Screenshot of an Iridium satellite flare right next to Jupiter's location in the sky. From video by Thierry Legault.
Cue the “Space Invaders” sound effects! We’ve shared previously how astrophotographer Thierry Legault will travel anywhere to get a unique shot. He took this impressive but fun video of an Iridium 72 satellite flaring and passing in front of Jupiter, traveling to Oostende Beach at the North Sea in Belgium to capture this transit. He took both a wide angle view as well as the telescopic close-up view of Jupiter, and from the vantage point of Earth, it appears as though Jupiter gets blasted by the flare. In the zoomed-in view, even Jupiter’s moons are part of the scene.
You can almost hear the “pew-pew.”
Legault also shared a another recent video he shot of the Chinese Yaogan 6 satellite. “It is probably out of control, quickly tumbling with very bright and short flashes,” Legault said, and it has been tumbling for about a year. Yaogan 6 is a radar reconnaissance satellite launched by China in 2009. Legault said he did the tracking by hand with professional video tripod with a fluid head.
See more of Legault’s extraordinary astrophotography work at his website.
Look up, way up. It’s entirely possible that you’re looking right at a satellite, which is watching you right back. What kind of Earth Observation technology is possible?
Feel like somebody’s watching you? Well buckle up Rockwell, because somebody totally is. From space, definitely. And by the spiders. Oh, how the spiders love to watch. Right now, there are hundreds of satellites directing their creepy magic eyes and space nostrils towards the Earth.
Watching every… move… you make? Well, not your every move. Probably not any of your moves. At least not enough to warrant bringing in Thriller Pepsi-hair-on-fire Michael Jackson for backing vocals.
There’s a flock of Earth Observation satellites orbiting the planet right now. NASA alone has more than a dozen satellites in its imaginatively titled Earth Observing System program. Some image the land while others measure the atmosphere, oceans, ice, even the planet’s gravity and magnetosphere.
There’s also Landsat satellites. The first launched in 1972 to begin photographing Earth for SCIENCE. Many of the most famous images of Earth were taken by this program, and the missions are still going.
Landsat 8 launched in 2013, and preliminary plans are being made for Landsat 9. Landsat 8 images the entire planet every 16 days. They can’t see what you put in your coffee, at a 15-meter resolution.
NASA isn’t watching you right now, but they are pouring over photos from the last 16 days. Really, they’re dwelling on you from the past. They keep meaning to send you flowers and tell you you’re really pretty, but first they’ve got to get up the courage to dig through your garbage and spend a whole day waiting in their car outside your favorite restaurant.
Want to see what they’re tracking exactly and what secrets they’ve uncovered? Go to this url here – and you can browse the image archives in almost real time from the Landsat satellites. You can see all kinds of government and personal secrets like the seasons changes from Spring to Summer, or possibly a time that lake froze over.
You’re probably wondering about the higher resolution images, like the ones you’ve been looking at on Google Maps. Most likely you’ve been duped. The crazy high resolution images you see of cities are actually photographs taken from airplanes flying a few hundred meters up.
Satellite view of the White House. Image credit: Google Maps
If you can see an airplane or black helicopters flying around you suspiciously, you might be under surveillance. Otherwise, you’re probably safe.
Ah, who am I kidding. We’ve all watched John Oliver. The least of our concerns is cameras. Nobody should be even thinking about a tiny little fly robot that attaches itself to your nosehairs.
What we were talking about? Oh right! How about images from space? The best commercially available satellite images have a resolution of 41 cm. That’s about… this big.
Your tinfoil hat, seen from above only takes up a single pixel. Rest comfortably, as this isn’t a technological problem, it’s actually a legal issue. That’s the highest resolution satellites were allowed to provide.
That’s right, I said “were”. A revision to the law allows the next generation of satellites, such as the recently launched Worldview-3 satellite, to get down to 31 cm – as small as 25 will be permitted.
As the press officer of Digital Globe noted, they’ll be able to tell if your vehicle is a car, truck or SUV. That’s all fine and dandy, but will they call me when I can’t remember where I parked?
Of course, we have no idea what resolution the most powerful satellites are, because they’re super double secret unimaginably classified. We don’t know how many there are, and what they’re capable of, but they’re launched aboard some of the most powerful rockets available in the US, like the Atlas 4. A defense satellite quietly going about its business in low Earth (credit: US Air Force)
What do they look like? Let’s go with the Hubble Space Telescope, pointing down. What kind of resolution do they have? Nobody knows. You can google “Hubble pointed at earth” and read up on all the messy complications with resolution and speed.
