4 ms·
These balloons don't seem to match the, however brief, descriptions of what was shot down. Also, do they not have mechanisms that report the balloon's position?
by bmitc 4y ago
These balloons don't seem to match the, however brief, descriptions of what was shot down. Also, do they not have mechanisms that report the balloon's position? Seems like a lot of speculation.
- ceejayoz 4y ago> Also, do they not have mechanisms that report the balloon's position? Pico balloon payloads look like this: https://www.rmham.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/IMG_5385-scaled.jpeg https://www.rmham.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/IMG_5385-sc... Most ADS-B transponders are substantially larger than the entire payload.
- ianburrell 4y agoI wonder if APRS transmitter would be acceptable as transponder. It should be possible to make a tiny, cheap ADS-B transponder. They are similar to APRS, with GPS and VHF radio. But there really isn't a market now for small ones, and there are regulations that make expensive.
- ianburrell 4y agoI don't think we have a description of the Canada object that is suspected to be this balloon. The car-sized cylindrical object in Alaska could easily be a balloon if the shape was misreported. The octagonal object in Lake Huron trailing cables could have similarly misreported. It is hard for fighter pilots to observe small objects passing by them at high speed. I also suspect that they will see balloon as interesting object when can't see the payload.
- Sharlin 4y agoIdentification missions are supposed to also photograph the target though, presumably with an appropriate telephoto camera. No need to rely solely on the Mk I eyeball. But admittedly that’s not trivial either at high relative velocities.