[ExI] A real engineering effort

[Stuart LaForge]

Quoting Keith Henson:


> PS.  I don't like this situation.  But I don't at this point know of
> any other way to build power satellites where they are not banged up
> by junk as they are being moved into place.  Ideas on this topic are
> welcome.

In regards to space junk in general, I would suggest occasionally  
launching a giant gold or platinum foil balloon shaped into a giant  
Bucky ball by carbon fiber or inflated by low pressure high density  
gas like sulfur hexafluoride into orbit just below GEO and let its  
orbit slowly decay. It should slowly deorbit from collisions with  
space junk and air molecules. The ductility of gold or platinum should  
be sufficient to trap most space debris, even at high velocity,  
soaking it up like a sponge and  consolidating it all in one  
convenient package for deorbit. One could then track or control the  
deorbit an be able to recycle the gold or platinum accordingly.  
Obviously some experimentation would be needed to find the ideal  
thickness of the gold or platinum foil.

Stuart LaForge