The rumor mill seems to think that it’s around 15 cm, significantly better than the commercially available options. Not enough count sugar spoonfuls, but it could target you in your tinfoil hat with ordinance.
Are you being watched from space? Probably. There are several satellites overhead right now, and other satellites capturing low resolution images of your region every few days.
The most powerful satellites are classified military reconnaissance spacecraft, and we have no idea what they’re capable of.
Holy Snowden, that does sound creepy in realm of “stop reading snapchats over my shoulder, heavy breather.”
What configuration of tinfoil hat do you like best to protect your thoughts from orbital mind control lasers?
Artist's impression of the ALASA being deployed by a USAF fighter jet.
Credit: DARPA
For decades, the human race has been deploying satellites into orbit. And in all that time, the method has remained the same – a satellite is placed aboard a booster rocket which is then launched from a limited number of fixed ground facilities with limited slots available. This process not only requires a month or more of preparation, it requires years of planning and costs upwards of millions of dollars.
On top of all that, fixed launch sites are limited in terms of the timing and direction of orbits they can establish, and launches can be delayed by things as simple as bad weather. As such, DARPA has been working towards a new method of satellite deployment, one which eliminates rockets altogether. It’s known as the Airborne Launch Assist Space Access (ALASA), a concept which could turn any airstrip into a spaceport and significantly reduce the cost of deploying satellites.
What ALASA comes down to is a cheap, expendable dispatch launch vehicle that can be mounted onto the underside of an aircraft, flown to a high altitude, and then launched from the craft into low earth orbit. By using the aircraft as a first-stage, satellite deployment will not only become much cheaper, but much more flexible.
DARPA’s aim in creating ALASA was to ensure a three-fold decrease in launch costs, but also to create a system that could carry payloads of up to 45 kg (100 lbs) into orbit with as little as 24 hours’ notice. Currently, small satellite payloads cost roughly $66,000 a kilogram ($30,000 per pound) to launch, and payloads often must share a launcher. ALASA seeks to bring that down to a total of $1 million per launch, and to ensure that satellites can be deployed more precisely.
Artist’s concept of the ALASA second stage firing. Credit: DARPA
News of the agency’s progress towards this was made at the 18th Annual Commercial Space Transportation Conference (Feb 4th and 5th) in Washington, DC. Bradford Tousley, the director of DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office, reported on the progress of the agency’s program, claiming that they had successfully completed phase one, which resulted in three viable system designs.
Phase two – which began in March of 2014 when DARPA awarded Boeing the prime contract for development – will consist of DARPA incorporating commercial-grade avionics and advanced composites into the design. Once this is complete, it will involve launch tests that will gauge the launch vehicle’s ability to deploy satellites to desired locations.
“We’ve made good progress so far toward ALASA’s ambitious goal of propelling 100-pound satellites into low earth orbit (LEO) within 24 hours of call-up, all for less than $1 million per launch,” said Tousley in an official statement. “We’re moving ahead with rigorous testing of new technologies that we hope one day could enable revolutionary satellite launch systems that provide more affordable, routine and reliable access to space.”
These technologies include the use of a high-energy monopropellant, where fuel and oxidizer are combined into a single liquid. This technology, which is still largely experimental, will also cut the costs associated with satellite launches by both simplifying engine design and reducing the cost of engine manufacture and operation.
Artist’s concept of the ALASA vehicle deploying into orbit. Credit: DARPA
Also, the ability to launch satellites from runways instead of fixed launch sites presents all kinds of advantages. At present, the Department of Defense (DoD) and other government agencies require scheduling years in advance because the number of slots and locations are very limited. This slow, expensive process is causing a bottleneck when it comes to deploying essential space assets, and is also inhibiting the pace of scientific research and commercial interests in space.
“ALASA seeks to overcome the limitations of current launch systems by streamlining design and manufacturing and leveraging the flexibility and re-usability of an air-launched system,” said Mitchell Burnside Clapp, DARPA program manager for ALASA. “We envision an alternative to ride-sharing for satellites that enables satellite owners to launch payloads from any location into orbits of their choosing, on schedules of their choosing, on a launch vehicle designed specifically for small payloads.”
