Can someone explain to me how you lose (and then find) a satellite?

with a telescope to find it?"

Good question. But I do know that when you aim at something 22,000 miles aw ay you have to be pretty close.

the band over the equator where geosynchronous satellites can orbit is abou t 82,000 miles in circumference, so that is alot of area. Plus we don't kno w it was geosynchronous. Satellites can go every which way. The can be 22,0

00 miles up and do the same speed as the surface of the Earth at the equato r, but they can go any way. But then you have to track them to communicate with them.

There are also an infinite number of planes at which a satellite can orbit, the closer to the Earth the faster it must move, the farther the slower.

So it can indeed be like finding a needle in a haystack, and I mean without a magnet.

Normally the tracking system can follow the signal, but not if it stops tra nsmitting. If it is not in geosynchronous orbit it can be extremely hard to find. Count this up to luck. If NASA couldn't find it even knowing where i t was supposed to be odds are about like hitting the lotto. But then people do...

Did you read the article? Start there, then come back if you still have questions.

Considering they can track things as small as a glove, to monitor space junk, for collision avoidance.

LOL. When they were trying to regain Skylab communication, we could see it. Try pointing am 85 foot dish at it. That's what we were doing, pointing at it. We almost got it. Later another agency sent proper position data.

Greg

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** How would you identify which one it was ??

Only finding a characteristic radio signal does that.

Satellites moving across the night sky look much the same.

.... Phil

It's like your keys, you lose them, you look for them, find them, cause they were there all along!

You realize this is that bonehead Harry Newton again.

--
"I am a river to my people." 
Jeff-1.0 
WA6FWi 
http:foxsmercantile.com

Could it suddenly use the wrong frequency to transmit due to software or hardware bug?

-- @~@ Remain silent! Drink, Blink, Stretch! Live long and prosper!! / v \ Simplicity is Beauty! /( _ )\ May the Force and farces be with you! ^ ^ (x86_64 Ubuntu 9.10) Linux 2.6.39.3 ???! ???! ???! ???! ???! ???! ????? (CSSA):

Sure. When funding runs out, the satellite gets lots. When funding is available, the satellite is magically re-discovered.

Go ahead. Find one satellite (without using the index or search):

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

That's a great site. Want to have fun? Search for iridium 33. The telecom bird that crashed in '09. The debris is being tracked, and there is a *lot* of it in orbit.

Patience. It will be a while before the greens start complaining about the satellites and space junk blocking the sun, reducing solar insolation, and eventually causing global cooling.

The web site is a bit tricky to use without first reading the instructions (which I never do): Click on "Groups" in upper left. Select "Iridium 33 Collision Debris" or type "Iridium 33 DEB" into the search thing. Scroll down the list to see the huge list of debris from Iridium 33 and several other satellites. Click on "Help" to see what color represents debris.

Fractoid: If the 74 Iridium birds that were up in 2000 had fallen to earth, there would be a 1 in 250 chance that the resultant debris might have hit someone. You might want to invest in an armor plated umbrella and hard hat.

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

That is not so much the issue as it is pretty hard these days to put anythi ng into close orbit without it running into some pile of debris or other. A nd then, there is the matter of 'getting through' to higher orbits as well. A couple of grams of whateveritis passing through a satellite at some sign ificant speed somewhere at/around 40,000 kph will do some damage. Perhaps j ust enough to damage the tracking programming. Satellites are not built fo r toughness, they are not armored, and gravity is not their friend.

Keeping in mind that the radio system on the Apollo Lander was no more than a few watts, and was tracked continuously from earth, tracking something m uch closer with far more power behind it should be pretty straightforward. Except that it isn't. The Verizon truck is not an hour away.

That Jimmy Neutron does not 'get' that is yet another example of its essent ial lack of value. And why engaging with it is akin to micturating in a ver tical direction along a braided convenience.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

You watched The Coneheads didn't ya ?

Thoroughly enjoyable movie. Not good scifi at all, but it captured that old Saturday Night Live humor. Pretty sure I have it. One thing I am still looking for is Eddie Murphy - Kill My Landlord. He was quite young at the time.

Lost, you mean?

Probably loses its slot, too...

Mike.

Yep. You have found a character transposition typographic error which was not detected by my spelling chequer and was probably due me typing with one hand while eating dinner at the computah desk. Thank you for your concern and attention to detail. The world is now a better place.

Incidentally, terrestrial space junk is valuable: ...one "flown" engine bolt that was part of the space shuttle Challenger is worth about $250. If it had never left a launch pad, Gary estimates the same bolt might sell for a more down-to-earth price of $20. This is from 2006.

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558