Tens of thousands of pieces of space junk are currently orbiting the Earth, threatening to damage spacecraft, satellites and even spacesuits.

Now scientists are trying to come up with ways to clear the debris — made up of defunct equipment and other objects humans have launched into space — before it has a chance to collide with the hundreds of functioning satellites that plot GPS, monitor weather and run communications networks.

CBC’s Susan Ormiston talks to a physicist who is testing a revolutionary idea to clean up outer space.