Japan Loses Contact With New Space Telescope

nationalgeographic.com ^ | 03/27/2016

[Purdue77]

An “energetic event” could be a battery failure, including it blowing up, or a short circuit in the electronics. It could also include not shielding the electronics from solar radiation. Satellites tend to build up a static charge and if it isn’t dissipated could cause the system to fail. However, never rule out space junk hitting it.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Looks like it’s in a pretty rough neighborhood there. Seems to have taken a wrong turn and gone a few parsecs beyond its intended destination. Hope that hasty thing on the left doesn’t suck it in.

[smokingfrog]

Software automatically updated to Windows 10, which was not compatible with the navigation hardware?

[wally_bert]

[twister881]

Blofeld!

...or Drax?!

[Nuc 1.1]

Sad. We would have learned much.

[Lazamataz]

Gravity was awesome. Sandra Bullock is aging but I’d still hit that.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BenLurkin, extra to APoD.

[oldasrocks]

Hey mom guess what I found just floating in space! Can I keep it?

[GreatRoad]

DWA - in space.

[Magnum44]

Seriously, they named the satellite “hit me” ?

[Spktyr]

The Chinese currently have a better anti-satellite capability than we do. We mothballed/scrapped ours and pretend that our SM3 BMD missiles can do the job.

[21twelve]

“... that some kind of “energetic event” has occurred...”

Maybe they shouldn’t have named it Hit-o-me.

[SunkenCiv]

LOL!

[fella]

Chicoms testing one of their new (stolen from the USA) sat-killers?

[jmcenanly]

You’d think that if anyone had that sort of technology, they’d make a fortune with a shuttle service. If they really wanted to do great harm, they’d go into politics.

[Red Badger]

[Tijeras_Slim]

The Science Patrol will solve this.