#satellites

Le Sud veut sa part des données satellitaires pour gérer ses ressources
http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2013/04/12/le-sud-veut-sa-part-des-donnees-satellitaires-pour-gerer-ses-ressources_3158

les instruments embarqués à bord des satellites ont majoritairement le regard braqué vers les pays qui les ont financés. Et quand ce n’est pas le cas et que les données sont disponibles, parfois gratuitement, leur coût de traitement et d’interprétation peut s’avérer rédhibitoire.

« Le recours à ces technologies serait pourtant rentable dans le cadre d’une politique de développement », estime Didier Rigal, d’Astrium Géo-Information Services, une filiale du groupe EADS. « Les programmes d’observation de la terre tel SPOT [Satellite pour l’observation de la Terre] ont été lancés [en 1985] grâce des investissements publics, poursuit-il. Aujourd’hui, ces programmes ont été privatisés. L’équation économique qui permettrait la dispersion des données n’est plus la même. »

http://s1.lemde.fr/image/2013/04/12/534x0/3158860_5_81bd_image-du-satellite-aster-de-la-baie-de_5a94abb3bc909034f28484eff79f8722.jpg

#satellites #développement

The Militarization of Space, So Far Pinfographics
http://www.pinfographics.org/ig/the-militarization-of-space-so-far

http://www.pinfographics.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Militarization-of-Space.png.png

Overview of Cultural Heritage - Timbuktu, #Mali | UNITAR-#UNOSAT
http://www.unitar.org/unosat/node/44/1725

This map shows the location of cultural heritage sites in the city of Timbuktu. Some of these sites are reported to be recently damaged by members of the Ansar Dine militia (see photo below, courtesy Getty and BBC). UNOSAT is collaborating with the University of Cape Town (Zamani Project-www.zamani-project.org) and the Saharan Archeological Research Association (www.saharanresearch.org) to assess potential damage to heritage sites.

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/9dt6tzdydhzi8n3/tombouctou.png
#manuscrits #satellites #cartographie

#Espace et #risques : le problème des #débris spatiaux pour les #satellites, mais pas seulement.

Ces objets représentent une double menace. D’abord, logique et gaulois, celle de « leur retour sur Terre », explique Christophe Bonnal, expert du Centre national d’études spatiales (Cnes), l’agence spatiale française. Pour ne pas l’oublier, il garde dans son bureau une sphère de titane d’un mètre et 50 kg, un réservoir d’hélium d’une fusée Ariane tombé dans un jardin en Ouganda. « Il y en a 200 comme ça dans l’espace, qui retomberont on ne sait quand, ni où. Et ce n’est qu’un exemple. Il y a aussi des turbopompes, des tuyères, 296 troisièmes étages du lanceur russe Cosmos 3M qui pèsent près de 2 tonnes », avertit l’ingénieur qui fait partie du groupe d’experts mobilisés par le Comité interagences sur les débris (IADC). « En moyenne, il tombe un objet lourd tous les trois jours, et un d’au moins 300 kg par mois », précise-t-il.
Jusqu’à présent sans faire de victime. Même les milliers de morceaux de la navette Columbia tombés sur le territoire des Etats-Unis en 2003, lors de son explosion au retour dans l’atmosphère. Un peu gêné, l’ingénieur avoue que, statistiquement, « c’est un coup de chance, puisque, d’après nos calculs, cela aurait déjà dû se produire ». Un groupe de travail se serait réuni au #Cnes sur le thème « qu’est-ce qu’on dit aux gens le jour où un de ces débris tue quelqu’un en France ? » Le flux de ces retombées varie au fil de la météo solaire. Lorsque l’astre est très actif, comme depuis un an et pour quelques années, il dilate la thermosphère, entre 90 et 500 km, ce qui freine les satellites et accélère leur retombée.

