Perplexed in Pagosa...
Apr. 4th, 2005 10:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexpgpI verified today that, indeed, that a new law has gone into effect, kicking in hard at the end of March, prohibiting the unrestricted dissemination of Keplerian element data for satellites. Such data is generally consumed by commercial types, for their own purposes, and by hobbyists of various kinds, including people who do amateur radio via satellite and who simply like to go outside and watch pretty dots of light zip through the sky. If you want to do that kind of stuff now, you have to officially register with the government to download it, and you are specifically prohibited from redistributing it to others.
I can't help but think that this kind of rule is promulgated simply to give people the impression that Something Is Being Done™, because I don't really understand how this restriction can help assure the national security. Any bad guys with enough horsepower to take out a satellite probably don't need to download their Keps from NASA (and probably wouldn't trust the data if they could). And if you simply wanted to hide information that could be used to determine which reconnaissance bird is over what part of the world at what time, why not just declare that data top secret and keep it out of everyone's hands?
Anyway, as it turns out, you can still get the Keps, it's just that Uncle Sugar wants to know who you are. No biggie, I guess, but as I said, I don't see the point. Current data for the ISS will put it in the early morning sky around these parts starting in a couple of days, though mostly low in the sky. Somewhere around the 10th or so, there's supposed to be a pass almost directly overhead, and then on May 1st, there should be an opportunity to see the station twice: once before sunrise and once more after sunset.
Cheers...
I can't help but think that this kind of rule is promulgated simply to give people the impression that Something Is Being Done™, because I don't really understand how this restriction can help assure the national security. Any bad guys with enough horsepower to take out a satellite probably don't need to download their Keps from NASA (and probably wouldn't trust the data if they could). And if you simply wanted to hide information that could be used to determine which reconnaissance bird is over what part of the world at what time, why not just declare that data top secret and keep it out of everyone's hands?
Anyway, as it turns out, you can still get the Keps, it's just that Uncle Sugar wants to know who you are. No biggie, I guess, but as I said, I don't see the point. Current data for the ISS will put it in the early morning sky around these parts starting in a couple of days, though mostly low in the sky. Somewhere around the 10th or so, there's supposed to be a pass almost directly overhead, and then on May 1st, there should be an opportunity to see the station twice: once before sunrise and once more after sunset.
Cheers...
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no subject
Date: 2005-04-05 06:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-05 02:27 pm (UTC)Cheers...
no subject
Date: 2005-04-05 06:03 pm (UTC)Sometimes I think this whole terrorism thing is just an excuse for the government (in all its little competing fiefdoms) to try to hide all information possible. People can't bitch about the government if they don't know what its doing.