NASA and WM Launch Space Dump Initiative

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

After years of careful planning and logistics coordination between NASA and WM (Waste Management), the first space dump prototype is set to launch. In an effort to stave off issues for future space missions, NASA and WM are tackling the goal of gathering trash obstacles such as broken satellite remnants, waste from other shuttles and rockets, and the rapidly escalating quantity of trash orbiting the Earth. This accumulating and entropicizing debris has already been the cause for a few minor mishaps in space excursions, but could prove disastrous in the future. Before that happens, NASA and WM hope to curb the problem and increase the odds for space success.

The specially designed prototype is based off of the crane grab game in arcades. It will reach out and operate with the typical boom and jib of a crane, yet the outrigger "box" will be housing the collected trash and the operator as well. The modification from the arcade game would be to take the toys from your hands and collect them into the glass box. The current plans include two astronauts tethered to the outrigger to aid in guiding the hook or jaws around the objects and securing the loads. Whereas normally the dangers in crane operations focus on having a flat base less than .1% deviation for the crane, not overloading it, and not operating in high winds, these aren't the issues for this mission since it takes place in space. Instead, NASA's concerns evolve around sharp objects in proximity to the guy lines for the jib and boom and the assisting astronauts' safety lines; shuttle-debris collision; and space as in volume capacity for the mission. The last concern has been alleviated by adding a compactor to the housing unit, which is planned to remain in space as a space dumpster. The previous concerns have been mitigated - but not absolved - by reinforcing the lines with a braided steel sheath.