5 ms·

Uhhh, why don't they build these underground or camouflage them at all? I find it hard to believe sensitive compounds aren't camouflaged for satellite imagery.

potatolicious 14y ago
I'd imagine cost. Putting things underground takes a lot of time and costs many times more than putting it above ground. If you need something in a hurry and don't have infinite resources, you really don't want to be digging. If this is indeed a secret Chinese facility I'd say it's done its job. We know it's there but we haven't the faintest clue what it does. In the modern age of spy satellites, hiding something completely is likely more expensive than ever before, obfuscating it seems like a valid strategy now.
- ergo14 14y ago
  As someone who visited Wolfschanze Hitler's secret hideout in Poland, (where assasination attempt take place), I can assure you, you don't need to hide a compound under ground, it can be perfectly concealed on the ground in forest, if you really want it to stay invisible.
  - aw3c2 14y ago
    not with current remote sensing technology from planes or satellites.
- juan_juarez 14y ago
  Google Maps is just free public satellite imagery. You can barely make out people (interestingly enough, I just realized most people are filtered out of the images). The CIA's had birds for years that are good enough to read license plates on moving cars. I'm sure that, if anything interesting is in that desert, they knew what it was before it was even built.
  - biot 14y ago
    > The CIA's had birds for years that are good enough to > read license plates on moving cars. That's an urban myth, assuming that by "bird" you're referring to an orbiting satellite and not terrestrial equipment like airplanes, quadcopters, and so on: http://everything2.com/title/Spy+satellites+can%2527t+read+your+license+plate http://everything2.com/title/Spy+satellites+can%2527t+read+y...
    - wololo 14y ago
      the replies are interesting (image enhancement, dropping orbit, low angles, synthetic aperture, deformable mirrors, etc.)
  - tzury 14y ago
    That's correct, Just to name a few (historical) examples The SR71 and the U2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_U-2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_U-2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird and of curse, many types of satellites
rdtsc 14y ago
What if they are not sensitive. Maybe just a waste processing facility or something.
- jws 14y ago
  Someone on Slashdot made a pretty good argument that this is an brick factory in decline.

potatolicious 14y ago

I'd imagine cost. Putting things underground takes a lot of time and costs many times more than putting it above ground. If you need something in a hurry and don't have infinite resources, you really don't want to be digging. If this is indeed a secret Chinese facility I'd say it's done its job. We know it's there but we haven't the faintest clue what it does. In the modern age of spy satellites, hiding something completely is likely more expensive than ever before, obfuscating it seems like a valid strategy now.

ergo14 14y ago
As someone who visited Wolfschanze Hitler's secret hideout in Poland, (where assasination attempt take place), I can assure you, you don't need to hide a compound under ground, it can be perfectly concealed on the ground in forest, if you really want it to stay invisible.
- aw3c2 14y ago
  not with current remote sensing technology from planes or satellites.
juan_juarez 14y ago
Google Maps is just free public satellite imagery. You can barely make out people (interestingly enough, I just realized most people are filtered out of the images). The CIA's had birds for years that are good enough to read license plates on moving cars. I'm sure that, if anything interesting is in that desert, they knew what it was before it was even built.
- biot 14y ago
  > The CIA's had birds for years that are good enough to > read license plates on moving cars. That's an urban myth, assuming that by "bird" you're referring to an orbiting satellite and not terrestrial equipment like airplanes, quadcopters, and so on: http://everything2.com/title/Spy+satellites+can%2527t+read+your+license+plate http://everything2.com/title/Spy+satellites+can%2527t+read+y...
  - wololo 14y ago
    the replies are interesting (image enhancement, dropping orbit, low angles, synthetic aperture, deformable mirrors, etc.)
- tzury 14y ago
  That's correct, Just to name a few (historical) examples The SR71 and the U2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_U-2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_U-2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird and of curse, many types of satellites

rdtsc 14y ago

What if they are not sensitive. Maybe just a waste processing facility or something.

jws 14y ago
Someone on Slashdot made a pretty good argument that this is an brick factory in decline.