What is Putin hiding up there?
US officials have commented on a Russian satellite orbiting Earth.
As if we didn’t have enough to worry about in terms of meteorites coming from the stars to wipe out the planet, or impending alien invasions, there are now fears that space-based weapons are floating above our heads. With Baba Vanga AND Nostradamus both predicting some sort of massive conflict in 2025, could theories that Russia is hiding covert weapons in space be what sparks this all-out war?
Space is scary enough as it is, but now, the New York Times suggests that Vladimir Putin could be testing space weapons with his Cosmos 2553 satellite. Just days before Russia’s war with Ukraine kicked off, the Cosmos 2553 was launched from Russia’s Plesetsk Cosmodrome atop a Soyuz-2 rocket. The U.S. Space Command headquarters were alerted to the Cosmos 2553 on February 5, 2022, namely because of its unusual trajectory and the fact it was heading to a remote ‘graveyard orbit’ region of space.
The global arms race looks like it’s heading in a very different direction (KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / Contributor / Getty)
0 of 2 minutes, 10 secondsVolume 0%
02:10
Hovering some 2,000 kilometers above the Earth, this area inside the Van Allen Belts is blasted with radiation and only contains 10 other satellites. Weirdly, all of these apart from the Cosmos 2553 have been dead for years.
So, why is the Cosmos 2553 in a lonely orbit that circles the planet every two hours?
Moscow claims the satellite is there to test “newly developed onboard instruments and systems” against radiation, but U.S. officials speculate it’s experimenting with components for a secret weapon that could wipe out thousands of critical satellites elsewhere in the cosmos.
It’s important to note that while the NYT says the Cosmos 2553 isn’t armed, it apparently carries a dummy warhead. With this pitched as a ‘forerunner to an unprecedented weapon’, there are obvious worries about what it could lead to.
Even if we don’t think about it, satellites control a lot of our day-to-day lives, with everything from stocks to navigation systems being dictated by them. As more have been launched in the past five years than the previous 60, something that could wipe out satellites is effectively an orbiting weapon of mass destruction.
Vladimir Putin has his eyes on the stars (GRIGORY SYSOYEV / