IrresolutelyTuesday

A Perplexing Modern Conundrum Of A Comet Interceptor...

"Randall Munroe's XKCD cartoon on the ICE/ISEE-3 spacecraft inspired me to do a little research on why Nasa can no long communicate with the International Cometary Explorer. Launched in 1978 ISEE-3 was the first spacecraft to be placed in a halo orbit at one of Earth-Sun Lagrangian points (L1). It was later (as ICE) sent to visit Comet Giacobini-Zinner and became the first spacecraft to do so by flying through a comet's tail passing the nucleus at a distance of approximately 7800 km. ICE has been in a heliocentric orbit since then, traveling just slightly faster than Earth and it's finally catching up to us from behind, and will return to Earth in August. According to Emily Lakdawalla, it's still functioning, broadcasting a carrier signal that the Deep Space Network successfully detected in 2008 and twelve of its 13 instruments were working when we last checked on its condition, sometime prior to 1999.

Can we tell the spacecraft to turn back on its thrusters and science instruments after decades of silence and perform the intricate ballet needed to send it back to where it can again monitor the Sun? Unfortunately the answer to that question appears to be no. 'The transmitters of the Deep Space Network, the hardware to send signals out to the fleet of NASA spacecraft in deep space, no longer includes the equipment needed to talk to ISEE-3. These old-fashioned transmitters were removed in 1999.' Could new transmitters be built? Yes, but it would be at a price no one is willing to spend. 'So ISEE-3 will pass by us, ready to talk with us, but in the 30 years since it departed Earth we've lost the ability to speak its language,' concludes Lakdawalla. 'I wonder if ham radio operators will be able to pick up its carrier signal — it's meaningless, I guess, but it feels like an honorable thing to do, a kind of salute to the venerable ship as it passes by.'"

But we can spend on things to better control our Chemtrailing operations.

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 While I am not doing Facebook I still always wondered why so many people quest to get what

are called "Friends." Now I think I understand. And of course my two readers will also now understand. Who knew?
"In an upcoming issue of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, researchers conducted an experiment on the impact of the number of Facebook friends a person has on impression formation. When viewing modified Facebook profiles (all with the same profile picture and an experimentally controlled number of friends), people rated profiles with lots of Facebook friends as more physically attractive, more socially attractive, more approachable, and more extroverted. Since potential employers look at Facebook profiles these days, perhaps it's time to hire some Facebook friends."

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Ahh...Gee I feel so sorry for them...not!
Perhaps if all the carriers were to charge more...hmm...
 The Federal government thinks Sprint overcharged them $21 million when billing for wiretaps. From the article: "Sprint, like all the nation's carriers, must comply with the Communications Assistance in Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which requires telcos to be capable of providing government-ordered wiretapping services. The act also allows carriers to recoup 'reasonable expenses' associated with those services. Sprint inflated charges approximately 58 percent between 2007 and 2010, according to a lawsuit the administration brought against the carrier today. ... The suit said that the wireless carrier breached Federal Communications Commission guidelines of 2006 that prohibited carriers from using intercept charges to recover costs of modifying 'equipment, facilities or services' to comply with the Communications Assistance in Law Enforcement Act."

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Oh ya...this is gonna work...LOL

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 This article explains why the trails being left in the sky by large aircraft cannot possibly be

condensation trails ("contrails"). Once this is understood, then we are left with the ominous question: "What do these trails consist of?"

 High-bypass turbofan engines do not create condensation trails. The ratio of air-to-exhaust is much too high to facilitate the formation of condensation because the majority of air expelled from the back of the engine is not combusted. It is passed through the "fan" and simply blown out the back without mixing with any fuel at all.
Turbine engines are the power plant for high-bypass turbofans. Turbine engines are used in other applications besides powering jets. They are also used to power helicopters, yet we never see trails coming from helicopters, and the reason is simple. Turbine engines almost never produce condensation trails.

 Learn more about Geoengineering

 Why you need to get involved in stopping this.

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Popcorn Time - app to stream torrent movies?

 Quote:

  "Downloading copyrighted material through torrents may be illegal in your country. Use at your own risk... Best of all, it's free!" 

Unquote. 

I personally feel that the risk are way to high and would never use this app nor would I suggest using it! Most torrented movies are very low quality and not even worth viewing anyway.

 I use my netflix account often and I use my pay per view on TimeWarner cable. And my wife and I love going out to the big screen movies. 

I get a senior discount (*smile*)

You can get a free month of legal movie viewing from Netflix right now. 

On Time Warner we get access to 18.000 movies and 10.000 shows legally. 

So why risk a hugh fine and a lot of court dates when you can be at peace for a few bucks a month?

As for music, you can get it free legally here.

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It is well known that America’s military dominates both the air and the sea. What’s less celebrated is that the US has also dominated the spectrum, a feat that is just as critical to the success of operations. Communications, navigation, battlefield logistics, precision munitions—all of these depend on complete and unfettered access to the spectrum, territory that must be vigilantly defended from enemy combatants. 

Having command of electromagnetic waves allows US forces to operate drones from a hemisphere away, guide cruise missiles inland from the sea, and alert patrols to danger on the road ahead. Just as important, blocking enemies from using the spectrum is critical to hindering their ability to cause mayhem, from detonating roadside bombs to organizing ambushes.

 As tablet computers and semiautonomous robots proliferate on battlefields in the years to come, spectrum dominance will only become more critical. Without clear and reliable access to the electromagnetic realm, many of America’s most effective weapons simply won’t work.