Slashdot Mirror
Japan Launches Two New Spy Satellites
According to the Daily Yomiuri, "Japan launched two satellites on Jan. 27 to strengthen its surveillance capabilities, including keeping a closer eye on North Korea which has vowed to stage another nuclear test. One of them was a radar-equipped unit to complete a system of surveillance satellites that will allow Tokyo to monitor any place in the world at least once a day. The other was a demonstration satellite to collect data for research and development." The Defense News version of the story says "Japan developed a plan to use several satellites as one group to gather intelligence in the late 1990s as a response to a long-range missile launch by Pyongyang in 1998. The space agency has said the radar satellite would be used for information-gathering, including data following Japan’s 2011 quake and tsunami, but did not mention North Korea by name."
You know, being the geek that I am, I paid as little attention as possible in history class, because at that time, 5 minutes spent actually listening to that ancient stuff was 5 minutes less I could spend thinking about how to write that tricky little C function that had been bugging me for a couple of days.
Now I realize: holy shit, unless you know at least a bit about how the world ended up the way it is, you have very little chance of making sure that all the cool things you develop don't end up helping someone who hates you takes aim at you and everything you hold dear. Just look at TFA. :\