Parisians hated the Eiffel tower when it went up, claimed it was an eyesore. Give it a few years, and these constellations will be something we look up at with pride and aesthetic appreciation.
Amazon satellites add to astronomers' worries about night sky
21–30 of 93 posts
Re: Amazon satellites add to astronomers' worries about night sky
#22It's a little baffling how monstrously big Amazon has become over the years. Pretty soon there won't be an industry left untouched by Amazon's tentacles. Hard to see how they can continue down this path without getting broken up. On the bright side: each new satellite launch should lower the barrier to entry for the next satellite launch. This combined with growing competition in the space industry could lead the way…
It's regrettable and bitterly discouraging that the more Amazon works toward improving mine and millions of others daily lives, the closer they get to being broken up. At least, that's the way I see it. They've added new competition in so many areas. They've saved the consumer so much money that the federal reserve literally blamed them for lowering inflation, but instead, the federal government as painfully ironic a…
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Re: Amazon satellites add to astronomers' worries about night sky
#23It's a little baffling how monstrously big Amazon has become over the years. Pretty soon there won't be an industry left untouched by Amazon's tentacles. Hard to see how they can continue down this path without getting broken up. On the bright side: each new satellite launch should lower the barrier to entry for the next satellite launch. This combined with growing competition in the space industry could lead the way…
It's regrettable and bitterly discouraging that the more Amazon works toward improving mine and millions of others daily lives, the closer they get to being broken up. At least, that's the way I see it. They've added new competition in so many areas. They've saved the consumer so much money that the federal reserve literally blamed them for lowering inflation, but instead, the federal government as painfully ironic a…
Well that is the thing about actually being competitive - it makes you the ultimate tall poppy, especially compared to long time lobbyists and vested interests. They made that abundantly clear back in the 90s when that DC was very upset about a lack of lobbying.
Re: Amazon satellites add to astronomers' worries about night sky
#24Most important point everyone forgets to mention: this is NOT about having the tech or not. We have artificial satellites for a very long time. This is about spending a few dollars more to have them properly painted. Think about this, Musk and Bezos are saving a few cents. In exchange of astronomy.
I don't think that's fair. Other satellites are reflective, too. It's difficult to make a satellite completely dark, in part because dark = absorbs heat and it's hard to dump heat in space. The problem with these internet constellations is that, to work, they have to have thousands of them in each constellation. SpaceX has permission for 12k and is seeking permission for 30k more ( https://spacenews.com/spacex-submit…
It's definitely fair. Per the article, there's currently ~2600 satellites in orbit; Amazon is looking to more than double that, and SpaceX is asking to add ~16x that number. I think we're well within our rights as society and as humans generally to put the onus on them not to fuck up astronomy for the next century.
And since when has "It's difficult" been a free pass? Both of those companies beat their chests about how neat their tech is, but when it comes to a genuinely hard problem - as in, how to launch this fleet without fucking up humankind's ability to gaze into the cosmos as we have for our entire history - you're going to let them duck it?
And, to head off the obvious objection: I really, genuinely, truly don't care how difficult it is, why the physics make it difficult, what a vacuum does for heat, etc. I know. It's a hard problem. Maybe you don't get to launch fifty thousand satellites into orbit without solving it.
Re: Amazon satellites add to astronomers' worries about night sky
#25Parisians hated the Eiffel tower when it went up, claimed it was an eyesore. Give it a few years, and these constellations will be something we look up at with pride and aesthetic appreciation.
There's a big difference between a landmark and polluting the entire planet's night sky with thousands of reflective satellites.
Re: Amazon satellites add to astronomers' worries about night sky
#26Parisians hated the Eiffel tower when it went up, claimed it was an eyesore. Give it a few years, and these constellations will be something we look up at with pride and aesthetic appreciation.
Fuck that. The stars are more beautiful than any shit they put up there.
Re: Amazon satellites add to astronomers' worries about night sky
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's regrettable and bitterly discouraging that the more Amazon works toward improving mine and millions of others daily lives, the closer they get to being broken up. At least, that's the way I see it. They've added new competition in so many areas. They've saved the consumer so much money that the federal reserve literally blamed them for lowering inflation, but instead, the federal government as painfully ironic a…
You think they’re going to stay that competitive after they monopolize everything?
You think they are monopolizing eveything when they can't even win in tech ecosystems? Their latest outputs are "also-ran" copies like Kindle Fire, Prime Video, etc. They have some more success with private label which magically gets called a monopoly when combined with computers.
They are big and growing but just a bunch of talking heads and campaigns squawking "monopoly" doesn't make it so. Walmart is still bigger as a retail sector so calling #2 a monopoly is jumping the gun.
Re: Amazon satellites add to astronomers' worries about night sky
#28Who knew that astronomers would be the luddite reactionaries holding science and technology back? They seemed to laugh and cheer every time an astronomical satellite was put into orbit, but frown and shake their fingers when other people wish to utilize space as well. Astronomers don't own space. And by laughing and cavorting, dancing jigs when astronomical satellites are put into orbit but screeching "OH WON'T SOMEB…
It’s really sad that something as universal and beautiful as the night sky is now something to be pissed on. Pretty much a perfect example to demonstrate that “tech people” are amoral assholes. I hope the satellites all burn up.
Re: Amazon satellites add to astronomers' worries about night sky
#29Re: Amazon satellites add to astronomers' worries about night sky
#30Parisians hated the Eiffel tower when it went up, claimed it was an eyesore. Give it a few years, and these constellations will be something we look up at with pride and aesthetic appreciation.
Yes, some initially hated things became loved. From this it does not follow that one can expect that to be the norm.