Australia to Shoot Lasers at Space Debris to Protect Satellites

Australian researchers want to use lasers to track space debris and prevent "Gravity"- like situation.

The film Gravity, which won seven Oscars at the Academy Awards this year, shows two astronauts fighting for life after space debris hit their craft.

Australian Government's Industry Department recently announced a new $20 million Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) to clear-up space junk. Australian National University and its Mount Stromlo Observatory are expected to take part in this project.

"We now want to clean up space to avoid the growing risks of collisions and to make sure we don't have the kind of event portrayed in 'Gravity'," said Matthew Colless, head of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University, according to AFP.

 Ben Greene, Centre Chief Executive said that an estimated 300,000 pieces of space junk might be orbiting earth.

The debris range anything from nuts and screws to large parts of old rockets, according to Colless.

According to NASA, the number of trash in space could be as high as 500,000. Also, the pieces travel at a speed of up to 17,500 mph, which is fast enough to cause significant damage to delicate instruments on satellites.

Researchers at Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) will be using lasers to track space junk.

"There is now so much debris that it is colliding with itself, making an already big problem even bigger," Dr Greene said in a news release. "A catastrophic avalanche of collisions that would quickly destroy all satellites is now possible. Our initial aim is to reduce the rate of debris proliferation due to new collisions, and then to remove debris by using ground-based lasers."

Last month, Japan sent a net into space to help capture space junk. The net, which was made of ultra-thin stainless steel and aluminium, was developed by researchers at Kanagawa University and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.