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No Billboards in Space
An anonymous reader writes "CNN is reporting that the Federal Aviation Administration proposed Thursday to amend its regulations to ensure that it can enforce a law that prohibits 'obtrusive' advertising in zero gravity." From the article: "For instance, outsized billboards deployed by a space company into low Earth orbit could appear as large as the moon and be seen without a telescope, the FAA said. Big and bright advertisements might hinder astronomers."
And sorry, who is enforcing this law? I wasn't aware that the US owned space.
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No big, bright billboards by highways either- because they are a distraction to drivers.
Is it true that more people vote for the winner of American Idol, than vote for the president? -Ali G.
Europe annouces a space billboard initiative. Part of this initiative involves a unilateral declaration that any attempt to remove their billboards will be seen as an act of agression. Followed by what sounded like muffled laughter.
I don't care what you say, all I need is my Wumpabet soup.
If they occupy as much solid-angle as the moon, then they could eclipse the sun (or moon). Can you imagine disc-shaped billboards? I can see it now... "This eclipse brought to you by Coca-Cola!" Better yet, "All your photons are belong to us". - Joe
All your base are belong to us.
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
Imagine if China put its flag in orbit. What is the US going to do, shoot it down?
God spoke to me.
for when they forbid obtrusive advertising in CYBERspace.
Okay, the FAA controls the US airspace, right? So, they probably won't allow any of these LEO Billboards to be launched in the U.S.
Of course, there's virtually nothing they can do if an LEO craft is launched from some other location and meanders over the U.S. from time to time.
Perhaps they could do something if it were placed in a geostationary orbit over the U.S. but then it wouldn't be in LEO.
"It's a very tangled subsystem." --Windows kernel guru
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> So we could still make a deal if aliens drop by wanting to buy Jupiter.
Jupiter? Yeah, we at AlienClick [mttp://1.3.9.27.81.243] can do that. In fact, all these worlds can be yours for $39.99 per line, except Europa, which has been reserved by a prior bidder.
Blade Runner (1982) I believe employed the use of either low orbit billboards, or just random hovering billboards. Hard to tell what the effect was intended to be.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
Good question, considering that as the earth turns, our cone of airspace, or spacespace, if extended infinitely, would cover a significant portion of the universe.
Team America: World police http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372588/ FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!
Why, are you about to execute a file? In space?
I'm a member of the astronomy club here in Orlando and Disney World about 35 miles away impedes our observations. Any astronomer will tell you that a full moon can ruin observations for the night and any billboard that's as bright as the moon and is in full brightness all the time is going to tick every astronomer off within the viewable region. I feel sorry for any country's astronomers where one of these things get put up.
Insert Witty Remark Here ===>____________________________
I'm pretty sure Dubya stated that he wants to bring democracy to the country of Space.
Anonymous Coward
Sounds like there's a pretty big loophole to me - technically speaking, low earth orbit is not zero-gravity. The gravity that close to the earth is almost as strong as it is here on the surface. The onyl difference is that you're zinging around at 20,000 MPH, thus keeping yourself from falling out of the sky.
...you slashdotters just can't help making desperate attempts to cynically imply the US government is trying to overstep its boundaries and turn into some fascist regime. Sorry, but companies based in the US CAN be regulated by the US government. Many European countries will likely follow with similar laws and thus most major companies will be stopped from displaying billboards in space. Note this is NOT a violation of anyone's rights, simply a reasonable use of regulatory power.
Good try, though.
-py
In other words: forget the static billboards and welcome the spinning billtorusii thanks to the general relativity theory and the equivalence principle in non-inertial frames of reference. Another example of politicians who want to write laws to control the entire universe without any knowledge of the real laws of said universe. (Pun most definitely intended.) Sad. Very sad.
Karma: Positive (probably because of superiour intellect)
Seriously, I don't think doing something like this would be a positive step for a company to take. They'd get a whole lot of publicity out of it right at the beginning, but pretty soon it'd become a major eyesore, and there'd be a lot of loathing towards them for putting it there. Looking at it would get old really quick.
There'd probably be some significant protesting outside their HQ and whatnot. There would be calls for boycotting, which would probably gain some traction, as people become more and more tired of it.
If some company did it, and it was only visible up there for a few days, they'd get some serious publicity, and if they let it die while it was still a novelty, they'd get mostly good press and an excited public. I'd check a website to find out when it'd be overhead, and then go watch it pass over a few times. Just as long as it doesn't stay long enough to become an eyesore.
After a few of these advertisements happened, it'd cease to be a novelty, and the excitement of seeing one would wear off, and people would turn against them.
That's how I imagine it at least.
One time I threw a brick at a duck.
An American Officer runs up to his superior and says excitedly: "Sir, Sir! The Soviets have painted the moon red, what should we do?"
After a little contemplation the man replied: "Take a bucket of white paint to the moon and write Coca Cola on it."
But my Mom says I'm cool! -Milhouse
The FCC can't mandate broadcast flag. The FCC can mandate what goes in space.
