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more about #satellite brghtfuture9: Without sounding too dour, how are they going to clean it up? After all there is enough junk floating around up there that self disposing satellites w... more » twophrasebark: Oh, that's nice. They wrapped it as a present for the aliens. more » Roklimber: How was it deployed? A quick google search yields: [en.wikipedia.org] which says: OSCAR-1 was the very first satellite to be ejected as a secondar... more » goldfarb: did it play polka music? more » Klebert L. Hall: It's basically Pegasus. -Kle. more » Purple Dave: Wanted: Affordable way to launch satellite into space. Does not need to reach sustainable orbit, just needs to go high enough to qualify as "space". ... more » Mecharine: Does anyone get the feeling that Sir Richard Branson has a hidden volcano island base somewhere in the Pacific, and is slowly progressing on his giant... more » burlybax: Do people have satellites sitting around in their garages waiting for a low cost launch system? more » Dr Emilio Lizardo: So it's an expensive low cost system? more » rfjson: Sounds like a left wing conspiracy to me. Global warming alarmists have always relied on shaky science and fuzzy figures to manipulate the public into... more » gorehound: lowest bidder equals lowest quality this goverment is very stupid more » phoenix: I feel worst for the scientists that have invested over a decade in this technology and on this project. They've got it the worst here because they we... more » Pope John Peeps II: Scientists have re-invested 250 billion dollars into continuing to try to make NASA not suck at their jobs. more » Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.: "Scientists are now looking to Japan's GOSAT satellite" They have to do that after vowing never to look at the GOATSE satellite ever again. more » The Curse of Millhaven: And so there will be accountability at high levels in the company, right? more » Hit Bull Win Steak: thats what happens when you always choose the lowest bidder. more » Mount_Prion: Right wing conspiracy, anybody? more » Meirelle: Duuuuuude. They're like a bunch of zombie ants. more » ♥AntiSocialSocialite♥: they look like loose metal filings being attracted to magnetic poles, to which I just discovered my strong aversion. *runs to puke* more » DasBrink: If you go to the POP SCI link and expand the pictures. In the bottom left of the picture you can see a satellite in a lower orbit. Very cool. I wonde... more » -
#amateurspaceflight
All Hail OSCAR 1!
Today is the anniversary of the launch of the world's first non-governmental satellite, OSCAR (Orbiting Satellites Carrying Amateur Radio) 1. Built for $63 by amateur radio operators, it lasted almost 20 days in orbit and delighted hams worldwide. [Smithsonian] -
#virginsatellites
Virgin To Take Passenger Luggage To A New Level
For those who felt that Virgin Galactic's plan of passenger spaceflight fell down due to the lack of provision for satellites, relief is at hand: The company has announced that they will be adding private satellite launches to their offerings. More » -
#space
Tragedy for NASA's Climate Science Satellite Program
Early yesterday morning, NASA launched the Orbital Carbon Observatory in a long anticipated mission to aid our understanding of climate change, only to have the rocket crash to earth, shortly after launch. More » -
#satelliteporn
History From 423 Miles Up
Popular Science posted this amazing satellite image of Barack Obama's inauguration, two million people captured in amazing crispness by commercial satellite GeoEye-1. There's another fantastic pic at the link. [PopSci] -
#marsporn
Stairway into a Martian Crater
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite just shot this image of rippling, evenly-spaced steps leading down into four craters in the Arabia Terra region of Mars. What causes such regularity in the shapes of these rocks? More » -
#spaceporn
A Vector Map of the Unnamed Methane Sea on Titan
Peter Minton is a California teacher who loves to make vector maps in his spare time. His favorite places to map are islands and coastlines, and so when the Cassini-Huygens probe sent back images from Saturn's moon Titan he was happy to discover the geographical features he loves most. There, on the pole of Titan, was a sea full of islands. An unnamed methane sea, but still mappable using vectoring software. This is the map he created, with longitude and latitude lines. More » -
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#meteor
James Bond Fails To Stop New York From Getting Atomized
Long before there was Armageddon or Deep Impact, or even the fear of our own falling spy satellites, there was Meteor. Sean Connery goes into full science mode as he tries to stop a huge meteor named Orpheus from crashing into the Earth. The good news: he's partially successful. The bad news: Oops, sorry about that Hong Kong and New York. The opening scene, where astronauts watch the cosmic ballet of a comet striking an asteroid just before it obliterates them and their ship, is worth the price of admission alone. More » -
#spaceporn
Satellite Rockets from Ocean Launch Pad at Equator
A communications satellite called the Thuraya-3 launched yesterday afternoon from Boeing's Sea Launch, a massive ocean vessel. Various laws of physics dictate that the best place to launch a heavy payload like a satellite is on the equator, and that's why the United Arab Emirates company Thuraya paid to use the Sea Launch pad you see here. Sea Launch is a popular rocket launch facility because two of its gigantic boat components can quickly zoom out into the middle of the Pacific — it was where Thuraya-1 and Thuraya-2 launched too. We've got a giant, beautiful picture of the Thuraya-2 blasting off four years ago below the fold. More » -
#spaceporn
African Satellites Are Out Tonight
A few days ago, this Ariane rocket blasted off from Kourou, French Guiana. Its payload included a telecom satellite for Africa, which is now sailing serenely overhead. Image by Jody Amiet, AFP/Getty Images.
