Free Republic

May 8, 2020May 8, 2020 by Evan GoughA Cool Idea to Catch Up With an Interstellar Visitor Poor, dim-witted humanity. We used to think we were the center of everything. That wasn’t that long ago, and even though we’ve made tremendous advancements in our understanding of our situation here in space, we still have huge blind spots.For one, we’re only now waking up to the reality of interstellar objects passing through our Solar System. In 2017, Oumuamua came for a brief visit, and was confirmed as an interstellar object. It’ll never return, and will spend an eternity travelling through the...

A “zombie satellite” orbiting earth since 1967 when it was launched by the U.S. military, has been discovered by a radio enthusiast. NPR reports that the discovery was made by amateur radio operator Scott Tilley, who lives in British Columbia, Canada. “Well folks, here's what appears to be a new ZOMBIE SAT!” Tilley tweeted on March 24. Satellite LES-5, he explained, is in a “GEO [Geosynchronous Equatorial Orbit] graveyard orbit.” Tilley also noted subsequent passes by LES-5. Graveyard orbit -- where old satellites go to die -- is about 22,400 miles above the earth, according to NASA, which notes that...

Iran using world attention on other issues to launch its first military satellite with North Korea's help. How ISIS has lost its territory but continues to come out of hiding in various places to cause trouble as the U.S. leaves only two bases in Iraq. Plummeting world oil prices may be quickening our approach to the Ezekiel war. And finally the coronavirus and how it has changed our world. Author and scholar Oklahoman Dr. Hitchcock gives a perspective on America and what the changes in society mean for us.

The United States has assessed that Iran successfully launched a military satellite into orbit for the first time on Wednesday, two US Defense Department officials said, according to CNN. The move is seen as a significant step because the country's space program utilizes the same technology that would be needed to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile, which would increase Tehran's capability to strike enemy targets. US Space Command is tracking two objects in orbit that were launched from within Iran, one of the officials said, according to CNN. One is a rocket body and the other is assessed to be...

Joyce Sanz recently called Comcast hoping to reduce the $164 each month her family pays for cable television and internet. An after-school program manager at an elementary school in Miami, Sanz wanted to trim expenses in case the economic fallout related to the coronavirus pandemic lasts months. Sanz said she asked the Comcast customer service representative for a discount or deferred payment options. No dice. She asked to be charged the prices offered to new customers. No can do. Finally, she spotted a specific line on her bill. “I am paying a sports fee,” she told the representative, recalling the...

Earth as seen from satellites as abstract art. Images are gentle landscape abstractions. Telemann, Concerto In D Major For 3 Trumpets. 3rd movement, Adagio.

Earth as seen from satellites as abstract art. Images are gentle landscape abstractions. Joseph Blanchard's "Thoughts Over Coffee." Blanchard is a Boston native who plays for patients in hospitals and cancer centers. He can't read music, so he composes and "remembers" what he played. I'm absolutely awed by the man.

Earth as seen from satellites. Images are gentle landscape abstractions. Telemann - Concerto Polonois - 1st movement - Dolce Allegro.

The commander of the newly-established U.S. Space Force said Monday that two Russian satellites appear to be shadowing a U.S. spy satellite, often coming within 100 miles of the multibillion-dollar craft. “We view this behavior as unusual and disturbing,” Gen. John “Jay” Raymond said of the activity in an interview with TIME. “It has the potential to create a dangerous situation in space.” Raymond said U.S. analysts first noticed something amiss when the Russian spacecraft appeared to split into two smaller ones shortly after it was launched Nov. 26 mounted on a Soyuz rocket. “The way I picture it, in...

A Russian 'inspector' spacecraft has changed its orbit to closely follow a secret American spy satellite. On January 20, Cosmos 2542 maneuvered so it was behind USA 245, a satellite that gathers images for military and intelligence purposes for the $4billion KH-11 photo reconnaissance project. The Russian craft is a 'space apparatus inspector,' meaning it's designed to monitor other satellites in space - and the US government has warned that it can use cameras and sensors to gather information about other satellites or even use high-power microwaves, lasers or radio frequency jammers to launch an attack.

Meteor Explosion Near Puerto Rico Captured by a Satellite Meteorologist Danielle Banks says a NOAA satellite captured what appears to be a meteor exploding near Puerto Rico. At a Glance The bright ball of fire was captured in satellite images. Residents posted photos and video to social media. One astronomer guessed it was several feet in length. A bright ball of fire shot across the sky in Puerto Rico Friday afternoon, prompting local residents to speculate on what it was, and to wonder if it was a bad omen for the disaster-stricken island. Images of the fireball were captured by...

