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Discussion » Questions » Science and Technology » Satellites there are thousands of them, the star that suddenly moves!

Satellites there are thousands of them, the star that suddenly moves!

Do you ever gaze up at the stars of a night and watch the satellites glide by, you know the ones, the moving stars that disappear when the earth shadows the sun they're reflecting on?

Posted - November 2, 2017

Responses


  • 44226
    I did when I was younger. I have better things to do now.
      November 2, 2017 3:41 PM MDT
    1

  • I'm outside a lot not wanting to burden my house with cigarette smoke so I see these things a lot
      November 2, 2017 3:46 PM MDT
    1

  • 5835
    Some people make a hobby of watching for Iridium flashes. Iridium was a satellite cell phone system that never got going, and the satellites are still there. You can google the schedules.
      November 2, 2017 9:30 PM MDT
    0

  • 2500

    Iridium Communications is still alive and well (more or less) and still maintains a constellation of Low Earth Orbit satellites. In fact, the first generation satellites, the ones launched by Motorola when they were first starting the company, are scheduled to be replaced by the 2nd generation birds over the next two years. Many of them have already been replaced which may explain the "flashes" of the old satellites being dropped from orbit as they're replaced.

    The Motorola technical model was successful (covered the entire globe) but the business model was a dismal failure and Iridium went bankrupt (the largest in US history at the time). The new owner has a different business model now, different customer base (journalists and the military for phone traffic) and will be adding satellite-to-satellite and satellite to commercial aircraft with the 2nd generation satellites from Thales.
      November 2, 2017 9:59 PM MDT
    0