The Solution for Space Junk

via Wired Science. The problem is there's too much space junk. What's the solution, shoot it down of course.

NASA scientists have suggested shooting space junk with lasers before. But earlier plans relied on military-class lasers that would either destroy an object altogether, or vaporize part of its surface and create little plasma plumes that would rocket the piece of litter away. Those lasers would be prohibitively expensive, the team says, not to mention make other space-faring nations nervous about what exactly that military-grade laser is pointing at.

The laser to be used in the new system is the kind used for welding and cutting in car factories and other industrial processes. They’re commercially available for about $0.8 million. The rest of the system could cost between a few and a few tens of millions of dollars, depending on whether the researchers build it from scratch or modify an existing telescope, perhaps a telescope at the Air Force Maui Optical Station in Hawaii or at Mt. Stromlo in Australia.

Now, this story go me to thinkin'. The pro-gun folks are always goin' on about their right to own guns. According to them, this right is linked to the natural human right of life and self-defense of that life. You need the right tool to do all this self-defending.

Well, I suggest the first type of laser. The one they're going to use on the space junk is a bit too wimpy for our purposes. After all, we're talking about defending our very lives, right? Nothing short of the"military-class lasers that would either destroy an object altogether, or vaporize part of its surface and create little plasma plumes that would rocket the piece of litter away," will do.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.