Imaging Spacecraft [See August Sky & Telescope]
John Pike (johnpike@fas.org)
Thu, 27 Jun 1996 16:40:05 -0400
The long-awaited piece by Ron Dantowitz for Boston Museum of Science has
finally hit the streets, and I would say that the wait was worth it.
The good news is that this is a high-visibility pitch for visual
satellite tracking and imaging, and that some reasonably impressive
results are displayed in the form of an image of STS docked with Mir --
these results using a 12 inch scope seem not terribly less impressive
than those published images obtained using much larger apertures.
The key to the whole process seems to have been their proprietary C-sat
software, and no mention is made of whether this software can be made
available to others. However, their website at
http://skyshow.com/
does allow as how this nice little package is on the market, and a real
bargain at only $99, so I am hopeful that lotsa folks will lay hands on
this.
I am also hopeful that some of these folks will notice their remark
that:
"... there are more than a few top-secret spy satellites up
there. Some -- telescopes perhaps -- apear cylindrical, about 15
to 20 meters long, with solar panels."
I also hope that there are perhaps one or two adventurous souls who are
predisposed to not take counsel of their remark:
"In the interest of avoiding a massive tax audit, that's all
I'll say on the topic!"
For our satellite design analysis effort, viz
http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/imint/
we have an ongoing interest in getting some pix of blackbirds. It is not
a question of whether, it is just a question of who and when.
--
John Pike
Federation of American Scientists http://www.fas.org/
CyberStrategy Project http://www.fas.org/cp/
Intelligence Reform Project http://www.fas.org/irp/
Military Analysis Network http://www.fas.org/man/
Space Policy Project http://www.fas.org/spp/
Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.
- Jefferson