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 […]

Extreme close-up–from space (Cassini, to be precise)!!

According to this Weather Underground article, NASA/JPL just put this collage together: Click to see (and embiggen it while there): Shiny, happy people waving hands 40,000 people in 1,400 pictures! Don’t ask about where our responsible government space agency found the time and money, as the US is still struggling to keep NASA relevant and […]

MORE POWER!!!

Okay, okay…this article’s idea has been floating around for a few decades. Given, that in my imaging operations posts we’ve only talked about low earth orbiting (LEO) satellites, and imagery ones at that, there are a few issues with this that you might be acquainted with. But the premise is right. You could set a […]

Pop Quiz answer

Several days ago, I posted these two pictures with a vaguely worded question: https://themadspaceball.wordpress.com/2013/08/09/one-of-these-things/ I promised an answer to that question and here it is: the top picture was taken from low earth orbit (LEO), the bottom from geosynchronous (GEO) orbit. How can one tell from just the pictures? Two big telltales exist in them. […]