Budget sequester leaves US de-'fence'-less in space.
Source: Al Jazeera America
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The Space Fence, which, despite its name, consisted of operational facilities on the ground, across the southern United States, had been shut down. In more than 50 years of operation, it had played a key role in the Space Surveillance Network, set up by the U.S. military to track man-made debris — and help keep valuable satellites and spaceships from smashing into them. According to the Air Force Space Command, which ran the network, the shutdown was made necessary by the 2013 the budget sequester and will save $14 million per year in operating expenses. But some argue that the shutdown has reduced the capability of an already-imperfect surveillance system, potentially increasing the risk of a costly collision.
The thousand or so currently active satellites provide essential infrastructure for the modern world: GPS, television transmission, weather prediction, scientific exploration, search-and-rescue and international financial transactions are key functions facilitated by satellites.
Functioning satellites are vastly outnumbered by orbital debris — a smorgasbord of defunct satellites, spent rockets, exploded satellite and rocket bits, paint flecks and liquid leaked from nuclear reactors that once powered Soviet spy satellites. The military’s Space Surveillance Network maintains a catalog of more than 23,000 orbiting objects larger than a grapefruit, and there are estimated to be tens of millions of pieces of debris too small for the network to detect. Hurtling around the Earth at up to 20,000 miles per hour, even a small piece of debris can rip through a satellite or spaceship.
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Read more: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/1/2/budget-sequestorleavesusdefencelessinspace.html
We can keep tens of thousands of troops in Afghanistan for another year (at the cost of over a million dollars each) but we can't afford fourteen million to protect our invaluable communications and navigation satellites?
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RC
(25,592 posts)Or the International Space Station, for that matter.
n2doc
(47,953 posts)Once it's up there the money is mostly spent.
Berlum
(7,044 posts)Going AWOL from community responsibility is a core republican "value"
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)The GOP's "Individualists" are willing to let the larger community go square to hell. They are totally happy as long as they have their personal pile of cash. If that is ever threatened, however, they are very quick to call on the larger community to come and protect them from loss and harm.
PADemD
(4,482 posts)Bring home 14 troops from Afghanistan. Bring them all home!
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)But that would be budget cutting with intelligence, and that currently seems to be impossible.
allan01
(1,950 posts)better idear . eliminate the bush era tax cuts for the rich and eliminate the bill ( now us law ) behind the sequester
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)As soon as we switch a couple dozen House seats, . . . it will be done!
reACTIONary
(7,165 posts)...of the space debris being tracked:
http://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/photogallery/beehives.html
LEO:
GEO:
GEO Polar:
PatrynXX
(5,668 posts)hence this will be rather expensive eventually..
Normally we've been saved by an all Democratic govt. but not with Conservadems in there so it's still taxcuts but for some reason spending cuts too. Which Cancel each other out.
Tax and Spend isn't great but it's much better than tax cut and spend cut , which just hits the pause button.
But was Taxcut and spend. "Stupid" !!!