SpaceX satellites' effect on night sky can't be eliminated, astronomers say:
Broadband satellites being launched by SpaceX and other companies will inevitably have a negative impact on astronomers' ability to observe the night sky, according to a new report by astronomers. There are no mitigation strategies that can completely eliminate the satellites' impact on astronomical observations—other than not launching satellites at all—but the report includes recommendations for how satellite operators can minimize disruption and how observatories can adjust to the changes.
The report released this week is titled, "Impact of Satellite Constellations on Optical Astronomy and Recommendations Toward Mitigations."
(Score: 2) by sgleysti on Saturday August 29 2020, @02:43PM (8 children)
Or a huge radio dish built into a crater on the far side.
We're too busy funding the military-industrial complex to spend that much money on astronomy. Also, I think Hubble has been serving well. Here's hoping they get James Webb into orbit and functioning properly.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Saturday August 29 2020, @03:30PM (4 children)
Even that is small potatoes...
"QE-cloud (that’s where central banks ditch all current pretense and simply start buying up the clouds passing over them in the sky..."
It is a bottomless pit. We stopped counting a long time ago. All part of the insane clown posse (to steal a most fitting term), that still(!) has widespread support.. The event horizon is closer than it appears
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday August 29 2020, @04:39PM (3 children)
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Saturday August 29 2020, @04:52PM
QE is also a pretext for austerity when they tell us there's no money left for social services or a decent wage to keep up with expenses. Real money is being stolen from our accounts in this fashion. Too bad everybody is arguing over bullshit, can't even agree on the color of the sky any more. Looking at the same thing, one says it was the butler, the other says it was Colonel Mustard
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 29 2020, @07:53PM (1 child)
The MIC is less of a problem because that money actually gets spent on something, so a fraction of it actually goes to wages. QE and other such gimmicks are not only a bigger pool but are a pure drain on the economy.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday August 30 2020, @04:02AM
In other words, paying an enormous number of people to avoid productive work. I think the MIC is an enormous drain on society and the economy because of stuff like that.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Saturday August 29 2020, @04:36PM (2 children)
We've already spent far more than what would be needed for observatories on the far side of the Moon. It's not lack of funding holding us back, but that MIC. Just as in the military proper, there's plenty of spending, but it's inefficient on a scale that will be hard for future doddering bureaucracies to match.
Unfortunately, a great example of the MIC in action. How many James Webb telescopes could they have launched for the price of this one?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by sgleysti on Sunday August 30 2020, @03:09AM (1 child)
I find all the cost overruns and delays unsurprising given the incredible technical complexity involved.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday August 30 2020, @04:46AM
A particularly glaring example of this was a NASA study on the development of the Falcon 9 vehicle which found that NASA would have priced the development of the vehicle for ten times [soylentnews.org] what SpaceX actually spent on it! That's not counting the inevitable cost overruns and delays which SpaceX experienced and NASA would have yet to experience!
In the past, I've been accused of NASA bashing. But stuff like this happened throughout NASA's existence. It's not a fluke.