5 ms·
What would be the motivation though. I presume that nation states with an interest in the mission would have Ways and Means of verifying that it's operational (
by polemic 9y ago
What would be the motivation though. I presume that nation states with an interest in the mission would have Ways and Means of verifying that it's operational (or not) -- whether by their own space-based observations or other methods.
For everyone else: what's the point of suggesting that there was a failure? It doesn't make anyone look good, least of all their highly visible commercial launch supplier SpaceX (who're unlikely to want to be blamed for any sort of 'fake' failure that they can't disclaim responsibility for either way), or N.G., or the agencies involved.
- JumpCrisscross 9y ago> I presume that nation states with an interest in the mission would have Ways and Means of verifying that it's operational (or not) A skilled amateur astronomer can verify a satellite's orbit and if it appears to be maintaining attitude control. If you want to hide what you're satellite is up to, you call it a weather satellite and go on with your day.
- polemic 9y agoWell, there are plenty of places on the globe out of sight from any private ground based observation (or, any ground based observation at all, I'd bet). Applying delta while flying over the pacific ocean would do the job.
- JumpCrisscross 9y ago> there are plenty of places on the globe out of sight from any private ground based observation I suppose. That also means the bird can't see the ground. (You can't avoid any ground-based observation, as in from land or sea, unless you hide behind the Moon or at L1, i.e. between the Sun and the Earth. Getting to either would be easily detectable, though.)
- polemic 9y agoSure you can't avoid any theoretical ground-based observation -- my point is there are plenty of places on Earth that don't actually have them -- or don't have any available to amateurs or organisations without access to exceptional resources.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- Robotbeat 9y agoThis would still get picked up by the early warning systems of rival nations (i.e. Russia). You can't hide a launch. You CAN pretend it failed, though.
- wahern 9y agoStealth satellites are a thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misty_(satellite) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misty_(satellite) Not sure about actual effectiveness, though.
- LeifCarrotson 9y ago> For everyone else: what's the point of suggesting that there was a failure? It doesn't make anyone look good... Making SpaceX look like a failure is entirely the point. It is very possible to profit in the stock market by making people look bad.