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Wouldn’t that be way too trackable? Objects in Earth orbit the size of this shuttle should be very easy to track. In fact, it’s right here on this tracking webs

by arrrg 12y ago

Wouldn’t that be way too trackable? Objects in Earth orbit the size of this shuttle should be very easy to track. In fact, it’s right here on this tracking website: http://www.n2yo.com/?s=39025 http://www.n2yo.com/?s=39025 Consequently we should already know with some certainty whether this shuttle approached any other satellites closely – so at least we wouldn’t need to speculate about whether or not part of this shuttle’s mission is to get up close and personal with (non-American) satellites. Moving around in space is very challenging and this small thing can certainly not do any miracles, so any change in orbit would be not very large. I doubt this little thing can dramatically change the size and inclination of its orbit – and with that limited manoeuvrability it should be easily observable.

contingencies 12y ago
I don't know. The source for that site seems to be NASA's NSSDC database at http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/SpacecraftQuery.jsp http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/SpacecraftQuery.jsp ... which shows, under military satellites with 2014 launches: 5 Russian satellites, 1 French/Italian satellite, 4 US satellites, and 1 Chinese satellite. The US satellites are described as follows. A series of space surveillance satellites developed covertly by the Air Force and Orbital Sciences to provide a space-based capability operating in the near-geosynchronous orbit regime supporting U.S. Strategic Command space surveillance operations as a dedicated Space Surveillance Network (SSN) sensor. According to USAF officials, the GSSAP satellites will drift above and below the GEO belt, using electro-optical sensors to collect information on satellites and other objects in that region. The satellites are maneuverable, allowing them to collect intelligence on specific target satellites. GSSAP provides “accurate tracking and characterization” of satellites. Given the nature of the US bureaucracy, it's not unthinkable that certain satellites are simply not tracked or published by NASA. How and with what extent and accuracy others may be tracking worldwide satellites independently of NASA is an open question.
- dingaling 12y ago
  > it's not unthinkable that certain satellites are simply not tracked or published by NASA. Which is indeed true[0], but due to the attention of amateur observers there is very little in orbit that goes untracked http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html Its members compile many elements from direct observation, including those for the 'unmentioned' satellites. [0] actually they're not tracked by NASA but by USSPACECOM, and to use their elements one has to accept a restrictive non-dissemination agreement. Many observers do not, and use community-calculated elements instead

by arrrg 12y ago

contingencies 12y ago

I don't know. The source for that site seems to be NASA's NSSDC database at http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/SpacecraftQuery.jsp http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/SpacecraftQuery.jsp ... which shows, under military satellites with 2014 launches: 5 Russian satellites, 1 French/Italian satellite, 4 US satellites, and 1 Chinese satellite. The US satellites are described as follows. A series of space surveillance satellites developed covertly by the Air Force and Orbital Sciences to provide a space-based capability operating in the near-geosynchronous orbit regime supporting U.S. Strategic Command space surveillance operations as a dedicated Space Surveillance Network (SSN) sensor. According to USAF officials, the GSSAP satellites will drift above and below the GEO belt, using electro-optical sensors to collect information on satellites and other objects in that region. The satellites are maneuverable, allowing them to collect intelligence on specific target satellites. GSSAP provides “accurate tracking and characterization” of satellites. Given the nature of the US bureaucracy, it's not unthinkable that certain satellites are simply not tracked or published by NASA. How and with what extent and accuracy others may be tracking worldwide satellites independently of NASA is an open question.

dingaling 12y ago
> it's not unthinkable that certain satellites are simply not tracked or published by NASA. Which is indeed true[0], but due to the attention of amateur observers there is very little in orbit that goes untracked http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html Its members compile many elements from direct observation, including those for the 'unmentioned' satellites. [0] actually they're not tracked by NASA but by USSPACECOM, and to use their elements one has to accept a restrictive non-dissemination agreement. Many observers do not, and use community-calculated elements instead