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Terra Bella

terrabella.google.com

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Re: Terra Bella

#71

Post by hackuser »

While it will have some great uses, it also brings more surveillance and predictive analytics (if that's the term) to the world, and chillingly they don't address the social issues at all.

Will Google use this, or allow others to use this, to surveil me from space? How about protesters at this summer's U.S. political conventions? Will they allow me to use this to watch Google's headquarters?

It also concentrates more power in the hands of a few. If the predictive tech works well, how can ordinary people who don't have access to that information compete? As investors in the stock market? Their small business in the marketplace? As a grassroots competitor in a political campaign?

Re: Terra Bella

#72

Post by xd1936 »

manaskarekar wrote: post #4

This post makes me wonder about space pollution/saturation. Are there any resources that talk about what is a safe number of satellites for different altitudes and the effects of space pollution? I have heard of the Kessler Syndrome, any suggestions that discuss this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome

We have a lot of junk in Low Earth Orbit.

http://stuffin.space/

Re: Terra Bella

#73

Post by tzakrajs »

trequartista wrote: post #11

Very ambitious. Will be interesting to see how it pans out. Interestingly, Google acquired Terra Bella in 2014. Even though the domain says google.com, is this an Alphabet subsidiary or part of Google itself?

Skybox rebranded to Terra Bella on Mar 8th 2016. They were acquired and placed in the Geo organization (Maps) so they aren't just floating about as a one-off: http://spacenews.com/googles-skybox-imaging-has-new-name-bus...

Re: Terra Bella

#74

Post by tzakrajs »

eunoia wrote: post #18
trequartista wrote: post #11

Very ambitious. Will be interesting to see how it pans out. Interestingly, Google acquired Terra Bella in 2014. Even though the domain says google.com, is this an Alphabet subsidiary or part of Google itself?

I'm also curious about this. Isn't this exactly the kind of project Alphabet was created to wrap? i.e. something not related to Google's core business but still under the corporate umbrella?

Terra Bella is under Geo, which is where Maps resides. Seems like a pretty good fit to me, given that satellite imagery is presented in Maps. Why do you think Terra Bella should be in Alphabet?

Re: Terra Bella

#75

Post by zardeh »

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #68
Klathmon wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But isn't it? I mean low earth orbit is at least as much space as we have on the surface, which is already pretty damn big. Yeah, speeds and orbits and stuff change the game a bit, but i can't imagine even a few thousands of satellites cramping a space that large.

The problem is we want a lot of things to be in geostationary orbit, which is only possible at a specific altitude. That effectively transforms the "space" from three dimensions to two because the third relative coordinate for all of those things has to be the same. Which is when relative motion becomes a problem. The Empire State Building and the Trump Building are at approximately the same altitude (i.e. sea level)…

You also don't have to worry about things in geostationary orbit crashing into each other ;)

Re: Terra Bella

#76

Post by ceejayoz »

Klathmon wrote: post #48
ceejayoz wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Space is big, but low earth orbit isn't as roomy.

But isn't it? I mean low earth orbit is at least as much space as we have on the surface, which is already pretty damn big. Yeah, speeds and orbits and stuff change the game a bit, but i can't imagine even a few thousands of satellites cramping a space that large.

We've already had our first accidental crash between intact satellites. If SpaceX and other low-cost launch providers succeed in making stuff like low-orbit satellite internet a reality, we'll need to figure this out.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_satellite_collision

Re: Terra Bella

#77

Post by knappe »

Cshelton wrote: post #67
gravypod wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea, that makes much more sense. I've always wanted to get a group of people together at my college and build a CubeSat but when you say "I want to build a satellite" people think you are crazy. We have the labs, the supplies, and the ability to expense anything we want but no one thinks it is possible.

Just do it. You'd be surprised at what money and support may come your way ;) It's very much possible.

I can't encourage this enough.

It was one of the most rewarding things I did in college. We launched a cubesat and used it to capture images of the curvature of the Earth and measure the Earth's magnetic field. The work to build the cubesat was tough, but extremely rewarding.

Edit:

Check out http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/national/spac... and see if you can find a local Space Grant program. They'd more than likely be able to either get you the resources or point you in the right direction to get going.

We launched ours via a ballon which had the cubesats attached to it. We needed a micro-controller (even easier to find now) a camera and our sensors. All very obtainable. I think the most expensive thing was the magnetometers which ran $80 a pop.

Re: Terra Bella

#78

Post by samstave »

hackuser wrote: post #71

While it will have some great uses, it also brings more surveillance and predictive analytics (if that's the term) to the world, and chillingly they don't address the social issues at all. Will Google use this, or allow others to use this, to surveil me from space? How about protesters at this summer's U.S. political conventions? Will they allow me to use this to watch Google's headquarters? It also concentrates more…

IMO, there is nothing greater good vs mass surveillance that will come of this.

This is an NSA wet dream privatized and privately funded by Google.

Sounds great but we all know what's going to happen with this data.

Re: Terra Bella

#80

Post by cpeterso »

dbcurtis wrote: post #43

Is there a readable version of the web site that doesn't have obnoxious scrolling? Someone needs to tell their designers about the Principle of Least Surprise. I'll look at this after they fix this so it doesn't give me a headache.

How does an unusable page like this even pass preliminary design review? Perhaps the page works well on the 16-core desktop computers with giant monitors common in the ivory tower.
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