Drifting Satellite Could Knock Out Cable TV 217
A few days back we discussed some of the problems caused by the demise of Intelsat's Galaxy 15, including possible degradation of GPS and its WAAS refinement. Now reader crimeandpunishment writes in with another damage scenario, one which could affect vastly more people — interference with cable TV programming across the US. "A TV communications satellite is drifting out of control thousands of miles above the Earth, threatening to wander into another satellite's orbit... Galaxy 15 continues to receive and transmit satellite signals, and they will probably interfere with the second satellite, known as AMC 11, if Galaxy 15 drifts into its orbit as expected around May 23... [A spokesman] said one option would be using AMC 11's propulsion system to shift that satellite about 60 miles (100 kilometers) away to an orbit that's still within its carefully prescribed 'orbital box' but as far away as possible from Galaxy 15."
Re:Fuck, this would be a disaster. (Score:3, Interesting)
Sat that breaks the BACKBONE.... (Score:3, Interesting)
AMC-11 (the threatened satellite) is a major backbone in the pay TV infrastructure for the Eastern USA. What that means, is that channels like MTV, VH1, G4, NESN, and many more use AMC-11 to get the content from their master control to your local cable system, DirecTV, and Dish in order for them to replicate the signal on their platform. If AMC-11 is jammed, ALL platforms will lose the affected channels... and there's no one place in space with enough free space to hold them all, so relocating for a temp outage isn't really an option.
If only we had... (Score:2, Interesting)
A reusable space vehicle which could be launched to retrieve or repair the satellite...
Not my cable... (Score:1, Interesting)
Terrible, possibly fatal blow to the economy (Score:3, Interesting)
Without the 8 or so hours a day that cable channels broadcast mindless infomercials, retail activity in the U.S. will grind to a halt.
Meanwhile, I'll be sitting pretty with crystal clear reception of the two dozen or so locally broadcast channels, thanks to the home brew dipole antenna I made with plans from MAKE magazine [makezine.com].
Cut the coax!
Re:If only we had... (Score:4, Interesting)
A reusable space vehicle which could be launched to retrieve or repair the satellite...
...which could fly to geosynchronous orbit. Apollo would have been the ideal vehicle for the job because it had legs in the sense that you could send it practically anywhere and it could aerobrake to a safe landing. A flight to mars would not have been out of the question and an asteroid mission was seriously discussed.
The shuttle was designed for low earth orbit and could only fly there.
Re:ham radio (Score:4, Interesting)
Funny you mention this, I have thought of buying a ham radio for that very reason. I already have deep cycle batteries and a generator ;-))
We could even run tcp/ip over ham radio and set up an emergency network to enable data transfer in case the internet becomes unavailable ! :
http://www.febo.com/hamdocs/intronos.html [febo.com]
Re:Satellite Fight! (Score:5, Interesting)
What's really bizarre is that it's still operating.
Usually when a satellite fails to communicate properly with its ground control system, after a set period of time it assumes something is wrong and goes into Safe Mode. In Safe Mode it would shut off everything except a basic command and control system and the comms needed to get commands from the ground. It hasn't done that.
The big question is, why not?
Re:The only downside.. (Score:4, Interesting)
Find yourself a local pizzeria and get some real pizza.
Not always an upgrade. I remember what "local pizzeria" pizza was like before Domino's was invented. Wood-fired? not. Semolina? not. Non-greasy muzz? not. Domino's got popular fast because it was quite a bit better than the local stuff in most places.
It wasn't until the late 90s/early 00s that local shops started opening offering product with serious consideration for quality. Domino's had already had to fight a price war with Pizza Hut, which forced a reduction the cost and quality of their ingredients on both sides. That allowed Papa John's to enter the market with a mediocre (sugary sauce and bland toppings) product.
Domino's claims to have given its food a facelift. I haven't tried it yet. But that's because I know of some not-so-local places, one of which is VPN certified [pizzanapoletana.org], to get perfect pizza, and I drive past several "locals" and Dominos and PJ's and PH's to get to them.