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Chinese citizen charged with flying drone over key US Military, NASA launch base

blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
I noticed this person is being charged with something that could lead to just 4 years in prison if convicted. That was surprising to me. Isn’t this almost certain espionage? Shouldn’t that carry a much harsher punishment?
- lnwlebjel 2y ago
  More info from a local website: "Investigators later determined the drone likely flew 1.8 miles from the park into Vandenberg’s restricted area. Armed with a federal warrant, agents later searched Zhou’s drone and found several photographs of the base taken from an aerial viewpoint. " and: "For the past three launches starting with one on Nov. 23 from Vandenberg, SpaceX has inexplicably skipped broadcasting the final minutes of the countdown and initial liftoff. Instead, the webcast started about 45 seconds after the departure. They also provided a broad 4-hour period as the planned departure for the launch, instead of the typically smaller window that includes the actual launch time. A source suggested the change could be connected to some sort of national security issue, but officials remained mum about the reasons. " [1] They arrested him on his way back to China. Sounds like he might get those 4 yrs. Perhaps it's not a harsher sentence because he didn't get anything actually sensitive? [1]https://www.noozhawk.com/chinese-citizen-arrested-for-allegedly-flying-drone-over-vandenberg-sfb/ https://www.noozhawk.com/chinese-citizen-arrested-for-allege...
  - snypher 2y ago
    Apparently the launch tomorrow will be live streamed again.
- while_true_ 2y ago
  Investigation might not be complete, they could add an espionage charge later. Depending on what US code section they charge him with it could be up to 10 yrs, 30 yrs or life.
ggm 2y ago
There have been reports of random Chinese citizen-spies, they're not official, they have no status, its amateur-hour BI that they want to sell back home. The person who walked into Mar-A-Lago might have been one?
snypher 2y ago
I wonder what manufacturer of drone this was. Concealed under jacket says sub-55lbs... 5000ft is pretty high for aerials though, I wonder what his reason was for flying so high. Was there a launch that day or something? >failure to register an aircraft not providing transportation Lol, should have paid his 5 bux. >and violation of national defense airspace Ouch.

I noticed this person is being charged with something that could lead to just 4 years in prison if convicted. That was surprising to me. Isn’t this almost certain espionage? Shouldn’t that carry a much harsher punishment?

lnwlebjel 2y ago
More info from a local website: "Investigators later determined the drone likely flew 1.8 miles from the park into Vandenberg’s restricted area. Armed with a federal warrant, agents later searched Zhou’s drone and found several photographs of the base taken from an aerial viewpoint. " and: "For the past three launches starting with one on Nov. 23 from Vandenberg, SpaceX has inexplicably skipped broadcasting the final minutes of the countdown and initial liftoff. Instead, the webcast started about 45 seconds after the departure. They also provided a broad 4-hour period as the planned departure for the launch, instead of the typically smaller window that includes the actual launch time. A source suggested the change could be connected to some sort of national security issue, but officials remained mum about the reasons. " [1] They arrested him on his way back to China. Sounds like he might get those 4 yrs. Perhaps it's not a harsher sentence because he didn't get anything actually sensitive? [1]https://www.noozhawk.com/chinese-citizen-arrested-for-allegedly-flying-drone-over-vandenberg-sfb/ https://www.noozhawk.com/chinese-citizen-arrested-for-allege...
- snypher 2y ago
  Apparently the launch tomorrow will be live streamed again.
while_true_ 2y ago
Investigation might not be complete, they could add an espionage charge later. Depending on what US code section they charge him with it could be up to 10 yrs, 30 yrs or life.

ggm 2y ago

There have been reports of random Chinese citizen-spies, they're not official, they have no status, its amateur-hour BI that they want to sell back home. The person who walked into Mar-A-Lago might have been one?

snypher 2y ago

I wonder what manufacturer of drone this was. Concealed under jacket says sub-55lbs... 5000ft is pretty high for aerials though, I wonder what his reason was for flying so high. Was there a launch that day or something? >failure to register an aircraft not providing transportation Lol, should have paid his 5 bux. >and violation of national defense airspace Ouch.