COLOGNE, GERMANY — German scientists have proposed using laser pulses to clean up small, irregular shaped space debris. <br /> <br />The study was published by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics. The authors propose using high-energy laser pulses to change the orbit of the debris, leading it to re-enter and burn-up in the atmosphere. <br /> <br />"Laser damage is usually considered to be a negative phenomenon, but this paper considers a significant positive application of laser-induced damage. In this study, the damage produced by laser beams serves a highly useful and positive purpose by cleaning up the space around Earth," Vitaly Gruzdev of University of Missouri commented in a press release. <br /> <br />According to NASA, there are nearly 3,000 tons of space debris in the low-Earth orbit. Most spacecraft can be protected from debris up to 1 cm in diameter, thanks to Whipple Shields. However, debris between 1 to 10 cm in size are particularly dangerous as they cannot be dodged or blocked. Space debris can travel at speeds up to 28,000 kph, which is fast enough for a small piece to damage satellite or a spacecraft.
