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U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

cnbc.com

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Re: U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

#511

Post by 404mm »

LarryMullins wrote: post #435
404mm wrote: post #382

I feel like the balloon takedown was seriously mishandled. Imo it should have been shot down right after it crossed our borders and before it started move over populated areas. That way there would be no surveillance and you could examine the payload. Now that it’s in the water, you may not even find it.

The US Navy is apparently pretty good at finding missile debris on the ocean floor. Since they know where it hit the water, they can probably find it. They might not even care that much, if they've seen this model of ballooncraft before.

Yah I believe that. But all the electronics will be shorted and likely damaged by salty water, which is conducive.

Re: U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

#512

Post by geomark »

ncr100 wrote: post #489
404mm wrote: post #440

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think they jammed it, considering how high it was. Intercepted .. I mean, China can use strong encryption too.

Jamming vs encryption... They are unrelated.

Tangentially related. Spread spectrum signals are jamming resistant, have lower probability of intercept and can be effectively cryptographically secure.

Re: U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

#513

Post by brabarossa »

49531 wrote: post #492
SergeAx wrote: post #483

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My favorite Russian joke of 2012 was this: — Daddy, which camp they are taking us to? — I don't know, son, I am not interested in politics.

I can't tell if the joke is the man is foolish or wise for not being interested in politics.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Re: U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

#514

Post by sandworm101 »

lettergram wrote: post #412
WillPostForFood wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

especially compared to satellites It is a lot easier to take pictures and collect data at 60,000 ft (balloon) than from a satellite in low earth orbit, which is closer to 6,000,000 ft.

They also could have had ground penetrating radar. Note the path of the balloon was over the US missile silos https://geo-matching.com/content/new-approach-to-use-ground-... Outside the atmosphere you would not be able to do it

If that thing had a radar strong enough to see through dirt from 50,000ft, it should have also been causing havoc to all sorts of electrical equipment too.

Re: U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

#515

Post by geomark »

ttul wrote: post #486
riku_iki wrote: post #453

Earlier quoted context omitted.

electronics is damaged by water likely, it could have more chance to survive if hit the ground.

They would not be concerned about the electronics being damaged so much as recoverable so the components used can be analyzed and the supply chains traced. They want to know whether any export-restricted gear was used and, if so, who is to blame.

They may want to analyze the cryptographic comms. Having working electronics might make that easier.

Re: U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

#516

Post by kelnos »

ineedasername wrote: post #365
pixl97 wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technically the ballon isn't moving itself in anyway at all, it instead is depending on the wind. As the atmospheric pressure lowers the maximum speed of the wind can increase greatly. For example the speed of the jet stream commonly exceeds 275 miles per hour. It looks like the strongest jet winds were closer to canada, had the jet been in the US it could have made it across the country in a day.

There was mention by the Chinese that is had some motive power of its own, or at least strongly implied when their PR said some the thing like “limited maneuvering capability”. That seems to indicate that it had some. It would a bit surprising if a payload the size of 2-3 school buses wasn’t outfitted with a reasonable amount of controllability, at least some control surfaces even if they inexplicably excluded even m…

"Maneuvering capability" probably means that it can affect its course (probably by ascending or descending to find more favorable winds), not speed.

Re: U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

#517

Post by moomoo11 »

ck2 wrote: post #498
moomoo11 wrote: post #446

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Must be nice being so privileged to talk down the very thing that maintains global trade channels (diplomacy) and keeps most of the world in check. Most of the world is backwater nations who oppress the shit out of their population making whatever faults you find in the US seem trivial. And yes the world isn’t fair and entropy exists. EU is basically a forced alliance after thousand years of constant fighting that le…

The idea people would still function while the entire east and west coast burns is the same fantasy at massive scale as people who walk around with guns thinking they are going to somehow defeat someone who has planned and already actively shooting at them. I believe great many ICBMs would definitely make it to major cities and that is the end of the world. We've already seen how people handle a pandemic, imagine act…

I don’t believe that deploying the entire nuclear arsenal of the world would wipe humanity off the face of earth. Would it suck and render some places uninhabitable? Yes. Would it affect fresh water and air quality? You bet.

But people will find a way like a worm and some will survive. I am in Bay Area so I probably won’t, but others will. What about places in Africa and South East Asia? Probably will be “fine”.

Besides, earth has been through worse. Many species went extinct. But many survived. Humans are definitely the best species this planet has ever produced (that we know of).

Again, it’s about survival of specific few. As for the power station stuff I will have to read up on it. I wasn’t aware that is going on. Thanks for pointing that out.

Re: U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

#520

Post by hindsightbias »

pard68 wrote: post #338

I have been in "no politics, no news" mode for over a month. I try to do this about once a year. I have yet to tell my wife I do it, but when I am on this limited media consumption she always comments how pleasant I am to be around. I think it is a good thing for all of us to do once in a while, until 80 years ago most news was at best three or four days old, go back 120 years and you're getting only last weeks top t…

Events like this are really destructive to my ability to be critically reflective of my ego.

It’ll be months before I feel normal around the populace again.

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