Late last month Japanese company Astroscale released the first-ever up-close picture of space junk taken from orbit, a demonstration of the company's ability to bring its spacecraft near debris without slamming into it.

The company is partnering with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, on plans to try the same maneuver with the addition of a robotic arm to shove the trash into our atmosphere.

The friction of reentry should be enough to destroy the debris, though this method doesn't always work perfectly.

In March a cylindrical object weighing nearly one kilogram crashed into a family home in Florida.

NASA later identified it as detritus from the International Space Station that was expected to burn up during reentry.

The European Space Agency, JAXA and NASA all have programs in place to identify innovative solutions to the space junk problem.

This year's Science on the Hill event, which is open to the general public, will feature experts in space law and cosmic trash removal, along with Scientific American editors, discussing how humans can combat the issue of extraterrestrial rubbish.

The panel will take place on Friday, May 17, at 12 P. M. in Washington, D. C.

You can find more info at bit. ly/scienceonthehill.

That's B-I-T dot L-Y slash science on the hill.