3 ms·

You would need an insane amount of LEO satellites in order to get a feed which was continuous. I don't even know how to start doing the maths on this one.

monocasa 7y ago
Well, you're not going to be able to make out a house from 100x farther away either. Thanks to Trump's inability to not tweet anything he sees, we know that Block 4 KH-11 satellites have a 10cm/pixel about standard (they're in an elliptical orbit, but they use which ever is closest at the time). So we're looking at a 10M/pixel in geostationary orbit, assuming you can get the same optics that NROL was shipping up as late as 2013.
- tomcam 7y ago
  > Thanks to Trump's inability to not tweet anything he sees If there’s one thing I hate about that guy, it’s his being the most transparent presidency in history.
  - monocasa 7y ago
    His actions are sort of the worst of both worlds here. On one hand leaking information that's only useful to geopolitical adversaries (probably because he didn't understand the implications of tweeting stuff like that), and on the other hand being a new bar for destruction of public records when it comes to decisions made by the administration (somehow even beating out the Obama administration). https://www.democracynow.org/2020/2/6/national_archives_record_retention_matthew_connelly https://www.democracynow.org/2020/2/6/national_archives_reco... https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/10/trump-papers-filing-system-635164 https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/10/trump-papers-filin... It'd be a huge stretch to call it "the most transparent presidency in history".
    - mopsi 7y ago
      > On one hand leaking information that's only useful to geopolitical adversaries What did he leak? From what I can tell, the photo merely confirmed what was already a reasonable educated guess.
      - monocasa 7y ago
        The resolution of the optics.
        mopsi 7y ago
        Why do you think it was a secret to anyone? Any amateur astronomer can figure it out from mirror size and orbital parameters. A 1968 NASA publication (sold for $3.00) discusses various limitations, concluding: "The telescope objective for best resolution, as viewed from a satellite at an altitude of 320 kilometers, requires a diameter of about 1.6 meters to resolve a 12-centimeter radius" https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19690003603.pdf https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/196900... That approximately 10 cm resolution has always been a resonable guess of the capabilities of best spy satellites. Trump's tweet surprised no-one. It confirmed what has always been thought to be true.
hobofan 7y ago
How about equipping every Starlink satelite with some optics?

monocasa 7y ago

Well, you're not going to be able to make out a house from 100x farther away either. Thanks to Trump's inability to not tweet anything he sees, we know that Block 4 KH-11 satellites have a 10cm/pixel about standard (they're in an elliptical orbit, but they use which ever is closest at the time). So we're looking at a 10M/pixel in geostationary orbit, assuming you can get the same optics that NROL was shipping up as late as 2013.

tomcam 7y ago
> Thanks to Trump's inability to not tweet anything he sees If there’s one thing I hate about that guy, it’s his being the most transparent presidency in history.
- monocasa 7y ago
  His actions are sort of the worst of both worlds here. On one hand leaking information that's only useful to geopolitical adversaries (probably because he didn't understand the implications of tweeting stuff like that), and on the other hand being a new bar for destruction of public records when it comes to decisions made by the administration (somehow even beating out the Obama administration). https://www.democracynow.org/2020/2/6/national_archives_record_retention_matthew_connelly https://www.democracynow.org/2020/2/6/national_archives_reco... https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/10/trump-papers-filing-system-635164 https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/10/trump-papers-filin... It'd be a huge stretch to call it "the most transparent presidency in history".
  - mopsi 7y ago
    > On one hand leaking information that's only useful to geopolitical adversaries What did he leak? From what I can tell, the photo merely confirmed what was already a reasonable educated guess.
    - monocasa 7y ago
      The resolution of the optics.
      - mopsi 7y ago
        Why do you think it was a secret to anyone? Any amateur astronomer can figure it out from mirror size and orbital parameters. A 1968 NASA publication (sold for $3.00) discusses various limitations, concluding: "The telescope objective for best resolution, as viewed from a satellite at an altitude of 320 kilometers, requires a diameter of about 1.6 meters to resolve a 12-centimeter radius" https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19690003603.pdf https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/196900... That approximately 10 cm resolution has always been a resonable guess of the capabilities of best spy satellites. Trump's tweet surprised no-one. It confirmed what has always been thought to be true.

hobofan 7y ago

How about equipping every Starlink satelite with some optics?