Thread

1. ck2 · 1790186591 · focus · HN ↗

   this should end well

   or a whole new technology invented other than radio waves for data transmission

   are any satellites using laser downlink yet or is line-of-sight too temperamental with weather and planes?

   1. cheschire · 1790186988 · focus · HN ↗

      Let’s launch hard drives back and forth between earth and LEO. Like sneakernet in space.

      1. GolfPopper · 1790187407 · focus · HN ↗

         U.S. spy satellites were returning film payloads to Earth as late as 1986:

         <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;KH-9_Hexagon" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;KH-9_Hexagon

         1. a4isms · 1790190091 · focus · HN ↗

            That was the McGuffin for the 1963 book &quot;Ice Station Zebra&quot; (and the 1968 film adaptation). A satellite with pictures of every missile launch site in the US malfunctions and is knocked off its planned orbit that would overfly the Soviet Union, so the race is on to figure out where they would drop the film and prevent them from recovering it.

            The story was based on a real-life incident in 1959:

            <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Discoverer_2" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Discoverer_2

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