A modified Soyuz rocket delivered a top secret Russian military payload into orbit Monday from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia, according to the country’s defense ministry. The mission lifted off from the Site 43 launch complex at Plesetsk at 1752 GMT (12:52 p.m. EST; 8:52 p.m. Moscow time) Monday. A Soyuz 2-1v rocket carried a Volga upper stage and the classified military satellite into space, and the Volga stage successfully delivered its payload into the targeted orbit, Russian officials said. The Russian Ministry of Defense said the spacecraft launched Monday will monitor the condition of other Russian satellites in...

Creation astronomy from a rocket scientist by David Coppedge Posted on 10-14-19 Readers may remember our 2015 interview with Dr Henry Richter,1 the development manager of Explorer 1, America’s first satellite. 90 years of age, Dr Richter recently drove from his home 120 miles away to deliver a speech at the 60th anniversary of Explorer 1 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). On that day in January 2018, he shared his unique insider’s perspective about the mission that launched America into the space race. Most employees at JPL working on missions today now have no memory of the early days...

Stratolaunch said Friday that the company has “transitioned ownership” a year after the death of Paul Allen, the company’s billionaire founder who funded the construction of the world’s largest airplane for an airborne satellite launcher. The company offered few other details in a statement released to media Friday. It was the first official update on the status of Stratolaunch since its huge rocket carrier aircraft completed its first — and so far only — test flight in April. “Stratolaunch LLC has transitioned ownership and is continuing regular operations,” the company said in a statement. “Our near-term launch vehicle development strategy...

Northrop Grumman and NASA are launching a "first-of-its-kind" refueling vessel, the Mission Extension Vehicle, aboard a Russian rocket on October 9th. The inaugural MEV-1 will dock with an Intelsat satellite in three months' time and provide life-extending services over five years. After that, it should be free to help other satellites -- it'll still have 10 years' worth of fuel. A second spacecraft, MEV-2, will help another Intelsat satellite in 2020 and should have the same amount of leftover fuel. Both MEVs are flexible, too. They can dock with 80 percent of current geostationary satellites, even if they weren't designed...

Surprise” might be an understatement to describe amateur astronomer Phil Williams’ reaction upon being told that the ghostly radio signal he had detected was, in fact, coming from a satellite that had failed and disappeared decades ago. Williams told Southgate Amateur Radio News that the signal he detected from his base in Cornwall seemed to cycle every four seconds, diminishing and returning to create an eerie repetitive sound. It would later be determined that the fluctuation was the result of the long-lost satellite barreling end over end through the void of space, causing variations in the light reaching the solar...

Luxembourg-based Intelsat reports that its Intelsat 29E satellite (IS-29E) is now a total loss, after having reported earlier that the spacecraft suffered an anomaly. Late on April 7, the Intelsat 29e propulsion system experienced damage that caused a leak of the propellant on board the satellite, resulting in a service disruption to customers.. That event caused a service outage on the Intelsat 29e satellite that affected maritime, aeronautical and wireless-operator customers in the Latin America, Caribbean and North Atlantic regions. While working to recover the satellite, a second anomaly occurred, after which all efforts to recover the satellite were unsuccessful,...

Amazon is joining the race to provide broadband internet access around the globe via thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit, newly uncovered filings show. The effort, code-named Project Kuiper, follows up on last September’s mysterious reports that Amazon was planning a “big, audacious space project” involving satellites and space-based systems. The Seattle-based company is likely to spend billions of dollars on the project, and could conceivably reap billions of dollars in revenue once the satellites go into commercial service. It’ll take years to bring the big, audacious project to fruition, however, and Amazon could face fierce competition from SpaceX,...

Commercial satellite images have provided the first photographs of a secret Chinese anti-satellite laser base in western Xinjiang province, along with other high-technology weapons facilities. The laser facility is located near a lake and is about 145 miles south of the Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. The facility was discovered by retired Indian Army Col. Vinayak Bhat, a satellite imagery analyst who specializes on China. China is using its satellite tracking stations located throughout the country as a means of identifying and targeting satellites.

File Photo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump (Photo: Reuters) The US State Department on Wednesday (local time) said Washington has taken note of India's statement on 'Mission Shakti' while voicing concern over the issue of space debris. "The issue of space debris is an important concern for the U.S. government. We took note of Indian government statements that the test was designed to address space debris issues," read a statement issued by the US State Department. The statement mentioned that as part of its partnership with India, the US will continue to pursue shared interests in...