Slashdot Mirror
U.S. Withholding Satellite Data
plover writes "Because of Congressional legislation passed quietly in 2003, the Air Force Space Command will no longer distribute space surveillance data via NASA. There was supposed a three year transitional period where the data was to be made available via a NASA web site, but earlier this month their transitional server went down hard, and NASA has decided to not rebuild it. (It was scheduled to be shut down on 31 March 2005 anyway.) The only way to obtain satellite data now is by signing up with the official Space-Track website. Part of the agreement to obtaining data from their site is that you agree to not redistribute their data. Of course, amateurs are still free to redistribute their observations, including those of classified satellites."
The congressmen passing these bills barely skim the 1000+ page documents. You expect a non-paid volunteer to skim through each one? Count me out.
Nasa has tons of servers...so, the "oh gee, the server went down, so lets throw our hands in the air and give up" thing doesn't compute. There are always backups of servers. I expect organized agencies to have backups. The 'Server went down so give up' thing only applies to AOL users.
This is information about the precise orbits of satellites. This is what you would need if you want to shoot down a satellite.
They are not talking about weather photos.
Does anybody read the article? Like the article says, this info is available, more accurately, from a global collaboration of amateur observers.
I'm a bit puzzled. If the U.S. is "withholding" satellite data, why is it still freely available via another web site? Less editorializing, more reporting.
You want to know who isn't running Firefox 2.x? They spell it "definately" and "rediculous".
I also see from your post that you are thinking of not voting any more. I see this more and more in my generation (I'm 31 years old) and I hate it more and more. Not voting is NOT a political statement. Find a party or if nothing out there stands for what you stand for MAKE a party, even if it only gets one vote, yours. Or if you don't want the trouble go to the polling station and vote blank. A blank vote is a vote against ALL parties and shows yor dissatisfaction with them AND with the system. The main problem is that nowadays we have left politics to the professionals, and we forget that it is our OBLIGATION rather than our right to participate in the commons.
I have absolutely no sympathy towards people who say "I don't vote". Apathy is not a valid political point of view.
Mother is the best bet and don't let Satan draw you too fast.
Typical nonsense from the tinfoil brigade.
/. crowd won't pay attention unless you make a lot of loud noise.
A server supporting a system scheduled to end goes down a few weeks before that and the government decides not to spend the money to repair it. What's the problem?
The same data remains available. What's the problem?
The government -- any government with satellites -- doesn't want you or anyone else to know the location of its secret satellites. Why enable the very people those satellites are targetting to find out where they are?
And, what is that crack about legislation that was "passed quietly" supposed to mean? Looks like deliberate paranoia-mongering to me: those sneaky people in Congress passed a bill and didn't ven bother to jump up and down on TV about it. Guess they forgot that the
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
"NASA not distributing it the way it was done before" is NOT equivalent to "U.S. Withholding Satellite Data"
a sp to automatically download and convert Space Track data into CelesTrak data sets to help you with the transition. This will ensure you get the very latest data in the formats you are currently accustomed to...." (emphasis added)
n t-MUST be-fascist" fantasies of /.?
As CelesTrak says on their site, you can "...Register for a Space Track account today at http://www.space-track.org (only 4,000 users have done so to date) and use the application provided at http://celestrak.com/SpaceTrack/TLERetrieverHelp.
How is this "withholding" data, except in the "George-Bush-is-teh-debbil-therefore-the-governme
-Styopa