Further than the eye can see, beyond the clouds is the Low Earth Orbit(LEO). LEO was an orbital junkyard. With millions of pieces of space junk flying, most orbital debris in LEO comprised of objects generated by human enterprise, things such as tiny flecks of paint from a spacecraft, parts of rockets, satellites that were no longer working, or explosions of objects in orbit flying around in space at high speeds.
The reason for LEOs transition to the proverbial graveyard had several perspectives, all of which pointed to human apathy and blinded ambition at large. Most of this "space junk" moved at speeds as high as 18,000 miles per hour, almost seven times faster than the speed of a bullet.
The nearly 29,000 defunct human-made objects in space larger than 10 cms —principally in Earth orbit—which served no useful function.
Space debris of aluminum oxide slag, a byproduct of solid rocket motors, from a shuttle solid rocket booster.
Concerns grew as the amount of "space junk" increased in our LEO. Given the volume and speed of the orbital debris, scientists at the time were gravely concerned about future space-based services, explorations, and operations. The reality of a collisional cascading, as hypothesized by Donal Kessler in 1978, seemed imminent in the absence of any consensus or international law that could mitigate the issue at hand. Several proposals, that involved collection through nets, harpoons, tethers etc. were made, but in the absence of any pragmatic efficacy, these ideas were lauded but never actually implemented.
Gabbard Diagram for a collisional cascading for Kessler syndrome. The Kessler syndrome proposed by NASA scientist Donald J. Kessler in 1978, is a theoretical scenario in which the density of objects in low Earth orbit (LEO) due to space pollution is high enough that collisions between objects could cause a cascade in which each collision generates space debris that increases the likelihood of further collisions.
Consequently, at the brink of the last decade, a proposal for a grandiose sculpture was made. The idea? A cenotaph for the unremembered. The proposal suggested the construction of a huge relic by using the space junk that was orbiting the earth at all times. This relic was constructed for what the artist called "the unremembered".
The unremembered are those that have somehow capitulated to the flatness of narrative history. They are in the process of consignment to oblivion in the collective memories of the multitude. There is significance in their actualities and yet their continuance is dwindling.
The proposal for this construction suggested the use of an array of ground-based laser facilities called the "laser broom". The laser broom would use a ground-based laser to ablate the front of the debris, producing a rocket-like thrust which would slow the object. With continued application, the momentum of the laser-beam photons could directly impart a thrust on the debris sufficient to move small debris into new orbits.