

A Scottish textile company was surprised by the request of a Washington space company to build a long and extensive network to bring old satellites from space to Earth. The mechanics of the system, although it may seem surprising, are quite simple: A metal network of 2x10 kilometers is launched to a satellite located in space, united as a comet to play the satellite. This network would be maintained thanks to the difference of gravity forces between the ends and the Earth's magnetic field would generate the potential difference between the two ends of the network.

On the other hand, the space around the Earth is full of protons and electrons expelled by the Sun, and being the conductive network would generate current thanks to the difference of potential between both ends. As the current passes through the network, energy is lost, which reduces the speed of the network, stopping the satellite. By losing speed the satellite loses the stable orbit and falls to Earth, destroying itself by crossing the atmosphere.