How lasers could be the future of space cleanup

Lasers may be the future of garbage disposal – in space, at least. In a paper published in the latest issue of Acta Astronautica, researchers at the Riken research institute in Tokyo proposed a way to end the growing problem of space debris by shooting them down with lasers. The method would track space debris using the Extreme Universe Space Observatory’s (EUSO) super-wide-field telescope, mounted on the International Space Station. The telescope, which is based aboard the space station's Japanese Experiment Module, was designed to detect high-energy cosmic rays. More

(Source: Christian Science Monitor - Apr 20)