SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
President Trump has been accused of deliberately obstructing research on global warming after it emerged that a critically important technique for investigating polar sea-ice extent and concentration is being blocked.
A key polar satellite used to measure the arctic ice cap failed a few days ago, leaving the US with only three others, and those have lived well beyond their shelf lives. Scientists say there is no chance a new one can be launched until 2023 or later. None of the current satellites will still be in operation then. This will put an end to nearly 40 years of uninterrupted data on polar ice.
It seems like there would be a backup satellite, right? In fact, there was a backup satellite ready to go. Then the Trump Administration destroyed it earlier this year, by order of the US Congress. They said the storage costs were too high.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 20 2017, @03:36PM
Let's address your points: no, no, no, no, no . . . and . . . no.
First, some background on this satellite series [spacenews.com], and where they were debating the merits of launching the 1990s-built satellite back in 2015!
These satellites, and many others like them, do not "nearly" always have ITAR stuff on them. There is a robust and active unclassified space community, even back in the day.
Where the hell do you get your costs for armed security? They don't build a special facility to house a weather satellite and hire their own guards for it. You sit it in a cleanroom in the same building that you do your other satellite builds. And yes, it does require a cleanroom, but you're using the same ones you normally use. And in the event that they needed the floor space that it was sitting on, than it has probably been moved to an environmentally controlled storage container for long-term storage. And, no, you don't need only cleared people to maintain it. People at NOAA don't have clearances.