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> British government documents detailing the fate of the satellite remained locked away for 50 years. Reading through a copy of the file stamped ‘secret’ in red
by stephengillie 11y ago
> British government documents detailing the fate of the satellite remained locked away for 50 years. Reading through a copy of the file stamped ‘secret’ in red letters today, it is clear why: Nasa realised almost immediately what had happened to the satellite but the UK was, embarrassingly, kept in the dark.
Another example of Classification used to censor something that poses no security risk, but holds huge reputation risk.
- dx211 11y agoYou say that, but now that this is out it's only a matter of time before the bad guys realize they can stop using their nukes for leveling cities and repurpose them for disrupting HBO.
- Finster 11y agoExcept not, because satellites are now hardened against this kind of radiation as a side effect of hardening against cosmic rays, etc. source: the article
- sandworm101 11y agoThe sats for HBO are geostationary. Hitting them with nukes is a far cry from disrupting those in low orbits. You would need a much bigger rocket and significantly better aim (GST=35000km vs. LEO=150km).
- sandworm101 11y agoI don't think it was kept secret to diminish embarrassment or save face. The impact on satellites was an outcome of the test. It was part of the weapon's overall effectiveness. How well your weapons work on specific targets, even those outside the test area, is exactly the type of information you try to keep out of enemy hands.
- stephengillie 11y agoBut the UK and US have been allies for a very long time...
- sandworm101 11y agoThey didn't trust each other, with good reason. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Spy_Ring https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Spy_Ring