The program began in earnest in 2011, with the agency conducting initial trade studies and market/business case analysis. In November of that same year, development began with both system designs and the development of the engine and propellant technologies. Phase 2 is planned to last late into 2015, with the agency conducting tests of both the vehicle and the monopropellant.
Pending a successful run, the program plan includes 12 orbital launches to test the integrated ALASA prototype system – which is slated to take place in the first half of 2016. Depending on test results, the program would conduct up to 11 further demonstration launches through the summer of 2016. If all goes as planned, ALASA would provide convenient, cost-effective launch capabilities for the growing government and commercial markets for small satellites, which are currently the fastest-growing segment of the space launch industry.
And be sure to check out this concept video of the ALASA, courtesy of DARPA:
The northeastern US and southeastern Canada, as seen from space on January 13, 2015. Image is from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite. acquired top image on January 13, 2015.
Yes, its been a snowy, icy winter in parts of the US, Canada and Europe and these satellite images look about as miserable as it’s felt for some of us. And no, those aren’t icicles hanging off the coast of Maine and Nova Scotia; those are called ‘cloud streets,’ which are long parallel bands of cumulus clouds that form when cold air blows over warmer waters (like the ocean) and a warmer air layer (temperature inversion) rests over the top of both.
But don’t let the recent cold weather and snow fool you. The Earth as a whole continues to warm, and NASA and NOAA announced today that their analysis puts 2014 as Earth’s warmest year since 1880. 2014 was the 38th straight year with above average global annual temperatures, and December 2014 was the hottest December on record. Additionally, 6 of the 12 months last year set heat records. Even though you might feel cold right now, the last time there was a monthly average global temperatures that set a record for cold was in 1916.
OK, now back to the regularly scheduled feeling sorry for ourselves for the recent cold, snowy weather… see more satellite images below.
Winter storms brought snow and ice to a large portion of the U.S. Midwest and Northeast. NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this image on January 10, 2015. Credit: NASA.Snow and ‘cloud streets’ over the Black Sea on January 8, 2015. Image is from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite. Credit: NASA.
Here’s a video from NASA about the latest findings on Earth’s changing climate:
Screenshot from Thierry Legault's video of three Yaogan satellites flying near the field of view of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). Credit and copyright: Thierry Legault.
The list of amazing things that astrophotographer Thierry Legault captures with his camera keeps growing! This time, it’s a trio of hard-to see, formation-flying Chinese reconnaissance satellites called Yaogan.
“Yaogan triplets are Chinese reconnaissance satellites flying at 1,100 km in groups of 3, separated by about 100km (5°),” Legault explained to Universe Today.
In this video are two different ‘triplets’ of these satellites taken with Legault’s Sony A7s. First you’ll see the Yoagan 16 A/B/C passing through the sky field that includes M31, the Pleiades, the Hyades, the Orion nebula. Second is Yaogan 20 A/B/C passing over M31 just before disappearing in the shadow of the Earth.
“The magnitude of Yaogans is about 5, barely visible to the naked eye,” Legault said via email. “But sometimes they flare, as you can see in the beginning of the movie.”
The fine tracking Legault did of these objects is incredible, along with the detail of the stars and deep-sky objects. ?
Legault used Calsky – his go-to source for observing – to calculate where he would need to be to see these satellites crossing near the famous deep-sky objects. He drove about 100 km west of his home in Paris to capture this unique video.
According to Robert Christy at zarya.info, the Yaogan satellites are imaging satellites “with a government or military purpose. Some seem to carry optical payloads and others carry radar. There are also some launches into orbits very like the US NOSS satellites.”
Christy lists the tasks of these satellites as imaging for remote sensing for military or government photo-reconnaissance including for “natural resources surveys and, possibly, intelligence gathering. Specific tasks include land survey, crop yield assessment, and input to disaster monitoring and prevention plans.”
There have been 24 launches of these satellites since 2006, with one launching as recently as November 20, 2014. Four of the launches were for “triplets” of these satellites.
Find out more about these satellites at zarya.info.
As always, you can see more of Legault’s find astrophotgraphy at his website. See our review of his newly translated book “Astrophotography” here.
The Geoid 2011 model, based on data from LAGEOS, GRACE, GOCE and surface data. Credit: GFZ
People tend to think of gravity here on Earth as a uniform and consistent thing. Stand anywhere on the globe, at any time of year, and you’ll feel the same downward pull of a single G. But in fact, Earth’s gravitational field is subject to variations that occur over time. This is due to a combination of factors, such as the uneven distributions of mass in the oceans, continents, and deep interior, as well as climate-related variables like the water balance of continents, and the melting or growing of glaciers.
