Nerd stuff

[Wut]

SpaceX's new array of Starlink communication satellites has even the most jaded of satellite observers agog with excitement as they move across the sky.

On Thursday evening (May 23), SpaceX launched 60 Starlink satellites into orbit on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The satellites are in good health and are the first of a planned 12,000-satellite megaconstellation to provide internet access to people on Earth.

The satellites, which are now orbiting at approximately 273 miles (440 km) above the Earth, are putting on a spectacular show for ground observers as they move across the night sky.


A train of SpaceX Starlink satellites are visible in the night sky in this still from a video captured by satellite tracker Marco Langbroek in Leiden, the Netherlands on May 24, 2019, just one day after SpaceX launched 60 of the Starlink internet communications satellites into orbit.

To the eye, the 60 satellites appear as a "moving train" of moderately faint stars … generally in the magnitude +4 to +5 range, although some observers have reported that a few of the satellites in the train have appeared brighter than this. A magnitude of +6 is generally considered to be the threshold of naked eye visibility under a dark, clear sky.

Initially, the satellites were seen to be stretched out in a straight line measuring roughly 5 to 8 degrees in apparent length. Your clenched fist held at arm's length is roughly equivalent to 10 degrees, so the satellite train currently measures roughly just less than a fist in length as it moves across the sky.

With time, however, as the satellites revolve around Earth at 90 minute intervals, they should appear less "bunched" together and may actually get a bit fainter as they are slowly raised to their operational orbits of 342 miles (550 km).

[Animal]

i heard about this several months ago. I don't remember the details of the story, just that they planned to send up over a thousand tiny satellites. I was thinking the story was about some type of communication system. And I was thinking it was Amazon or Google or someone that was funding it.

[Wut]

The Internet says Thursday at 8:24 is my best option for seeing it in the next ten days but that's awful close to sunset.

[Animal]

The Internet says Thursday at 8:24 is my best option for seeing it in the next ten days but that's awful close to sunset.

is there a link to someplace that gives times and locations? no way i could see anything in the sky at 8:24 right now, I don't think.

[beagleboy]

Obviously this is a coverup for the Alien highway they've recently discovered.

[Wut]

The Internet says Thursday at 8:24 is my best option for seeing it in the next ten days but that's awful close to sunset.

is there a link to someplace that gives times and locations? no way i could see anything in the sky at 8:24 right now, I don't think.

This is what I'm looking at:

https://www.n2yo.com/passes/?s=74001

[CaptQuint]

The Internet says Thursday at 8:24 is my best option for seeing it in the next ten days but that's awful close to sunset.

is there a link to someplace that gives times and locations? no way i could see anything in the sky at 8:24 right now, I don't think.

https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-s ... guide.html

[Animal]

so if you launch something up into "space", what determines what elevation (from the earth's surface) that it orbits at? and then, once in that orbit, will it stay at that elevation forever? I mean, is it some gravity calculation based on the mass of the satellite? And what propels it orbit every couple of hours?

[CaptQuint]

so if you launch something up into "space", what determines what elevation (from the earth's surface) that it orbits at? and then, once in that orbit, will it stay at that elevation forever? I mean, is it some gravity calculation based on the mass of the satellite? And what propels it orbit every couple of hours?

so if you launch something up into "space", what determines what elevation (from the earth's surface) that it orbits at?

How many firecrackers you put under it


once in that orbit, will it stay at that elevation forever?

No, it's orbit will decay and it will fall into the atmosphere

And what propels it orbit every couple of hours?

gravitational pull
source:
I'm an internet black science guy

[Animal]

so if you launch something up into "space", what determines what elevation (from the earth's surface) that it orbits at?

How many firecrackers you put under it

well, that's obviously not true. in this story alone it says the satellites are at 273 miles and will eventually end up at 342 miles for their final orbiting path.

[CaptQuint]

so if you launch something up into "space", what determines what elevation (from the earth's surface) that it orbits at?

How many firecrackers you put under it

well, that's obviously not true. in this story alone it says the satellites are at 273 miles and will eventually end up at 342 miles for their final orbiting path.

Extra firecracker, duh

Black Science Guy

[B-Tender]

so if you launch something up into "space", what determines what elevation (from the earth's surface) that it orbits at?

How many firecrackers you put under it

well, that's obviously not true. in this story alone it says the satellites are at 273 miles and will eventually end up at 342 miles for their final orbiting path.

Extra firecracker, duh

Black Science Guy

Is the science black, or is the guy black?

[CaptQuint]

so if you launch something up into "space", what determines what elevation (from the earth's surface) that it orbits at?

