Researchers are developing a real-life tractor beam, with the goal of pulling defunct satellites out of geostationary orbit to alleviate the space junk problem.
i’m guessing this was on some scifi writer’s bingo card, if didn’t explicitly write about it: strap a person into a small craft for 36 months of service and they zoom around earth’s orbit zapping space trash while limbs and mind atrophy, drinking own piss, watching videos of life on earth, kids growing up etc, just to pay for an extra three years of health care
Man, “New Profession: Space Garbage Collector” wasn’t on my bingo card.
i’m guessing this was on some scifi writer’s bingo card, if didn’t explicitly write about it: strap a person into a small craft for 36 months of service and they zoom around earth’s orbit zapping space trash while limbs and mind atrophy, drinking own piss, watching videos of life on earth, kids growing up etc, just to pay for an extra three years of health care
edit: hopefully drones can do that job tho
You can play Hardspace: Shipbreaker if you want to get practicing early
Check out the anime Planetes!
In reality the job for this will just be satellite operators, which we already have!