Religion can't stop suicide, but it can stop stem cell research.
I'm so damn confused.
Won't it be nice when nationalism fades?
1) arrive first
2) arrive armed
There! you own space! Works for solar systems, planets, moons, asteroids. Quite simple, really.
I was hoping to make a fortune selling rocket-propelled 'adblockers' but now I have to think of another get-rich-quick scheme.
Since the beginning of time man has yearned to destroy the sun. I will do the next best thing...block it out!
[presses a button raising a shield over the model town]
"That's no moon... that's an oversized advertisement for the next generation Whopper(tm)"
This message printed on 100% post-consumer recycled electrons.
Ah, the pleasure of shutting down ads with nuclear weapons... It gives the concept of zapping an entirely new meaning!
Victims of 9/11: <3000. Traffic in the US: >30,000/y
Chairface Chippendale will be real disappointed.
SPOON!!!!
anyone find the actual text of this proposal? last time i checked there was no such thing as 'zero gravity'...
George Lucas sues AT&T after logo in space is confused with the Death Star.
8==8 Bones 8==8
..somewhere at the NASA:
"Sir! Sir! The Russians! The Commies have started to paint the moon red! What shall we do?!"
"Hmm...don't stop them. Load up a shuttle with white paint and when they are finished we'll go up and write 'Coca Cola' on it."
The Sun is being presented to you today by Sun Microsystems. "Use Solaris. Please! Hey, we even run Linux!"
Mercury is being presented to you this evening by the new Oral-B Thermometer.
Venus is being presented to you by Arista Records... home to Abba! (1)
The Earth is being presented to you this evening by Miracle-Gro. Your lawn will thank you.
Mars is being presented to you this evening by M&M/ Mars Candies. Because sometimes you feel like a nut!
Jupiter is being presented to you this evening by Jupiter Research, because we really really want to know what you think!
Saturn is being presented to you this evening by On Star! Who will call 9-1-1 when *your* airbags deploy?
Neptune is being presented to you this evening by Microsoft. When do you want your computer to crash, today?
Uranus is being presented to you this evening by Preparation-H. It's not just for removing bags from a model's eyes you know!
Pluto is being presented to you this evening by Walt Disney World. Celebrate the magic!
--
(1) Who gives a shit if Abba is signed with Arista or not. Don't be so anal-retentive.
It's like internet spam. The first few times they do it it will be a novelty, then nobody will use spam because it's not worth it.
Oh, wait, something's going overhead now:
'Erectile problems? Reach this sign with FREE VIAGRA!!!'
I'm glad we didn't regulate the skies...
Space-based ads seem more likely than the "chimera" genetic engineering debate I keep hearing about.
But then, so does subsequent private development of anti-orbital-advertising technology. I wonder how much gunpowder it would take to lob a lead slug to orbital altitude. Doesn't actually need to go into orbit. In fact, it's more likely to do damage if you let the satellite billboard come to it.
Of course, one slug wouldn't do it. You'd need the equivalent of grape shot to have a significant effect.
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Likewise, a lot of satellites never pass directly over US soil, but could still appear as large as the Moon to Americans.
That's virtually impossible. If my math is right, an advertisement in geosynchronous orbit would have to be about 325km accross in order to be the same size as the moon. Since it'd have to be at least semi-ridged (and assuming it was square), the cost of building a sign with a surface area of 105625 square kilometers would be enormous.
The "blimps" in BR weren't supposed to be in orbit, they were just flying through the city. That's why you could hear the "Let's go to the colonies!" spiel coming from them. They looked pretty heavy, maybe they were supposed to be anti-grav instead of just lighter-than-air craft.
Freedom: "I won't!"
Sodium Vapor lights do indeed have a very narrow spectrum. They are also more economical than mercury and halogen lights. Yet mercury and halogen lights are indeed replacing sodium lights becuse the narrow spectrum is actually a hazard.
Low Pressure Sodium lights are almost completely monochromatic at 589nm, that characteristic yellow-orange color. High Pressure Spdium lights include some other elements (thus colors), but still have a very limited spectrum. The result is that it is almost impossible to see colors under these lights, for example the color of a car leaving a crime scene.
Oversimplifying, the retinas in our eyes have Cone Cells, and Rod Cells. The Cone Cells see color and are concentrated in the center of our vision, and so also give us high resolution. The Rod Cells see gray scale, are distributed, and have the ability to dark adapt to see in low light.
The spectrum of Sodium Vapor is insufficient to activate our Cone Cells. Yet the intensity of the light kills the ability of our Rod Cells to dark-adapt. So we are stuck with the low resolution of our Rods, with only their daytime photon-gathering ability, and orders of magnitude fewer photons than in daytime.
It is almost the worst possible combination, in some cases worse than a decent night sky. Sodium lighting has actually been shown to increase industrial accidents. So, though cheap to buy and run, sodium lights are frequently being replaced, unfortunatey for the astronomers.
I suggest that they abandon area lighting and just issue every citizen some good night vision gear (or tax credits for it). It would be much more fun that way.