Four Seasons Before Lunch Gauteng (Pretoria)

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 I have lived in Pretoria for half my life, but even at almost 50, l still am not ready for mornings like this . I step out of  home in the morning at 7 a.m., greeted by a warm, gentle breeze and sunshine so golden it felt like summer had arrived overnight. The sky was clear; the jacaranda trees glowed purple; the air smelled of warmth and possibility. “Perfect day,” l muttered, locking his door. By the time l drive out—five minutes later—the sky starts to be darkened. A cold wind came crawling in from nowhere, sweeping dust across the pavement. The temperature dropped so suddenly that  l have  to switch the heater for warmth. Laughing. “Ah, Pretoria… you never disappoint.” Halfway to the office, the heavens opened. Not soft rain— a storm . Sheets of water hammered the road, street gutters overflowed instantly, and distant thunder rolled like a grumpy giant waking up too early. People scattered, hiding under bus shelters already too full.  “Ten minutes ago...
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ELON MUSK SAYS UPCOMING SPACEX STARSHIP CAN ‘FLY AROUND SPACE AND CHOMP UP DEBRIS’

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(Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images)

ELON MUSK SAYS UPCOMING SPACEX STARSHIP CAN ‘FLY AROUND SPACE AND CHOMP UP DEBRIS’

Andrew Griffin@_andrew_griffin
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Elon Musk says SpaceX can fly around space and “chomp up debris” with its upcoming Starship craft.

Starship is central to many of SpaceX’s aims, and continues to be under development. It hopes to eventually use it to carry people to space, the Moon and further, and it has conducted a number of often spectacular tests.

But it comes at the same time as SpaceX and other companies face criticism over their contribution to “space debris”, which can block out the view of the sky and poses a threat as it fills up the sky. Numerous experts have warned that the growing number of satellites and other materials above the Earth could possibly cause a disastrous collision.

Its Starlink space internet satellites, for instance, have faced both criticism and risk from the increasing number of satellites they share the sky with. They have been attacked by astronomers who argue that they are crowding out the view of the sky, and have been forced to change orbit to avoid the risk of collisions.

But Mr Musk has said on Twitter that the company could also help fix that problem, using its Starship to pick up that litter from the sky.

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Asked on Twitter about whether SpaceX had “thought of any way to try to eventually collect Space debris” by a user who noted that “it could directly affect its business in the future if it gets out of control”, Mr Musk laid out the plan to use Starship.

“Yes, we can fly Starship around space & chomp up debris with the moving fairing door,” he wrote on Twitter.

The fairing door is the large cover that will go over any cargo that Starship is carrying to space, open to let it out when it reaches the required orbit, and then close again ahead of the spacecraft’s journey back down to Earth.

The conversation came in reply to a tweet Mr Musk had posted about a new part of the Starlink product, which shows the journey to Mars.

Mr Musk gave no further information on the plan to use Starship to catch space junk, including whether SpaceX was actively working on such a solution.

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