Tractor beams, the stuff of sci-fi lore, are getting a real-world makeover at the U. But these aren’t for pulling the Millennium Falcon into the Death Star. Instead, U professor of mechanical engineering Jake Abbott MS’01 and his team are aiming their futuristic technology at a more pressing problem: the growing cloud of space junk orbiting our planet.
This isn’t just about tidying up, says Abbott. Scientists worry about a scenario called the Kessler Syndrome, where colliding debris in low-Earth orbit creates a cascading effect, potentially rendering entire orbits unusable and jeopardizing satellite communications, weather forecasting, and space exploration for generations.
At the heart of Abbott’s innovation is the Omnimagnet—a cube-shaped device housing three nested electromagnetic coils. By controlling the electric current through each coil independently, Abbott’s team can create a magnetic field pointing in any direction. When rapidly changed, this field induces electric currents in nearby non-magnetic but conductive materials, like aluminum. These induced currents, called eddy currents, then interact with the magnetic field, allowing manipulation of the object without physical contact.
“We showed we can reach out and pull an object in,” Abbott notes with a grin. “But don’t expect to capture a spaceship that’s trying to get away. We’re talking about gently manipulating tumbling space debris.”
Backed by U.S. Space Force funding and partnering with Rogue Space Systems, Abbott’s team is aiming to launch a prototype in the coming years. And they are already pushing the boundaries of the technology, brewing up algorithms to synchronize multiple magnets for more powerful manipulations. They’re also joining forces with U heat transfer experts to overcome the challenge of keeping those hard-working Omnimagnets cool in the unforgiving environment of space.
As satellites continue to crowd our skies, Abbott’s down-to-earth solution might just be the ticket to keeping the final frontier from turning into an impenetrable barrier of debris.
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