And now, for the first time ever, these variations have been captured in the image known as the “Potsdam Gravity Potato” – a visualization of the Earth’s gravity field model produced by the German Research Center for Geophysics’ (GFZ) Helmholtz’s Center in Potsdam, Germany.
And as you can see from the image above, it bears a striking resemblance to a potato. But what is more striking is the fact that through these models, the Earth’s gravitational field is depicted not as a solid body, but as a dynamic surface that varies over time.This new gravity field model (which is designated EIGEN-6C) was made using measurements obtained from the LAGEOS, GRACE, and GOCE satellites, as well as ground-based gravity measurements and data from the satellite altimetry.
The 2005 model, which was based on data from the CHAMP and GRACE satellites and surface data, was less refined than the latest one. Credit: GFZ
Compared to the previous model obtained in 2005 (shown above), EIGEN-6C has a fourfold increase in spatial resolution.
“Of particular importance is the inclusion of measurements from the satellite GOCE, from which the GFZ did its own calculation of the gravitational field,” says Dr. Christoph Foerste who directs the gravity field work group at GFZ along with Dr. Frank Flechtner.
The ESA mission GOCE (Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer) was launched in mid-March 2009 and has since been measuring the Earth’s gravitational field using satellite gradiometry – the study and measurement of variations in the acceleration due to gravity.
“This allows the measurement of gravity in inaccessible regions with unprecedented accuracy, for example in Central Africa and the Himalayas,” said Dr. Flechtner. In addition, the GOCE satellites offers advantages when it comes to measuring the oceans.
Within the many open spaces that lie under the sea, the Earth’s gravity field shows variations. GOCE is able to better map these, as well as deviations in the ocean’s surface – a factor known as “dynamic ocean topography” – which is a result of Earth’s gravity affecting the ocean’s surface equilibrium.
Twin-satellites GRACE with the earth’s gravity field (vertically enhanced) calculated from CHAMP data. Credit: GFZ
Long-term measurement data from the GFZ’s twin-satellite mission GRACE (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment) were also included in the model. By monitoring climate-based variables like the melting of large glaciers in the polar regions and the amount of seasonal water stored in large river systems, GRACE was able to determine the influence of large-scale temporal changes on the gravitational field.
Given the temporal nature of climate-related processes – not to mention the role played by Climate Change – ongoing missions are needed to see how they effect our planet long-term. Especially since the GRACE mission is scheduled to end in 2015.
In total, some 800 million observations went into the computation of the final model which is composed of more than 75,000 parameters representing the global gravitational field. The GOCE satellite alone made 27,000 orbits during its period of service (between March 2009 and November 2013) in order to collect data on the variations in the Earth’s gravitational field.
The final result achieved centimeter accuracy, and can serve as a global reference for sea levels and heights. Beyond the “gravity community,” the research has also piqued the interest of researchers in aerospace engineering, atmospheric sciences, and space debris.
But above all else, it offers scientists a way of imaging the world that is different from, but still complimentary to, approaches based on light, magnetism, and seismic waves. And it could be used for everything from determining the speed of ocean currents from space, monitoring rising sea levels and melting ice sheets, to uncovering hidden features of continental geology and even peeking at the convection force driving plate tectonics.
We’re total litterbugs. Here on Earth, and out in space. What are some strategies that have been developed to clean up all that junk in space and make it safer to explore?
Humans are great at lots of things. We’ve built amazing landmarks, great works of art, and have a legacy of unique cultures and languages spanning the globe…
We’re also great at not cleaning up after ourselves. As if the oceanic garbage patches weren’t enough, humans are actually filling space with junk too.
That’s okay, right? Space might be infinite, and if you average the amount of stuff we know about versus the amount of space, there’s barely anything out there at all. Space can handle all that junk, right? Right? Sure it can! Space is just fine. Don’t you worry for one second about space. Space is big. Sure it’d kill us in a heartbeat, but it’s got no feelings to hurt! It’s just space!
Now I’m going to encourage you to be a little selfish, as this actually a problem for us. I know, it’s hard to believe that somehow, with our baked-in levels of neglect, we’re creating a global problem for us and future generations. I feel like this our thing now. It’s what defines us. Our littering up of space might prevent humans from ever being able to escape our planet again.
