Airborne Combat Engineer

China tests satellite killer

The United States criticized China on Thursday for conducting an anti-satellite weapons test in which an old Chinese weather satellite was destroyed by a missile.

[AP, 19JAN07] [Washington Post, 19JAN07]

Defense Tech delves into it HERE and HERE.

Space Wars is baaaaack! And this time, we're behind. Bloggers are abuzz about it.

Who willl champion UFO disclosure now?

President Ford felt the US should be told more about reporteed UFO sightings (many or all of which could be explained by natural phenomena or military testing), rather than kept in the dark:

"The present Science and Astronautics Committee chairman, Rep. George P. Millar, D. Calif., has shied away from the UFO problem at this time, saying his committee does not have the jurisdiction over the Air Force. But the late Rep. Overton Brooks, D.La., obviously had different ideas because he tapped Karth to summon Air Force witnesses and question them after a flurry of sightings in 1961."

[Frank Warren, American Chronicle, 27 DEC 2006]

UPDATE: Completely coincidentally, Murdoc has  posted a chart which helps UFO sighters understand what they are actually seeing.

Secret two-stage-to-orbit program shelved?

[LINK] William B. Scott, Aviation Week and Space Technology (3/5/06)

U.S. intelligence agencies may have quietly mothballed a highly classified two-stage-to-orbit spaceplane system designed in the 1980s for reconnaissance, satellite-insertion and, possibly, weapons delivery. It could be a victim of shrinking federal budgets strained by war costs, or it may not have met performance or operational goals.

This two-vehicle "Blackstar" carrier/orbiter system may have been declared operational during the 1990s.

I've always thought this would be the most economical way to get smaller vehicles into space, once developed. If it met performance and operational goals and has been mothballed, it seems a shame. Hope they at least kept the documentation, as we'll probably try this again someday. It's just logical.

More on how the Russian lake was vaporized

Defense Tech provides more details on the secret "black budget" test which vaporized the Russian lake.

Clean weaponry

Ugly result

The Pentagon has declined to comment about the project, but SoD Rumsfield (making a secret visit to the region) has expressed his sympathy for the people of the village, "whatever the cause." He empathized with the fishermen, saying they have to "go to work with the lake you have." He said he wished he could send an aircraft carrier with water, but the lake was just too far inland.

No "space-based" projects in '06 budget

Defense Tech links to a Defense Daily article which says virtually all space-based military projects have not been funded by the '06 budget.

Makes sense to me. But, we do want to have a workable satellite killer in place BEFORE somebody launches a satellite-based weapon system, which no doubt will be armed to defend itself. Just ask James Bond. ;-)

UPDATE: The pdf budget documents linked in a later A-C-E post do seem to have significant dollars for space-based programs, so maybe they just don't want to "advertise" them.

Lunar Eclipse

0045Z THU 28OCT04. MSNBC Technology & Science.

Hope you could see it where you were. It's the last one we'll see until 2007.

Cassini to trasmit photos of Titan tonight

1130Z TUE 26OCT04. Spaceflight Now.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft streaked by Saturn's smoggy moon Titan today, targeted to pass within just 750 miles of the planet-sized satellite to give scientists their first detailed glimpse of a world that, until now, has been shrouded in mystery.

Moving through space at some 14,000 mph, Cassini made its closest approach to Titan at 12:44 p.m. EDT, using the moon's gravity to change its trajectory slightly for another Titan flyby Dec. 13.

The first low-resolution pictures are expected to begin showing up around 9:40 p.m EDT. High-resolution imagery will reach Earth starting around 12:51 a.m. EDT Wednesday, with narrow-angle resolutions of a tenth of a mile per pixel. That will improve to 17 feet per pixel when the highest resolution pictures flow in around 2:40 a.m EDT.

Remember the song which started with "From a Distance?" The Earth probably looks good (and peaceful) to any aliens looking at it from over 800 million miles away. But, if they are receiving our radio and TV signals, they know how mucked up it is.

WED AM UPDATE: Some photos

Spacecraft need reserve chutes too

1830Z WED 08SEP04. Reuters.

A space capsule returning solar particles to Earth crashed in the Utah desert on Wednesday after its parachute failed to open but scientists hoped the star dust inside might have been saved.

A $264 million, three-year project with no backup system?

I'm sure Kerry would have used a different approach which would have been successful.

Space-based radar put on back burner

1040Z FRI 02JUL04. IRS Jornal.

The report accompanying the House Appropriations Committee’s version of the 2005 Defense Department budget contains blistering criticism of the Pentagon’s planned constellation of satellites to track moving targets on the ground [SBR]; calling it unaffordable and likely incapable of performing its mission.

The House appropriators slashed the Air Force’s 2005 budget request for Space Based Radar from $327 million to $75 million, and stated that the program should be taken off the acquisition track and be approached as an R&D effort.

When weighed against military operations in Iraq and the ongoing war against terrorism, the Space Based Radar (SBR) program “simply cannot be afforded budget priority,” the committee stated in the report.

The total cost for nine satellites is estimated at around $30B.

H/T to Defense Tech

A space elevator within 15 years?

1100Z THU 01JUN04. Atlanta Journal-Constitution video

The idea of a space elevator, riding 62K miles on a lightweight cable, sounds like something out of science fiction or Popular Science/Mechanics; and it is. Arthur C. Clarke promoted the idea in his 1978 science fiction novel, “Fountains of Paradise.” But, it now awaits only the development of a lightweight carbon nanotube, which [at least some] scientists consider doable in coming years for around $10B (about 5% of what we've spent in Iraq) with nanotechnology development.

To grasp the idea, we have to reverse our thinking. It hangs from the ground and falls into the sky -- thanks to the Earth's spin and centripetal force.

The linked video provides an excellent overview. Here's another one by ISR, which present the idea of motor on a flat ribbon.

It also has HUGE military implications, of course. Hopefully, it can be developed as a multinational effort for peaceful purposes, like Cassini, and not prohibited as part of a "Star Wars" treaty.