The research paper recommended moving Envisat to an orbit of around 700 kilometres above Earth so it would eventually burn up in the atmosphere within 25 years. In that movie, debris from a satellite destroys the space shuttle. The Best Western Tysons Westpark Mclean Hotel near Washington offers. Welcome to the Best Western Tysons Westpark Mclean Hotel near Washington, located in the heart of North Virginia and close to the area’s business, cultural and tourism locations. In an October 2012 presentation to the International Astronautical Congress, scientist Martha Mejia-Kaiser called Envisat a “ticking bomb” that posed a significant space debris danger.Ī 2014 research paper from physics students at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom warned that if Envisat broke up in orbit it could create a deadly cloud of space junk similar to that envisioned in the 2013 film Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. 8401 Westpark Drive, Mclean, Virginia, 22102-3602, United States. “The option we studied is totally viable,” he added. recently finished a study that determined Envisat could be moved from its orbit using a robotic arm and a device called a “capture tool” designed to grab on to the satellite.ĭan King, MDA’s director of business development for robotics, said the robotic arm system would latch on to the satellite and then put it into a trajectory that would eventually take it out of orbit.

“It is expected to remain on-orbit for approximately 150 years with an estimated 15-30 per cent chance of collision with debris during this period.”

“It is one of the largest orbital debris threats in low earth orbit and is considered a security and liability risk from both an on-orbit collision perspective and from an earth debris re-entry perspective,” the Canadian Space Agency warned in a November 2014 report released under the Access to Information law. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt.National Capital Region's Top Employers.

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