One University of Utah professor warns that of all the debris in space there are hundreds of million of them.

According to Jake Abbott, University of Utah researcher and Salt Lake Tribune reporter, the debris could give Earth “its own rings” made of space junk.  

However, Abbott and his team are working on a way to clean up the debris, putting a magnet posted at the end of a robotic arm and using the magnet’s eddy currents to collect the space trash. 

NASA estimates there are at least 23,000 pieces of debris that enter low-Earth orbit (LEO) larger than a softball in orbit, but there are probably 500,000 pieces between 0.4 inches and four inches.

According to the European Space Agency, it is possible that there may be 170,000,000 pieces of space debris smaller than 0.4 inches.  

A significant portion of space junk could form a 'ring' around Earth, like the solar system's gas giants, a professor has warned

According to a professor, space junk may form a ring around Earth that is similar in size and shape to the sun’s gas giants.

Saturn's rings are made of ice and rock, varying in size, and could be remnants of ancient comets, asteroids or celestial satellites

Saturn’s rings, made from ice and rocks, vary in size and may be remnants ancient comets or asteroids, are composed of varying amounts of rock and ice.

The global Space Surveillance Network sensor of the Department of Defense tracks more than 27,000 orbital debris. 

Four planets in the solar system already have rings — Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus.

NASA reports that Saturn’s rings may contain ice or rock. They can vary in size. 

It is much more faint than Neptune and Jupiter’s orbiting rings, and they are predominantly made of dust.

According to Royal Museums Greenwich, it is possible that Jupiter’s rings are the result of a series of meteor impacts on the planet’s moons. 

NASA explains that LEO is now viewed as the ‘world’s largest garbage dump,’ adding that it is expensive to remove the space debris due to the size of the issue — there could be as much 6,000 tons of materials in low Earth orbit. 

A lot of space debris can reach extremely high speeds (in some cases, 18,000 mph or seven times the speed of a bullet), ‘an impact of even a tiny piece of orbital debris with a spacecraft or hitting the Earth ‘could create big problems,’ NASA added.

Abbott is working towards a method to remove the more than 6000 tons of waste materials from low earth orbit. Most of the material is moving at speeds above 15,700 mph.

Abbott said that most junk in the area is spinning. You can reach out and stop the robot arm from spinning, but it will cause damage to your arm and more debris.

His team is working together to create a method to use magnets to get rid of all LEO debris. They also plan to make use of eddy currents.

Abbott stated, “We have basically made the first tractor beam in the world.” 

It’s all a matter of engineering. Construction and launch of it.

Abbott and his group published their findings in Nature last month. They note the need for a magnet at one end of robotic arms.

University of Utah researcher Jake Abbott is trying to use magnets to clear low-Earth orbit from the debris

Jake Abbott, University of Utah researcher, is using magnets to remove debris from low-Earth orbit.

'We've basically created the worlds first tractor beam,' Abbott said in an interview earlier this month. 'It's just a question of engineering now. Building and launching it'

Abbott stated that they had created the first tractor beam in the world. He spoke to us earlier this month. It’s just an engineering problem now. Construction and launch

When the magnets spin they activate the electric currents which, shaped like whirlpools, create their own magnetic field.

Space debris may eventually be captured using currents magnetic fields.  

The study abstract stated that the authors used dimensional analysis in conjunction with multiphysics simulations and experiment to characterize the torques and forces generated by a magnetic dipole field on a conductive globe. 

Another group is also looking to alleviate the enormous amount of debris. Most of it is made of satellites and other spacecraft.

Privateer Space, an Apple cofounder, said that it is being backed by Steve Wozniak. The firm is trying to locate space junk in orbit, predict what it will do, and then where it goes, making space safer for all countries.

‘The idea is to make space more transparent, make it more predictable, by knowing where space junk will be over the next few minutes and hours,’ company’s chief science adviser, Moriba Jah, said in a phone interview.

‘We will be able to predict how two objects from two different governments will act, before there is a reason to worry.’

Earlier this month, Russia blew up one of its own satellites and the resulting debris nearly hit the International Space Station.

The country may have used a A-235 PL-19 Nudol ‘satellite killer’ missile, U.S. analysts believe, to destroy Cosmos 1408.  

Cosmos 1408, a former spy satellite that was launched in 1982 and destroyed in a firestorm, left a 1,500-piece debris field, which put the safety of the crew on the ISS in danger.

Analysts believe that debris from the explosion may cause damage to spacecraft over the next few years. 

The satellite was approximately 300 miles away from Earth’s surface and caused a debris field of between 270-320 miles.

The ISS orbits about 260 miles below the surface. At the time of the incident it was just 250 miles closer.

Astronauts aboard the ISS were ordered by Houston Mission Control to get to safety inside the ship’s escape pods.

No harm was done to any of the seven astronauts who were aboard the ISS. 

What is SPACE JUNK? WHAT IS SPACE JUNK? MORE THAN 170MILLION PIECES DEAD SATELLITES SPENT ROCKETS and FLAKES of PAINT POOSE ‘THREAT’ TO SPACE INDUSTRRY

There are an estimated 170 million pieces of so-called ‘space junk’ – left behind after missions that can be as big as spent rocket stages or as small as paint flakes – in orbit alongside some US$700 billion (£555bn) of space infrastructure.

However, only 27,000 of these fragments have been tracked and can travel at speeds exceeding 16,777 mph (277,000 kmh), so even the smallest pieces may be able to seriously harm or destroy satellites.

Traditional gripping methods aren’t effective in space because suction cups don’t function in a vacuum. Also, temperatures too cold to use tape or glue.

Magnetic grippers are ineffective because the majority of debris orbiting Earth around it isn’t magnetic.

An estimated 500,000 pieces human-made debris currently orbit the planet. They are made up of bits and pieces from spacecrafts, disused satellites, and used rockets.

Many of the solutions suggested, such as debris harpoons and other debris-harpoons either require forceful interaction or are required to interact with the debris. These interactions could lead to debris moving in unpredictable, unintended directions.

Scientists identify two factors that are causing space junk to worsen.

It happened in February 2009. An Iridium communications satellite collided with a Kosmos-2251 Russian military satellite.

In January 2007, China used an anti-satellite weapon to destroy an older Fengyun weather satellite.

Experts pointed out two other sites that are becoming too cluttered.

The other is called low-Earth orbit and is used, amongst others, by satnav satellites as well as the ISS, China’s manned missions, and the Hubble telescope.

One is located in geostationary orbit and can be used by satellites for communications, weather, surveillance, and other purposes that require a stable position relative to Earth.