Dans Libération : http://www.liberation.fr/sciences/2013/01/03/danger-chutes-de-satellites_871486

Revue de presse sur la #Chine semaine du 24.12.12

La Chine lance un concurrent du #GPS

#Beidou, système de #navigation #satellitaire #chinois, a commencé à fonctionner hier. Il s’appuie sur un réseau de 16 #satellites de navigation et quatre autres expérimentaux.

Après « Baidu » voici « Beidu » ou un nouvel acte d’autonomie de la part de la Chine au regard de la technologie de télécommunication américaine

http://www.lesechos.fr/entreprises-secteurs/air-defense/actu/0202472104270-la-chine-lance-un-concurrent-du-gps-524300.php?xtor=AL-4003-[

Storm-spotting satellites expected to fail in 2016, leaving yearlong data gap | NJ.com
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/12/storm-spotting_satellites_expe.html

Satellites critical to the ability of meteorologists to build accurate long-term forecasts are expected to fail in 2016, while replacements won’t go online until the following year at the earliest. The gap in coverage will mean meteorologists will receive half the data they get now, giving a less clear picture of the globe and imperiling their ability to predict the weather.

http://media.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/photo/11941508-large.jpg

#espace #météorologie #satellites

2012/11/09 Are You a DARPA Amateur Astronomer ?
http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2012/11/09.aspx

la défense américaine invite les astronomes amateurs à localiser les débris en tout genre qui se baladent dans l’#espace et perturbent le parcours des #satellites et d’en établir la #cartographie

NASA estimates more than 500,000 pieces of hazardous space debris orbit the earth, threatening satellites that support peacekeeping and combat missions. These objects include spent rocket stages, defunct satellites and fragments from other spacecraft that are the result of erosion, explosion and collision. A collision between one of these small pieces of debris and a satellite could release more than 20,000 times the energy of a head-on automobile collision at 65 mph. To help address the threat, DARPA created SpaceView, a space debris tracking project that provides amateur astronomers with the means to make a difference. Amateur astronomers will have their first opportunity to sign up in person for the program at the Arizona Science and Astronomy Expo in Tucson, November 10-11, 2012.

The vision behind the SpaceView program is to provide more diverse data to the Space Surveillance Network (SSN), a U.S. Air Force program charged with cataloguing and observing space objects to identify potential near-term collisions. SpaceView hopes to achieve that goal by engaging U.S. amateur astronomers by purchasing remote access to an already in-use telescope or by providing a telescope to selected astronomers. When a telescope that is provided by the program is not in use by the SpaceView program, DARPA will provide its use for astronomy and astrophotography.

Space view
http://www.spaceviewnetwork.com

SpaceView seeks to provide the amateur astronomer with the opportunity to make a difference in the task of protecting our nation’s space assets. We are actively seeking information from individual astronomers about their equipment, sites, and observing habits.

We are also exploring a mutually beneficial partnership that can last for the long term. This could potentially include time-sharing on telescopes, upgraded hardware at the astronomer’s site, or financial compensation.

http://vimeo.com/53109313#

ForestWatchers.net A citizen project for forest monitoring | Open Knowledge Foundation Blog
http://blog.okfn.org/2012/10/01/forestwatchers-net-a-citizen-project-for-forest-monitoring

ForestWatchers proposes a new paradigm in conservationism, based on the convergence of volunteer computing/thinking with free (or donated) catalogs of high-resolution Earth imagery.

This citizen science project aims at making possible for anyone (locals, volunteers, NGOs, governments, etc), anywhere in the world, to monitor selected patches of forest across the globe, almost in real-time, using a computer connected to the Internet.

