WASHINGTON — Space junk has made such a mess of Earth's orbit that experts say we may need to finally think about cleaning it up.

That may mean vacuuming up debris with weird space technology – cosmic versions of nets, magnets and giant umbrellas, according to the chairman of an expert panel that issued a new report on the problem in the US on Thursday.

A representation of space junk orbiting around Earth. Credit:NASA

There are 22,000 objects in orbit that are big enough for officials on the ground to track and countless more smaller ones that could do damage to human-carrying spaceships and valuable satellites. The International Space Station has to move out of the way of debris from time to time.

"We've lost control of the environment," said retired NASA senior scientist Donald Kessler, who headed the National Academy of Sciences report.