Australian scientists to prevent ‘Gravity’ space crash with lasers

Australian scientists said yesterday they aim to prevent a real-life version of the space disaster scenario portrayed in Oscar-winning film Gravity by removing extraterrestrial debris with lasers.

“We now want to clean up space to avoid the growing risks of collisions and to make sure we don’t have the kind of event portrayed in Gravity,” said Matthew Colless, head of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University.

In the film, which won seven Oscars at this year’s Academy Awards, two astronauts played by George Clooney and Sandra Bullock are left drifting in the void after a collision between satellite debris and their spacecraft.