US Military Blocks Data On Incoming Meteors 172
Hugh Pickens writes "Nature reports that the US military has abruptly ended an informal arrangement that allowed scientists access to data on incoming meteors from classified surveillance satellites, dealing a blow to the astronomers and planetary scientists who used the information to track space rocks. 'These systems are extremely useful,' says astronomer Peter Brown, at the University of Western Ontario. 'I think the scientific community benefited enormously.' Meteor data came from the Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite network consisting of infrared satellites in geosynchronous orbit to monitor the globe for missile launches or atmospheric nuclear blasts, forming the principal component of the United States' ballistic missile early-warning system. The satellites' effectiveness was demonstrated during Desert Storm, when DSP detected the launch of Iraqi Scud missiles and provided warning to civilian populations and coalition forces in Israel and Saudi Arabia. As a side benefit, the satellites could also precisely detect the time, position, altitude and brightness of meteors as they entered Earth's atmosphere, information the military didn't consider particularly useful, or classified. 'It was being dropped on the floor,' says former Air Force captain Brian Weeden. Although the reason for ending the arrangement remains unclear, Weeden notes that it coincides with the launch of a new generation of surveillance satellites and speculates that the Pentagon may not want details of the new satellites' capabilities to be made public, or it may simply lack the expensive software needed to handle classified and declassified data simultaneously. 'The decision may have been made that it was perhaps too difficult to disclose just these data.'"
Too expensive for the US military??? (Score:1, Interesting)
That's crazy talk.
Generals! Let me help you out. Me and right wing buddies will start posting stories about how the USA is dropping its guard against meteors, and potentially large asteroid strikes, and we'll create a groundswell of support for getting this thing turned back on. If the lefties can come up with some stuff about how good it is to have this government program, then, I'm sure we can form a bipartisan consensus to get you the funding you need.
Temporary (Score:4, Interesting)
North Korea (Score:5, Interesting)
I would think the problem is that North Korea is supposedly going to be sending a missile over to Hawaii. Perhaps meteor monitoring was simply a bad use of the satellites' time as the US military is gearing up to track North Korea's launch.
Doesn't seem too far fetched to me...
Re:I have a solution (Score:3, Interesting)
Satelites ain't actually invisible and they are also kinda hard to hide. What keeps me from watching the sky and telling when they pass overhead? Shouldn't take more than a few days and a halfway decent telescope to find out what's up. No pun intended.
Re:"Blocks"? (Score:3, Interesting)
My guess is that it is an oversight on the part of whoever ordered the software.
Re:North Korea (Score:3, Interesting)
Pretty sure the meteor information is actually just waste data. False positives that the military has to detect and catalog whether they are given out the information or not.
Re:"Blocks"? (Score:3, Interesting)
I think "the situation" is that we have a US Navy destroyer tailing a North Korean freighter potentially carrying illegal missiles to a rouge military dictatorship, and North Korea has threatened to fire it's long range missiles (which they've recently been testing, along with detonating a nuclear bomb underground, all in the last 30-60 days) if we board or attempt to intercept. North Korea is looking for a fight, and it's not at all surprising that the US military has turned off the tap for public viewing of a missile tracking system.
They selectively "detuned" civilian GPS during the gulf war. It's not at all shocking that they've cut off public access recently. If the Bush administration allowed this, then it's likely Obama will open the taps once the situation is resolved.
Re:"Blocks"? (Score:3, Interesting)
Good try but if you read the article you would see that scientists accessing this data were told earlier this year. The US wasn't tailing a North Korean freighter then and could not have anticipated doing so at this time. So while the US military may wish to no longer disclose the capabilities of its satellites to Joe Public, it is not a result of the current situation near Korea.