amazon plans 3,236 satellites, ground astronomy in danger

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what should be done about satellites ruining ground-astronomy observations?
put a moratorium on these things until a tech solution is found. :idea: 75%  75%  [ 3 ]
do away with ground-based observatories :idea: 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
i don't know. :shrug: 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
i have an answer i'll post in the thread. :idea: 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
where's my ice cream? :chef: 25%  25%  [ 1 ]
Total votes : 4

auntblabby
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12 Aug 2020, 5:49 am

(clicky)ground astronomers fear that amazon's fleet of 3,236 satellites will ruin their viewing
Amazon was approved by the Federal Communications Commission to launch 3,326 satellites as part of its planned Kuiper constellation. That’s roughly 600 more satellites than the total number currently in orbit. Ground astronomers are crying foul due to the bright streaks they leave in time exposures, washing out astronomical objects and ruining astronomical observations.
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Streaks left by Starlink satellites, observed by the Blanco 4-meter telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile in 2019.Credit...National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory/CTIO/AURA/DELVE
(clicky also)these commercial satellites can potentially wreak havoc on gov't satellites, as well.
IMHO it is high time [pun intentional ;) ] for the U.N. or other regulatory body to step in.



naturalplastic
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12 Aug 2020, 7:02 am

We dont need no stinkin satellites.

Or not this system of 3000 additional extra satellites. The world is doing fine without them.



auntblabby
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12 Aug 2020, 7:15 am

i wonder why nobody has come up with any alternatives to satellites as they have come to be known?



naturalplastic
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12 Aug 2020, 8:51 am

Well..you could use towers, or tethered blimps, or like that.

A satellite is just a higher up thing to bounce radio signals off of.

But why does Amazon need so many of its own communications satellites?

And why does society need AN Amazon type company that has so many communication satelites?

Bezos rules the world, and our economy already. I cant imagine any service he could provide that would require him clutter up either...the landscape with more cell/radio type towers...or clutter up low earth orbit space with satellites. Or at least I cant imagine any service he could provide that we arent already happily living without.



auntblabby
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13 Aug 2020, 5:17 am

it was harder to get rare things before amazon. alternatively, more things were rare before amazon. the company has somewhat democratized the shopping for comparatively esoteric stuff, rendering it more common. i don't grok, though- why it needs those satellites NOW when it didn't need 'em before.



AnthonySanderson
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25 Aug 2020, 10:49 am

Well, I'm really wondering why they need these satellites. Maybe they want to implement their own mobile network? Satellite TV ?? I'm even afraid to suggest that such a large company might have conceived. Some sources say that they want to provide the Internet for tens of millions of people who have not yet gained access to it. Well, this is really a very good idea, but I think Elon Musk is already planning to do something like that. Sometimes I am really surprised at this company and its power, It launches thousands of satellites while I use coupons to buy goods from the same company ... By the way, what services do you use to provide coupons? For example I am using [url]ad removed[/url]. I think it will be useful if we share this information with each other.



Jiheisho
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25 Aug 2020, 11:21 am

But I want cheap stuff delivered to my home! How dare you get in the way of progress just because of science!! They are just trying to cover up the fake moon landings and the Earth is flat!! !



Noca
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25 Aug 2020, 11:19 pm

I'd say delay but then again countries like China and Russia who don't have any sense of global responsibility whatsoever would launch their own swarms of satellites anyway.



auntblabby
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26 Aug 2020, 6:49 am

but in this case, "if ya can't beat 'em then join 'em" will only add to the mess.