I am following with interest the discussions dealing with hobbyists tracking classified satellites and as one of these hobbyists I would like to add my 2 cents worth. I acquired an interest in space around 1948 and by 1953 was already a great fan of space travel and was thrilled when I first saw the rocket casing of Sputnik 1 passing overhead in the early evening and from that day on I was bitten by the satellite tracking bug.Another exciting sighting was that of an early DISCOVER (KH2) mission, so when an appeal was put out for amateurs to join the MOONWATCH network I was one of the first to apply but was turned down as I was a lone observer in a small town and what was wanted was a MOONWATCH team.I joined other orgnisations interested in tracking such as the Volunteer Satellite Tracking Program run by Norton Goodwin (Washington DC) which later became the Independent Tracking Co-ordination Program which is were Mike McCants and I first became acquainted. I also joined the Western Satellite Research Network funded by North American Aviation. In 1960 I eventually became part of the MOONWATCH Network and was provided with equipment and data and we were used to provide backup for US launches as South Africa was invariably the first country over which a launch from Cape Canaveral would pass. A collegue and I formed the Durban Satellite Tracking Station a few years later and we were even approached by a US Government official to see if we were prepared to spend time trying to track Soviet lunar missions. In addition we were also part of the United States Air Force satellite re-entry observation program. In 1966 I had an interview for a position of observer at the Baker-Nunn Tracking camera at Olifantsfontein (S.Africa) but had to turn it down as it had no long term job security and in 1968 took a part-time job as an observer at the then Royal Observatory,Cape Town photo-kine theodolite which was set up by the UK Royal Aircraft Establishment in support of the research work being carried out by Desmond King-Hele and associates. In 1968 I became a professional astronomer and ceased my optical tracking activities except for being involved in the backup optical tracking of early Apollo missions using a 26.5 inch refractor and 20 inch reflector. Instead of optical tracking I took up the radio tracking of transmitting satellites and became part of the Kettering Group that was run by the late Geoff Perry which mainly concentrated on Soviet and Chinese space missions and provided a great deal of information. In October 1999 I retired from being an astronomer and returned to my main interest which was satellite tracking. Being lazy and somewhat handicapped both physically and by poor observing conditions I decided that the best way to track satellites was by using video techniques and thus CoSaTrak was born. On account of my geographical position it was realised that the most useful thing I could do was to track the so called classified satellites. I have nothing against the United States and if I thought that what I do represents a serious threat to the USA I would not track such satellites, however my view is the same as other observers - if we can do it on a shoe string budget, then how much better a country could do it if they had far more money and resources than we have. I believe I and others are a product of the Space Age - our interest was nurtured and supported directly or indirectly by the United States government and now that amateur observers are no longer needed this same government regards these observers as a threat. Some of us have spent a major part of our lives, free of charge, to support the space program in one way or another and now some "high ranking military personal in uniform and ex CIA personal state the Pentagon were "pissed off" about hobbyist tracking classified sats?" - memories are short it would seem - especially when sprouted by individuals who apparently are not blessed with much grey matter between their ears. Shall I continue to track classified satellites ? - YES, certainly as long as I am able. These satellites pass over me and spy on my country (and me!) and I believe I have the right to observe and do what I wish, provided I do not break the law in my country. Sorry - my 2c worth turned out to be a lot more than 2c! Cheers Greg ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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