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The European Space Agency Is Testing Giant Fishing Nets To Clean Up Space Junk

The ESA tested out the technology in zero gravity and found it actually works pretty well.

​Sometimes old, simple technology can be the best option for a high-tech job—like using a giant fishing net to capture space junk and remove it from Earth's orbit.

The European Space Agency is in the early stages of planning a clean-up mission in 2021 where it will attempt to capture a large piece of space debris (either a dead satellite or an abandoned rocket upper stage) and remove it from orbit. They've proposed a number of ​ways to achieve this and recently conducted a simulated trial using a giant fishing net to capture a satellite.

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Researchers hopped on a parabolic aircraft to test out how the nets would work when shot towards an object while weightless. The nets were fired using a compressed air gun and had weights attached to the corners to wrap around and ensnare the scale model satellite on board. The results were pretty impressive.

"The good news is they worked extremely well—so much so that the nets usually had to be cut away with a knife before we could shoot again," ESA engineer Kjetil Wormnes said in a press ​release. The researchers tested out two different designs for the nets and found a thinner, lightweight version worked best.

ESA is also considering other technology, including a robotic arm, an ion beam, and, keeping with the fishing theme, a harpoon.

And though it may seem kind of silly to bring a really big net to space in order to clear up the approximately 20,000 ​pieces of debris larger than a softball hurtling around our planet, ESA's tests are our best effort so far.The more junk there is in orbit, the more working missions are at risk of collisions—think G​ravity—and we haven't yet figured out a good way to clear it up.

But if this early trial is any indication, the simplest solution might be our best bet.