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posted by mrpg on Thursday January 25 2018, @08:30AM   Printer-friendly
from the grrrrrr dept.

Rocket Lab has put a highly reflective object into orbit around Earth:

US spaceflight startup Rocket Lab put three commercial satellites into orbit during its rocket launch this past weekend — but it turns out there was another satellite that hitched a ride on the vehicle too. The company's Electron rocket also put into orbit a previously undisclosed satellite made by Rocket Lab's CEO Peter Beck, called the Humanity Star. And the probe will supposedly become the "brightest thing in the night sky," the company announced today.

Shaped a bit like a disco ball, the Humanity Star is a 3-foot-wide carbon fiber sphere, made up of 65 panels that reflect the Sun's light. The satellite is supposed to spin in space, too, so it's constantly bouncing sunlight. In fact, the probe is so bright that people can see it with the naked eye. The Humanity Star's orbit also takes it all over Earth, so the satellite will be visible from every location on the planet at different times. Rocket Lab has set up a website that gives real-time updates about the Humanity Star's location. People can find out when the satellite will be closest to them, and then go outside to look for it.

The goal of the project is to create "a shared experience for all of humanity," according to Rocket Lab. "No matter where you are in the world, or what is happening in your life, everyone will be able to see the Humanity Star in the night sky," Beck said in a statement. "Our hope is that everyone looking at the Humanity Star will look past it to the vast expanse of the Universe and think a little differently about their lives, actions, and what is important for humanity." That includes coming together to solve major problems like climate change and resource shortages, Beck says.

Some astronomers are not happy about the geodesic sphere:

The only good thing about the "Humanity Star" (aka the NZ pollutes the night sky project) is that it burns up in 9 months. 9 months is way too far away IMHO.

— Ian Griffin (@iangriffin) January 24, 2018

Also at BBC.

Previously: Rocket Lab's Second "Electron" Rocket Launch Succeeds, Reaches Orbit


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by aim on Thursday January 25 2018, @10:25AM (7 children)

    by aim (6322) on Thursday January 25 2018, @10:25AM (#627619)

    There's a very bright thing up there that is easily visible to naked eye, called the ISS. It's also very easy to identify, being brighter than Venus and moving much too rapidly to be an airplane, not blinking either.

    There's a great many other sats up there, that you can see at least occasionally, such as Iridium sats (look up iridium flare).

    If you help your eyes with binoculars or telescopes, it will be rather hard to miss all those sats flying around. They also are a PITA for those of us trying to get decent pictures of the night sky, thankfully stacking software can get sat or airplane trails out of the picture.

    Seriously, if you want to send up something into earth only for it to be seen, just stop right there, don't bother. You're no better than the next spammer.

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  • (Score: 5, Funny) by bradley13 on Thursday January 25 2018, @10:35AM (6 children)

    by bradley13 (3053) on Thursday January 25 2018, @10:35AM (#627620) Homepage Journal

    Ah, but this one spins, so it's blinking spam. We've been here before, on the Internet, about 20 years ago.

    --
    Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by takyon on Thursday January 25 2018, @10:40AM (2 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday January 25 2018, @10:40AM (#627621) Journal

      Maybe this sphere will unite humanity... in cooperating to destroy it before the 9 month atmospheric burn.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 2, Insightful) by anubi on Thursday January 25 2018, @10:49AM

        by anubi (2828) on Thursday January 25 2018, @10:49AM (#627626) Journal

        As far as I am concerned, one is nice, and quite sufficient.

        The novelty will wear off, but so will the orbit.

        I would not vote to destroy the moon either, but I would be quite pissed if Pepsi found some way of permanently coloring the moon to their logo - but if they did it for a week, and nobody would do that again... I'd think it quite cool.

        --
        "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
      • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @05:01PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @05:01PM (#627753)

        At least everybody will be grooving an dancing, the earth will become one big dance floor.

    • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday January 25 2018, @06:14PM (2 children)

      by Freeman (732) on Thursday January 25 2018, @06:14PM (#627782) Journal

      The guy who thought blinking text was a good idea, needs some professional help. I thought blinking was a horrendous thing. Still do, but it's been usurped by Auto-Playing Full Page Videos / Ads. Thankfully, uBlock Origin works great and the devs haven't been seduced by money a la AdBlock Plus.

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
      • (Score: 2) by Leebert on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:36PM (1 child)

        by Leebert (3511) on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:36PM (#627875)

        The guy who thought blinking text was a good idea, needs some professional help.

        The blink tag was based on a joke and implemented by a guy who had one too many at the bar one night: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blink_element [wikipedia.org]

        • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:30PM

          by Freeman (732) on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:30PM (#627956) Journal

          That explains a lot.

          --
          Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"