How many firecrackers you put under it

well, that's obviously not true. in this story alone it says the satellites are at 273 miles and will eventually end up at 342 miles for their final orbiting path.

Extra firecracker, duh

Black Science Guy

Is the science black, or is the guy black?

Yes

[B-Tender]

so if you launch something up into "space", what determines what elevation (from the earth's surface) that it orbits at?

How many firecrackers you put under it

well, that's obviously not true. in this story alone it says the satellites are at 273 miles and will eventually end up at 342 miles for their final orbiting path.

Extra firecracker, duh

Black Science Guy

Is the science black, or is the guy black?

Yes

Black science is probably cooler and more trendy than regular science, so it's got that going for it.

[CaptQuint]

so if you launch something up into "space", what determines what elevation (from the earth's surface) that it orbits at?

How many firecrackers you put under it

well, that's obviously not true. in this story alone it says the satellites are at 273 miles and will eventually end up at 342 miles for their final orbiting path.

Extra firecracker, duh

Black Science Guy

Is the science black, or is the guy black?

Yes

Black science is probably cooler and more trendy than regular science, so it's got that going for it.

We make homemade malt liquor as well

[Animal]

At 273 miles above the earth, that makes one trip around the earth to be about 27,000 miles. And, according to that link you sent, they pass pretty close to the same spot on the earth every 1.62 hrs. So, those little fuckers are traveling about 16,600 mph.

[WestTexasCrude]

The 1990's are yawning at this crap. Motorola launched 66 Iridium satellites to cover the Earth with Global coverage back in the late 90's. 30 years later, this company is pounding their chest? Please.

[Wut]

Those iridium satellites are all being shut down and taken out of service.

[WestTexasCrude]

Those iridium satellites are all being shut down and taken out of service.

Nope, well maybe due to age. Read the whole history of Motorola's Iridium 1990's project. Totally brilliant engineering- 66 satellites in geo-centric (sp) orbit covering 100% of the earth with cell phone service. North Pole to the Equator. Motorola screwed the pooch on the logistics/ land based hardware. Went bankrupt and bought on the cents by a corporation. Still the preferred means of communication by shipping companies worldwide.

[CaptQuint]

Nope, well maybe

[Wut]

Those iridium satellites are all being shut down and taken out of service.

Nope, well maybe due to age. Read the whole history of Motorola's Iridium 1990's project. Totally brilliant engineering- 66 satellites in geo-centric (sp) orbit covering 100% of the earth with cell phone service. North Pole to the Equator. Motorola screwed the pooch on the logistics/ land based hardware. Went bankrupt and bought on the cents by a corporation. Still the preferred means of communication by shipping companies worldwide.

In January 2017, Iridium began launch next-generation satellites through its $3 billion launch campaign, Iridium NEXT. The new satellites were sent into space on SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicles from Vandenberg AFB Space Launch Complex 4 in California over the course of 8 launches between January 2017 and January 2019.[26][27] On January 14, 2017, SpaceX successfully launched 10 of the new Iridium satellites into orbit.[28] The second launch of Iridium NEXT satellites took place on June 25, 2017 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket out of Vandenberg Air Force Base. This was the second of eight scheduled launches.[29] The third launch of 10 NEXT satellites took place on October 9, 2017. On December 22, 2017, ten additional satellites were deployed after a successful launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. On May 22nd, SpaceX successfully launched an additional five Iridium NEXT satellites from Vandenberg Air Force Base[30]. On March 28, 2018, the obsolete satellite IRIDIUM 23 [P], space junk, reentered the atmosphere close to north of Brazil.[31]

[Systemofaclown]

Obviously this is a coverup for the Alien highway they've recently discovered.

Then the end is nigh. Hitchhiker's guide taught me earth would be eliminated to make way for the space highway.

[Molzy]

There's a guy I've been going back and forth with on IG, for the better of 2 years and he works at SpaceX. I may go for it if he gives me a tour.

[CaptQuint]

There's a guy I've been going back and forth with on IG, for the better of 2 years and he works at SpaceX. I may go for it if he gives me a tour.

Are ye gonna play with his rocket?

[Zerobeat]

Those iridium satellites are all being shut down and taken out of service.

Nope, well maybe due to age. Read the whole history of Motorola's Iridium 1990's project. Totally brilliant engineering- 66 satellites in geo-centric (sp) orbit covering 100% of the earth with cell phone service. North Pole to the Equator. Motorola screwed the pooch on the logistics/ land based hardware. Went bankrupt and bought on the cents by a corporation. Still the preferred means of communication by shipping companies worldwide.

Geosynchronous orbit.