Starship Asterisk*

Today, 16th November 2007, the APOD is the most disappointing ever, real bathos.

A splendid starscape, with nebulae, stars large and small (to the eye) and luminous dust clouds. And across it a white streak, narrow, pointed, as dramatic a feature as you could wish for. It has to be a comet or ...... a space ship!

It's a satellite launcher, dumping fuel. Rocket cr*p. I feel as if someone drew a moustache on the Mona Lisa, or painted pants on the Elgin Marbles.

John

It is indeed unfortunate to have such a nice exposure tainted by man-made debris. It is getting very common that long exposures have satellite trails in them. It used to be cool. Now its just a nusance.

As long as we have such a demand for all our communications, satellite TV and a need to predict weather accurately, amongst other things, we'll just have to put up with it.

BTW I wonder what will happen in the future to the geocynchonus orbital space. I just learned that there are only about 200 slots left out of approx. 3000. Highest bidder? Star wars?

auroradude wrote:(SNIP)
BTW I wonder what will happen in the future to the geocynchonus orbital space. I just learned that there are only about 200 slots left out of approx. 3000. Highest bidder? Star wars?

I think they will go to an even higher orbit much like electrons orbit in shells or Saturnian Rings.

BMAONE23 wrote:

auroradude wrote:(SNIP)
BTW I wonder what will happen in the future to the geocynchonus orbital space. I just learned that there are only about 200 slots left out of approx. 3000. Highest bidder? Star wars?

I think they will go to an even higher orbit much like electrons orbit in shells or Saturnian Rings.

Higher or lower they aren't geosynchronous.

It's not that the background was tainted, it couldn't be, but that such a dramatic image as that white streak turned out to be so prosaic.
It looks so exciting! The design, an accident obviously but a seredipitous one, is excellent, the star-points, the bright and dim clouds and shapes, with that streak superimposed. It had to be significant. And it wasn't.

There are some things we are not meant to know - and I'd just rather not know!

John

PS Who/what is that a quote from?

auroradude wrote:BTW I wonder what will happen in the future to the geocynchonus orbital space. I just learned that there are only about 200 slots left out of approx. 3000. Highest bidder? Star wars?

Interesting...I hadn't heard that before. But offhand a couple of options are:

1.) Launch tugs to deorbit old satellites (spendy...might be able to piggy back the tug with the replacement satellite).

2.) Increasingly combine functions of multiple smaller satellites into larger satellites that only take up a single slot (also saves on launch costs but requires better planning and increased risk in the event of a failure).

3.) Improve positional accuracy to make the spots smaller so you've got room for more satellites (probably requires more fuel to maintain position, and better tracking).

iamlucky13 wrote:1.) Launch tugs to deorbit old satellites (spendy...might be able to piggy back the tug with the replacement satellite).

Most geostationary satellites are operational. It is part of their mission design that when they reach the end of their service life, they are boosted into a slightly higher orbit, which frees up their slot for a new satellite. Tugs would only be needed for a satellite that had failed completely, which is rare.

3.) Improve positional accuracy to make the spots smaller so you've got room for more satellites (probably requires more fuel to maintain position, and better tracking).

The limitation isn't positional accuracy, but communications. You need to be able to aim a radio beam at one satellite without hitting the adjacent one. Put the satellites too close together, and you run into some very difficult to solve problems with interference.

Well, I think the concept of capturing, photographically, a fairly rare sight is pretty cool. The photographer gets points in my book for being pointed in the right place at the right time.

Orion is breathtaking, and I don't think the "mustache" really detracts from that. Frankly it makes me think of the sense of scale. Such a small little bit of rocket fuel in front of such a huge, distant, huge, beautiful, huge nebula complex.

-Noel

I definitely agree with NoelC. Catching that plume was a one in a billion shot at best, especially with such a nice background.

The disruption has come and gone, and you can easily take another picture of a constellation that will change barely perceptibly over the next thousand years, while it was a stroke of good fortune to get that fascinating testatment to human exploration on camera.

Now that I have thought on it I must agree. It is a very lucky shot indeed!

I am sure more than one image was recorded and dispersal rate of material was measured. usefull scientific value. Or maybe the darn thing blew up and the people responsible are not telling us.