United States Government adding to the polar low earth orbiting constellation

This article caught my eye, if only because of the inaccuracy of the headline. The nation’s largest rocket was actually the Saturn V. When someone prints a headline like that, it normally means they just took the public release, and reprinted or copy/pasted it. I think they mean the nation’s largest, currently, which might be […]

Kepler, focal plane array specs, still looking for a mission

From a previous aside “Not Dead Yet!!“, I noted the Kepler team is trying to find a different mission, since one of the satellite’s reaction wheels is not responding. Here are some interesting specs for the camera’s charged-coupled device (CCD). Observation: the Nokia Lumia 1020 has half of the megapixel capability (41MP). But I bet […]

Polygraphs and belief

This article on the Clearancejobs.com website isn’t really an eye-opener (at least it shouldn’t be). And it isn’t that hard to find information about how unreliable polygraphs are. Turns out belief in the system’s infallibility plays a big part. So it’s kind of like religion that way. I do like the part where they […]

Why space matters: Imaging satellite operations, part 8–synchronizing flying pumpkins and suns

Sorry, this isn’t about a tribute band for 90’s alternative/grunge music, at least not “Today.” This is all about polar orbits and polar sun-synchronous orbits. But before I get into those topics, let me warn you that if you delve too far into this, understand the math involved, the terms used, and worst of all worlds—enjoy […]

Wait, what did they do??? Terminators are in orbit and Skynet is the victim.

No, not British SkyTV–I mean Skynet, from the “Terminator” movie series. So don’t worry, UK citizens, your TV is safe (not necessarily a good thing) and still over-hyped. But China has made some interesting moves in the past few days. China has a very aggressive space program. They’ve stated more than a few times how […]