Elon Musk wants to put a million new satellites into space.

[davidm_yeg@beige.party]

@Paulatics @sundogplanets

2023 study showed that as much as 10% of high atmosphere metal compounds were *already* pollution from space technology… and the challenge in that is that unlike other ozone deleters these molecules don’t get consumed, but instead the same molecule can catalyze an ozone destroying reaction again and again, while remaining in the atmosphere for decades.

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[davidm_yeg@beige.party]

@Paulatics @sundogplanets

As this pollution will take a few decades to descend to the ozone layer the problem is urgent, because by the time we start to observe significant ozone depletion any solutions or responses will take *more* decades to have any effect, and that’s even assuming that mitigation is possible. The only sensible solution is to stop putting this junk up over our heads in the first place.

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[cstamp@mastodon.social]

@Paulatics @sundogplanets Thanks to both of you.

[jfmezei@cosocial.ca]

@Paulatics A satellite's orbit is/was defined as a TLE (Two Line Element) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-line_element_set
One field is a catalog number maintained by NORAD. It is 5 digits as part of the file format. This year, due to increasing number of objects tracked, we reach this limit and people have to start using a new format that has 6 digits (and 4 digit years !).

TLE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-line_element_set
Catalog Number: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_Catalog_Number

new formats: https://celestrak.org/NORAD/documentation/gp-data-formats.php (much more complex than TLEs)

[dlink@posthat.ca]

@Paulatics @sundogplanets Fantastic. Thank you

[bougiewonderland@freeradical.zone]

@Paulatics @sundogplanets The clerk’s face at times! Even he can’t manage to totally hide his reaction to this!

[bjb@fosstodon.org]

@Paulatics @sundogplanets

The request for approval to launch a million satellites is not so much a request to launch a million satellites as a request for carte blanche for whatever rocket-oriented activities they want to do for the next few decades, without having to ask permission each time.

Apparently they did not give a lot of specific details in their request, that's so they can use the blanket approval for whatever they want.

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[bjb@fosstodon.org]

@Paulatics @sundogplanets

Any satellite with a computer and data link (ie, any satellite) can fit the description of "data centre".

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[clintruin@mastodon.social]

@Paulatics @sundogplanets

Big Thanks!

[paulatics@mstdn.ca]

@bougiewonderland @sundogplanets That dapper fellow is Speaker Pro Tempore Rene Cormier - who in his other life was an actor and stage director. He makes a great audience.

[crovanian@mastodon.social]

@Paulatics why don’t we pin his net worth to these falling satellites and whoever’s field or house they land on wins the Musk Multi-Million Lotto!

[bougiewonderland@freeradical.zone]

@Paulatics @sundogplanets oops, my bad! I hadn’t realized the speaker sat down anywhere but in the Chair!

[paulatics@mstdn.ca]

@bougiewonderland @sundogplanets He is what you might call the deputy/back up speaker. He shares duties with the Speaker and leads Committee of the Whole.