Here’s the deal. In the decades that humans have been launching stuff into space, nobody ever thought too hard about what we should do about our rockets and satellites after we’re done with them. It’s not like you can ever fill up space.
Astronomers are currently tracking 19,000 individual objects larger than 5 cm, and there are likely more than 300,000 objects smaller than 1 cm. All this stuff sticks around and continues to orbit the Earth. Over time debris collides with more debris, creating smaller and smaller pieces of space junk.
Some scientists are concerned that we might reach a point where this junk forms an impenetrable shield of shrieking metal around the Earth, that would tear apart any spacecraft that tries to leave our planet. I like to call this the “Spacelitter Singularity”. It’s an unstoppable cascade of collisions and chaos that converts the area around the Earth into a relentless blender of progressively smaller and smaller high velocity projectiles. Which would be bad.
Image plot of space junk. Image credit: NASA
So, how do we avoid that? How can we minimize the amount of space junk we throw into orbit? And how can get rid of the garbage that’s already out there? For starters, anyone launching stuff into space needs to minimize the amount of debris they generate. Rockets should maneuver back into the atmosphere to burn up. Astronauts need to keep track of their tools and gloves.
Engineers would also need to plan out what will happen to their spacecraft at the end of their lives. Instead of letting them just die, mission controllers need to be able to maneuver spacecraft into a safer parking orbit, or alternately, back into the atmosphere.
Something will need to be done with the space junk that’s already out there, chopping itself into smaller and smaller pieces. One idea is to have a one-up, one-down policy rule for companies. For every spacecraft they launch, they collect and de-orbit another spacecraft in roughly the same orbit. Or we could create a special junk removal spacecraft.
Space Junk. Image credit: Jonas Bendiksen/Eurasianet.org
These would use efficient ion engines to track and dock with pieces of space junk, collecting them together. Once the spacecraft had collected enough material, or run out of fuel, it could be safely de-orbited, or possibly transform into garbage truck Voltron.
The most awesome idea I’ve come across is to build a space-based laser system that could target and fire on pieces of space debris as they go by. Small pieces would be vaporized, and larger objects would be slowed down as the vaporization would act as a decelerating thrust, lowering their orbit. That’s right, one solution is to build a real life game of Asteroids.
Once again, a lack of forethought has a created a problem that will trouble future generations. Getting into space in the first place is super hard, and cleaning it up is going to take more work than we ever thought.
What do you think? How should we clean up space to make it safe for future generations of space faring humans? Tell us in the comments below.
And if you like what you see, come check out our Patreon page and find out how you can get these videos early while helping us bring you more great content!
Image of the TechDemoSat-1 in orbit, taken minutes after separation of the satellite from the Soyuz-2 launcher and shows a view of the Earth from Space, with the spacecraft's Antenna Pointing Mechanism in view. Credit: SSTL.
Here’s a great video from a camera mounted on the exterior of the TechDemoSat-1, an in-orbit technology demonstration mission from the UK. It launched on July 8, 2014 on a Soyuz-2, and the video shows the satellite moments after separation from the upper stage. The satellite even took a selfie, below.
The video shows the satellite’s rotation and reveals a spectacular vista of “blue marble” Earth (visible is cloudy skies over the Pacific, south of French Polynesia).
It’s interesting to note that some identified flying objects zip past the field of view: At :25 seconds, the Fregat upper stage of the Soyuz-2 rocket appears as a gold object passing away from the satellite left to right at a distance of approximately 60 meters. At :34 seconds a white “dot” crosses the frame left to right – which has been identified as one of the other satellites that shared the ride into orbit with TechDemoSat-1.
“It is very rare to see actual footage of our satellites in orbit,” said Sir Martin Sweeting, Executive Chairman of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), the company behind the mission, “and so viewing the video taken from TechDemoSat-1 moments after separation from the rocket has been a hugely rewarding and exciting experience for everyone at SSTL. We are delighted with the progress of commissioning the TechDemoSat-1 platform, and are looking forward to the next phase – the demonstration of a range of new technologies being flown on this innovative mission.”
The satellite is roughly the size of a refrigerator but wieghs just 150kg. TechDemoSat (TDS-1) carries eight separate payloads from UK academia and industry plus other payloads from SSTL for product development. Find out more here from SSTL.
Everything dies, including our technology. But when we’ve hurtled a few thousands pounds of robotic instrumentation to another planet, it gets a little difficult to shut it down and clean up. What do we do when a mission has reached the end of its useful life?
