SPACE GARBAGE: How do they dispose of it?

[cosmictraveler]

<p><font size="5">If anyone knows how they are going to remove and bring back all the garbage that the crew of the ISS will be generating after the space shuttle is retired and there's no way to transport that garbage back to Earth , I'd like to know what they are going to do with 3 tons of garbage produced every 3 months</font></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><font size="5">.</font></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>It does not require many words to speak the truth. Chief Joseph</p> </div>

 

[webtaz99]

Gravity and friction are both cheap, easy and reliable. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[kelvinzero]

<p>I was really disappointed to discover that solid human waste ( alright, dried poo ) was shipped down again.</p><p>Maybe if something like VASIMR works we will be able to consider keeping this material in orbit in some sort of tank until some project that requires hundreds of tons of soil in orbit becomes practical. I would love to see a biosphere in orbit demonstrated.</p><p>It would be great if VASIMR made it practical to move all our unwanted material up to some junkyard in space, perhaps the L1 lagrange point.</p><p>Im a great fan of attempting ISRU on the moon, but these materials are far more valuable than regolith right now, and if we ever did exploit regolith they could provide vital elements that are basically&nbsp;nonexistant on the moon: Carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and probably many others.</p>

 

[MeteorWayne]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>I was really disappointed to discover that solid human waste ( alright, dried poo ) was shipped down again.Maybe if something like VASIMR works we will be able to consider keeping this material in orbit in some sort of tank until some project that requires hundreds of tons of soil in orbit becomes practical. I would love to see a biosphere in orbit demonstrated.It would be great if VASIMR made it practical to move all our unwanted material up to some junkyard in space, perhaps the L1 lagrange point.Im a great fan of attempting ISRU on the moon, but these materials are far more valuable than regolith right now, and if we ever did exploit regolith they could provide vital elements that are basically&nbsp;nonexistant on the moon: Carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and probably many others. <br />Posted by kelvinzero</DIV><br /><br />It's not really shipped down. Most of is loaded into a Progress and incinerated in the atmosphere.</p><p>Fried poo.</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[kelvinzero]

<p>Mmmmm... Nummy!</p><p>(And thanks for the correction. That makes a lot more sense)</p>

 

[SFRocker]

<p>Simple. Swap it into one of the many ships delivering new supplies (Russian Progress, ESA ATVs or Japanese H-II's) and watch it burn up during reentry. Although its not really consumed just fried (some of it vaporized) and whats left is dumped into the ocean (Look out below fishes!).</p><p>Of course they have the technology to use recycle solid waste (poop) and use in a sustainable system growing plantsand producing O2 and water here on earth, they just have yet to figure out how to get the plants to grow well in space because of the lack of gravity. If they ever allow the ISS to expand beyond its current intended size we may actually see a space greenhouse (not likely) then the ISS wouldn't need as much food, water or CO2 scrubbing. That will all depend on whether the ISS experiments can develop a good method of growing plants in 0G and whether we decide to expand the station. More than likely the Station (and all the garbage left on it EVEN POOP!) will be disposed off using the same method we use for all the garbage it produces. De-Orbit, Burn and Splash Down.&nbsp;</p>

 

[kelvinzero]

That is why I was enthusiastic about a return to the moon. Everything we put into low orbit falls down the moment it is not worth the cost of keeping it up there or political interest wanes for a term. Anything in a higher orbit eventually becomes a long term danger. I really like the idea of a trailerpark town on the moon with infrastructure and resources that can only grow. At some point that poop pile is going to be useful and a hell of a lot cheaper than shipping soil from earth.