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Search Calendar
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| Start Date: | 8/20/2020 | Start Time: | 1:00 PM |
| End Date: | 8/20/2020 | End Time: | 3:00 PM |
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Event Description:
FLEX # 108
1-2:50pm. Satellites orbiting Earth provide a wealth of benefits from weather tracking and global communications to satellite radio and television and of course…spying. There are currently over one thousand active satellites in orbit around the planet. However, the quirks of orbital behavior mean that much of what we place up there stays up there. There are over two thousand defunct satellites still in orbit and thousands more pieces of assorted junk including things like nose cones, broken solar panels, electrical cords, paint chips, and various other bits of crap that continue to orbit Earth and pose collisional risks to healthy satellites and space probes. This situation is about to get much worse. Elon Musk, for example, is determined to provide internet broadband to the remote masses by using a fleet of very small satellites. His company plans to launch thousands of these things over the next few years in hopes of providing truly global broadband coverage. Others are sure to follow, so that in the next few decades the night sky will no longer be dark, but rather a kaleidoscope of blinking lights, massive orbiting billboards, and holographic sky images to keep us entertained no matter where we go or where we look. This workshop will explain the basics of orbital behavior and why this problem is not easy to solve. It will also show some of what scientists and engineers
hope to do to preserve terrestrial astronomy and the simple human joy of admiring the dark night sky. No scientific or mathematical background is required. |
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Other Details:
August Flex Days Workshop. |
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