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'Space graffiti': astronomers angry over launch of fake star into sky

theguardian.com

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Re: 'Space graffiti': astronomers angry over launch of fake star into sky

#61

Post by paulsutter »

api wrote: post #38
danielvf wrote: post #26

This is utterly, utterly overblown. The Space Station is thousands of times bigger and throws back a hundred times more light than this will. Every evening, for most of the populated world, dozens of brighter satellites than this go overhead. I just checked the orbits for my evening here - 57 brighter satellites. But what about the flashing? Well, we've got those already too. The old, awesome Iridium satellites have…

It's the precedent. We do not want space based ads.

Remember how ads were disallowed on the internet, as a sort of gentleman’s agreement? Didn’t last long

Re: 'Space graffiti': astronomers angry over launch of fake star into sky

#63

Post by wodenokoto »

danielvf wrote: post #26

This is utterly, utterly overblown. The Space Station is thousands of times bigger and throws back a hundred times more light than this will. Every evening, for most of the populated world, dozens of brighter satellites than this go overhead. I just checked the orbits for my evening here - 57 brighter satellites. But what about the flashing? Well, we've got those already too. The old, awesome Iridium satellites have…

> It is expected to become the brightest object in the night sky for nine months until it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere.

That sounds like a pretty big deal to me.

Re: 'Space graffiti': astronomers angry over launch of fake star into sky

#64

Post by badwolf »

GuB-42 wrote: post #59
Androider wrote: post #35

Great, NIMBYs now want to stop space development. And it's just for 9 months, take a chill pill. Personally I think it's awesome, I'm going to try to track it and show it to my daughter. I hope one day we'll have structures on the moon that are visible to the naked eye! Can you imagine how motivating and achievable that would make space exploration seem to a new generation.

Why don't you track the ISS instead. It is orders of magnitude more interesting than a disco ball. Imagine explaining this to your daughter : - Here is the ISS, people live there. - This is the Hubble space telescope, it makes plenty of nice pictures. - This is a communication satellite, it for making phone calls from anywhere in the world. - This... is a giant disco ball, it is made so you can see it. Putting up wha…

It was also a test payload for a new rocket that achieved orbit for the first time.

Re: 'Space graffiti': astronomers angry over launch of fake star into sky

#65

Post by badwolf »

nkrisc wrote: post #27
cordite wrote: post #15

My astronomer friend says this isn’t really different from any other satellite with reflective shielding.

But presumably those other satellites are at least serving a useful purpose.

Being a test payload for a new rocket is useful.

Re: 'Space graffiti': astronomers angry over launch of fake star into sky

#66

Post by badwolf »

spoovy wrote: post #62

This isn't 'space' though is it; its low earth orbit. I wouldn't care if they'd fired it into intergalactic space but they didn't, they just added to our halo of orbiting garbage purely to grab some cheap publicity.

They put it in low earth orbit. It's orbit will decay in about 9 months and it will burn up in the atmosphere.

It wasn't just for cheap publicity. It was a test payload of a new rocket.

Re: 'Space graffiti': astronomers angry over launch of fake star into sky

#67

Post by clarkenheim »

danielvf wrote: post #26

This is utterly, utterly overblown. The Space Station is thousands of times bigger and throws back a hundred times more light than this will. Every evening, for most of the populated world, dozens of brighter satellites than this go overhead. I just checked the orbits for my evening here - 57 brighter satellites. But what about the flashing? Well, we've got those already too. The old, awesome Iridium satellites have…

How did you "check the orbits for your evening"? just curious, i would like to check my own from time to time and have a look on a clear night. If it is something a layman can do?

Re: 'Space graffiti': astronomers angry over launch of fake star into sky

#68

Post by Spellchamp »

dogma1138 wrote: post #3
nkrisc wrote: post #2

Do you want regulations? This is how you get regulations. Once low Earth orbit is easily accessible to anyone, what can be done? There are all kinds of intentional and unintentional misuses of such a capability.

There is a metric ton of regulation you can’t launch anything into space without going thorough a mile of red tape. Apparently no one consulted astronomers with this case most likely as no one expected a use case where someone launches a freaking disco ball into low earth orbit.

Anecdotal, I know, but even if astronomers were consulted about this, I know a few astronomers whom this doesn't bother whatsoever, so it might not necessarily have ever been flagged as being a bad use case. Even in the article's headline it seems to suggest that it's been blanket slated by all astronomers everywhere, which I don't think is the case.

Re: 'Space graffiti': astronomers angry over launch of fake star into sky

#69

Post by SideburnsOfDoom »

donatj wrote: post #33
SideburnsOfDoom wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Do you want regulations? This is how you get regulations. A finite resource, great cost necessary to access it, danger of catastrophic failure when things collide. Long-lasting consequences of such failure. I'd expect regulation in this scenario. It seems inevitable and necessary.

I’d hardly call space a finite resource.

We are talking about Earth orbits useful for satellites, sorry if that wasn't clear.

Re: 'Space graffiti': astronomers angry over launch of fake star into sky

#70

Post by danielvf »

clarkenheim wrote: post #67
danielvf wrote: post #26

This is utterly, utterly overblown. The Space Station is thousands of times bigger and throws back a hundred times more light than this will. Every evening, for most of the populated world, dozens of brighter satellites than this go overhead. I just checked the orbits for my evening here - 57 brighter satellites. But what about the flashing? Well, we've got those already too. The old, awesome Iridium satellites have…

How did you "check the orbits for your evening"? just curious, i would like to check my own from time to time and have a look on a clear night. If it is something a layman can do?

http://heavens-above.com

First you’ll need to set your location, then click on “daily predictions for brighter satellites”.

For your first time watching, look for ones brighter that 3.0 (maginitudes get brighter as the number gets smaller. So a 6.0 isn’t one most people can see with their eyes, 2.0 is a bright, easy to see star and a zero is one of the brightest stars in the sky). Also make sure the satellite is going to be high enough in the sky to see. It’s great fun!

Definitely also look on heavens-above for upcoming ISS flybys. You’ll notice that the brightness varies a bit. Catch a bright one, (with a big negative number) and be amazed for life.

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