The project is an international partnership between the Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE), the Federal University of Sao Paulo, the Citizen Cyberscience Centre (CCC) and the Open Society Foundations.

http://forestwatchers.net/assets/static/img/burning.jpg

#crowdsourcing #climat #forêt #surveillance #satellites #mobile #cartographie

Why Europeans are so good at forecasting hurricanes - Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Why-Europeans-are-so-good-at-forecasting-4021930.php

#science #prévision #météorologie #satellites #simulation

What If Space Was the Next Frontier for War? | World | TIME.com
http://world.time.com/2012/10/03/what-if-space-was-the-next-frontier-for-war

While it may sound like science fiction, a number of the world’s major militaries are already preparing for combat in space. The World Economic Forum, in collaboration with TIME, spoke with Theresa Hitchens, director of the U.N. Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR). She warns that strikes against satellites could push earth wars

#espace #guerre #militaire #satellites #armement

« The Last Pictures », mémoire sidérale - Libération
http://www.liberation.fr/culture/2012/09/04/the-last-pictures-memoire-siderale_843953

Pour Trevor Paglen, les satellites sont les vestiges culturels de la fin du XXe siècle et du début du XXIe. La durée de vie de ces mégalithes électroniques excède de loin celle des peintures rupestres ou des pyramides de Gizeh. The Last Pictures (disponible dans un livre à paraître mi-septembre) raconte en cent images choisies ce qui est arrivé aux gens qui ont construit cette incroyable armée de vaisseaux fantômes gravitant autour de la Planète bleue…

http://md0.libe.com/photo/452950/?modified_at=1346861518&ratio_x=03&ratio_y=02&width=476#.jpg
#espace #temps #humanité #satellites

Darpa launches plan to harvest zombie satellites (Wired UK)
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-06/27/zombie-satellites

un programme militaire de recyclage des #satellites zombies

Once fully realised, Darpa envisions the Phoenix program, which the agency wants to fully demonstrate by 2015, working something like this. First, a servicing satellite — complete with mechanical arms and other “unique tools” designed specifically for the program — would be launched into geosynchronous orbit (GEO). After that, the agency wants to launch an array of what they call “satlets” — wee, bare-bones satellites — to meet up with, and be stored by, the program’s primary satellite.

From there, the satellite posse would transfer to what’s known as GEO’s “graveyard” orbit — where non-functioning satellites linger — and start picking off antennas and other useful parts. Once an antenna is removed from its former satellite, it would be affixed to a satlet, which’d act as a controller to move the antenna into position as part of a zombified array of recycled satellite parts.

Right now, launching a single satellite runs around $10,000 (£6,400) per 4.5kg of material. With an estimated $300 billion (£192 billion) in dead satellites currently orbiting the GEO graveyard, recycling their functional parts “would dramatically lower the cost of satellite missions for Defense Department needs,”

#espace

Lights Out for Research #Satellites? - NYTimes
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/02/lights-out-for-research-satellites

Earth-observing systems operated by the United States have entered a steep decline, imperiling the nation’s monitoring of weather, natural disasters and climate change, a report from the National Research Council warned on Wednesday.

Long-running and new missions are frequently delayed, lost or cancelled because of budget cuts, launch failures, disorganization and changes in mission design and scope, the report said.

#espace #recherche

“My name is Al Gayhart and I built spy satellites for a living” - Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/decades-later-cold-war-secret-revealed-152207569.html

The scale, ambition and sheer ingenuity of Hexagon KH-9 was breathtaking. The fact that 19 out of 20 launches were successful (the final mission blew up because the booster rockets failed) is astonishing.
So too is the human tale of the 45-year-old secret that many took to their graves.
Hexagon was declassified in September. (...)
“They envisaged a satellite that was 60-foot long and 30,000 pounds and supplying film at speeds of 200 inches per second. The precision and complexity blew my mind.”
Several years later, after numerous successful launches, he was shown what Hexagon was capable of — an image of his own house in suburban Fairfield.
“This was light years before #Google_Earth,” Prusak said. “And we could clearly see the pool in my backyard.”

#espionnage #satellites #guerre_froide #etats-unis

OpenMesh
http://www.openmeshproject.org

le projet openmesh voit loin :

Launch a private citizen owned #satellites

#mesh #cccp