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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

#91

Post by kbrwn »

dang wrote: post #67
Tomte wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You broke the site guidelines badly with this flamebait and generic tangent, which predictably started a wretched flamewar. Then you perpetuated it. You do a lot of good for HN with your interesting submissions, but you've also been vandalizing HN with destructive comments for years. We've asked you not to do this many times. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20356880 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18887148…

How is this comment flamebait? First time that I have really thought you missed the boat.

Please don't censor people just because they criticize HN or the community.

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

#92

Post by remarkEon »

dylan604 wrote: post #14
wongarsu wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 tak…

Yeah there’s a ton of other engineering skills you could teach in parallel. It really isn’t that crazy of an idea. If SpaceX is putting them in orbit on excess capacity from scheduled flights I’d hope they’d give away the time for free. Or they could invent their own market here for scheduling time.

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

#93

Post by dnautics »

buboard wrote: post #87
downrightmike wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Software should be able to account for this. If photoshop can remove people from photos, why can't astronomy software remove satellites? Orbit is already pretty cluttered and we can't remove much that gets stuck up there already.

since starlinks may change positions autonomously it's impossible to predict their positions. and they are so damn many

You don't need a position prediction to remove an anomaly.

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

#94

Post by heavenlyblue »

krastanov wrote: post #70
downrightmike wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Software should be able to account for this. If photoshop can remove people from photos, why can't astronomy software remove satellites? Orbit is already pretty cluttered and we can't remove much that gets stuck up there already.

Software can make a picture look pretty, but it has very limited use when you are fighting against the limits of information theory. You want an actual new measurement, not a guess of what a reasonable measurement would look like based on past measurements.

But that measurement is literally a dot that you know would not be there at time T-1, then should be there at time T and then shouldn't be there at time T+1.

Astronomers are lazy.

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

#95

Post by [deleted] »

ceejayoz wrote: post #88
buboard wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

compared to geostationary sats, starlinks are 1/30 of the distance, and thus 1/30 of the latency

It makes a difference there, sure, but SpaceX lowered orbits from 1,150 to 550km. Half the latency, but only by about as much as traffic between LA to SF incurs.

[deleted]

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

#96

Post by CrazyStat »

buboard wrote: post #85
SamReidHughes wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lowering orbit doesn't substantially reduce latency, building more satellites does.

compared to geostationary sats, starlinks are 1/30 of the distance, and thus 1/30 of the latency

They didn't lower it from geostationary, so this is--while correct--irrelevant.

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

#97

Post by ceejayoz »

jdsully wrote: post #75
ChrisClark wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

He also has a history of calling people pedophiles for disagreeing with his designs. Even when they are domain experts and he is not. I think that’s more just PR and he’s not honestly seeking feedback.

CEO's "open door policies" tend to be a way to quickly get fired.

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

#98

Post by kerng »

Isn't it obvious that this will happen? It's like taking a picture of nature and having airplane evidence in it, or take a picture of a city or even countryside and there are cars in it.

I'm sure the same was said about cars and planes. It will be weird and things will drastically change - but so have things the last 2000+ years.

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

#99

Post by ForHackernews »

allovernow wrote: post #84
9192631770_Hz wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I’m an astronomer and I can tell you this SpaceX statement is pure BS. The astronomy community absolutely thought of this before any of these satellites were launched. I’ve personally talked about it at public outreach events (and it was members of the public who brought it up) and topic has definitely come up at professional meetings...but there is just a general feeling of powerlessness, both from the point of…

>charlatan like Musk I'm not a fanboy by any means but the guy built two companies and launched a car from his factory into space from a rocket his other business built. He's personally spearheading the early stages of commercial space exploration. I don't know that I'd describe him as a charlatan.

Musk did not found Tesla, but would like you to believe that he did: https://www.quora.com/Did-Elon-Musk-found-Tesla-1

Maybe 'charlatan' is unfair, but he's certainly more of a sales-and-hype man than a real engineering type. I don't understand why so many technical people are snowed by his razzle dazzle.

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

#100

Post by SamReidHughes »

ceejayoz wrote: post #88
buboard wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

compared to geostationary sats, starlinks are 1/30 of the distance, and thus 1/30 of the latency

It makes a difference there, sure, but SpaceX lowered orbits from 1,150 to 550km. Half the latency, but only by about as much as traffic between LA to SF incurs.

I was a bit wrong in my initial estimate. More satellites can't improve latency by much once they get dense enough, and it looks like Starlink has enough such that the altitude would be on the same scale as distance. Still doesn't matter for the typical home user. Like, I get 21 ms ping to servers in my local city.
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