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SpaceX working on fix for Starlink satellites so they don’t disrupt astronomy

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Re: SpaceX working on fix for Starlink satellites so they don’t disrupt astronomy

#11

Post by Fronzie »

wongarsu wrote: post #5

It will be interesting how they solve it without causing thermal issues. Just absorbing all light won't work, the energy has to go somewhere and the only viable way to loose it is through radiation (not much air around even in these low orbits). Maybe the satellites will be black on the earth-facing side and radiate heat on the other side? My impression from the article is that they launch one coated satellite just t…

Diffuse reflection might help as well. A sphere and a cube have very different maximum reflection values.

Re: SpaceX working on fix for Starlink satellites so they don’t disrupt astronomy

#13

Post by dylan604 »

readams wrote: post #8
topologistics wrote: post #3

>“No one thought of this,” she said. “We didn’t think of it. The astronomy community didn’t think of it.” That is absolutely ridiculous. The Iridium satellites were decommissioned recently and it was a big deal because, for the longest time, you had to check for "iridium flares" if you were using any type of sensitive equipment. Basically, the entire class of iridium satellites was highly reflective and they tended t…

They announced their plans years ago. The astronomy community could have raised concerns then. The fact that they didn't would indicate nobody connected the dots.

> The fact that they didn't would indicate nobody connected the dots.

Or that nobody knew who/where to contact someone to raise their concerns. A lot of people will think that if I just had this thought, then it must be pretty obvious so that others will have the same thought as well. No need for further action. Others will just not feel the need to spend their time/effort trying to look up the complaints department. Others might not even feel like it is their place to say anything.

Re: SpaceX working on fix for Starlink satellites so they don’t disrupt astronomy

#14

Post by dylan604 »

wongarsu wrote: post #7
mentos wrote: post #4

Not a valid solution but I thought maybe SpaceX could launch a bunch of telescope satellites that could be used by hobbyists.

SpaceX directly profits from space enthusiasm, and having their in-house satellite team design such satellites (during downtime, as practice or testbed, etc) and launch them using unused capacity on existing launches would be way cheaper than anything NASA could do. It's not as absurd as it seems at first glance. Not a good replacement for a proper solution, but a nice idea for something they could do in any case.

Could you imagine the enthusiasm from amateur astronomers, kids in school, etc where they could schedule time on a space based telescope? Sure, they won't be anywhere close to Hubble, but even a 6"-12" mirror in ~0% atmosphere would be very cool. And if it were a true constellation, you could schedule time on a satellite in the night time part of the sky during normal daytime class room time rather than trying to take a class field trip to a typical astronomy facility. You would also eliminate the most frustrating thing about astronomy: cloudy skies. And you'd also be able to see parts of the sky that you wouldn't normally based on location, ie Northern/Southern hemisphere.

Re: SpaceX working on fix for Starlink satellites so they don’t disrupt astronomy

#15

Post by close04 »

> “No one thought of this,” she said. “We didn’t think of it. The astronomy community didn’t think of it.”

This implies the community was asked or involved in such a discussion and no objections were raised, which is unlikely.

Whenever some "armchair specialist" commented about Musk's plans to put people on Mars and the challenges with the radiation, the magnetic field, the etc. the answer was always "Do you think a room full of scientists haven't thought about that?". Well there you have it, straight from the source: sometimes they (claim they) do not think about "that". Question everything, worst case someone already thought of that.

Re: SpaceX working on fix for Starlink satellites so they don’t disrupt astronomy

#16

Post by Tomte »

vasili111 wrote: post #12

Also do not forget that SpaceX is not the only company that wants to launch low orbit satelites. I do not think it is possible to find any other real solution other then to move telescopes to space.

Sure there is another solution: we ban them, or at least highly regulate them.

The idea that private companies can just do whatever, and there's nothing we can do is just so cliché HN.

Re: SpaceX working on fix for Starlink satellites so they don’t disrupt astronomy

#17

Post by XorNot »

dylan604 wrote: post #6

“No one thought of this,” she said. “We didn’t think of it. The astronomy community didn’t think of it.” I really have trouble believing that nobody mentioned adding thousands of satellites would go unnoticed. It is damn near impossible to take any image of the night sky without having a satellite streak through the frame. I have plenty of images with multiple satellites visible at the same time. In wide angle timela…

I think the issue is more that no one has previously been launching constellations of literally thousands of satellites.

It's just not a thing that seemed like it would actually happen. I can very much imagine that it didn't get a lot of attention until they actually started going up.

Re: SpaceX working on fix for Starlink satellites so they don’t disrupt astronomy

#18

Post by cobookman »

dylan604 wrote: post #13
readams wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They announced their plans years ago. The astronomy community could have raised concerns then. The fact that they didn't would indicate nobody connected the dots.

> The fact that they didn't would indicate nobody connected the dots. Or that nobody knew who/where to contact someone to raise their concerns. A lot of people will think that if I just had this thought, then it must be pretty obvious so that others will have the same thought as well. No need for further action. Others will just not feel the need to spend their time/effort trying to look up the complaints department.…

It’s not that hard to get in contact.

If you cared you could LinkedIn message a SpaceX employee. Tweet at Elon Musk. Connected with nyt or other media who’d love to run such a story.

...etc

Re: SpaceX working on fix for Starlink satellites so they don’t disrupt astronomy

#19

Post by ChrisClark »

close04 wrote: post #15

> “No one thought of this,” she said. “We didn’t think of it. The astronomy community didn’t think of it.” This implies the community was asked or involved in such a discussion and no objections were raised, which is unlikely. Whenever some "armchair specialist" commented about Musk's plans to put people on Mars and the challenges with the radiation, the magnetic field, the etc. the answer was always "Do you think a…

Yeah, that's why Musk always asks people to come to him if they have a better idea. Even in large groups, or maybe especially in large groups, things can be overlooked.

He recently said in a video that if anyone can convince him an aerospike is better than their solution, he wants to know.

Re: SpaceX working on fix for Starlink satellites so they don’t disrupt astronomy

#20

Post by wongarsu »

vasili111 wrote: post #12

Also do not forget that SpaceX is not the only company that wants to launch low orbit satelites. I do not think it is possible to find any other real solution other then to move telescopes to space.

With James Web having an decently sized mirror on a space telescope that's not as ridiculous as it once was. Still we should search for cheaper solutions first.

https://www.eso.org/public/usa/images/eso1617z/?lang

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