The flock and skysat orbits he showed are for san francisco based planet labs satellites, the vast bulk of which are in sun synchronous orbits to always take photos in daylight. The screenshots amount to "it's dark at 1:30am."
Finding the B-21's hangar location from the stars in its press image
161–170 of 228 posts
Re: Finding the B-21's hangar location from the stars in its press image
#162There's a few highly suspect details in the way the author got the 34-35 degree estimate. Maybe he was just really lucky and the errors cancelled out, but don't count on using his method to produce similar results. Polaris is about .8 degrees away from the celestial North pole, so using it alone can give a reading off by .8 degrees, and the orientation in the photo is actually nearing the worst case. The horizon does…
If I were a betting man I would assume he started this exercise with the final assumed location in mind, and worked backwards from there to show how it could have been done.
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Re: Finding the B-21's hangar location from the stars in its press image
#163One of my favorite internet happenings is when 4Chan (I think it was 4Chan) used stars and airplane data to get Shia LaBeouf's flag location and steal it. Not because of the political message, but because it was just entertaining and impressive in general. I think it ended up being in Tennessee somewhere. In any case, this wasn't exactly a secret, journalists were invited (though they had their cellphones confiscated at the gate, apparently.) If they really wanted, they could use obfuscation to make the sky, etc unrecognizable or in a totally different location.
Re: Finding the B-21's hangar location from the stars in its press image
#164[deleted]
Re: Finding the B-21's hangar location from the stars in its press image
#165[deleted]
Re: Finding the B-21's hangar location from the stars in its press image
#166Northrop Grumman announced in September that they would unveil the B-21 at Palmdale this week [0]. The location was not a secret.
0. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/09/20/251965...
Re: Finding the B-21's hangar location from the stars in its press image
#167Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do they’re trying to scare Russian with an airplane that can only be taxied around? I wonder if it’s made out of proper material and not just some clay concept
The US has retired planes decades ago that are superior to the best Russia has today, so no I doubt we really care about Russia's thoughts. China maybe.
Aren't things getting to the point where drones are a global commodity and indigenous manufacturing capability is mostly moot?
Re: Finding the B-21's hangar location from the stars in its press image
#168This is very cool sleuthing. Really enjoyed the walkthrough. Though, if you would have asked me, I would have guessed Lancaster/Palmdale, because I know (a) That's where the unveiling was (b) I have seen B-1's fly over me while driving in Palmdale and (c) I know Edwards and a bunch of other spacey stuff is there. I feel like Captain Kirk looking for whales and saying " I think we'll find what we're looking for at the…
Do you mean B-1 or B-2? I thought the B-21 was intended as a successor to the B-2, only cheaper. Also, they look the same to me.
Re: Finding the B-21's hangar location from the stars in its press image
#169Earlier quoted context omitted.
The US has retired planes decades ago that are superior to the best Russia has today, so no I doubt we really care about Russia's thoughts. China maybe.
Aren't things getting to the point where drones are a global commodity and indigenous manufacturing capability is mostly moot?
No. There are no drones which can reliably penetrate a modern integrated air defense system and strike a hardened target with large bunker buster bombs. The B-21 is supposed to be able to operate as a drone (optionally manned) but in a conflict with a near-peer adversary which can degrade the satellite communications necessary for remote piloting there will need to be humans in the cockpit.
Re: Finding the B-21's hangar location from the stars in its press image
#170Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do they’re trying to scare Russian with an airplane that can only be taxied around? I wonder if it’s made out of proper material and not just some clay concept
Russia military is a pitiful shell of the former Soviet glory. Putin’s actions in Ukraine have effectively demilitarized them. They squandered their inheritance of Soviet equipment like an 18 year old in Vegas. Their nuclear force is a giant question mark. Their three legs of the nuclear triad are quite shaky. In the event of a MAD exchange; Their boomers won’t get a missile off due to the fast attacks that keep them…
You're mostly correct, but Russian SSBNs spend much of their time in their own territorial waters. NATO SSNs seldom venture in there as it's just too risky. The boomers can even launch SLBMs when tied up at the pier in Severomorsk if they have to. And they are conducting successful test launches again.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/new-russian-submarine-s...
Even if only 10% of Russia's strategic nuclear weapons work correctly that can still make for a really bad day.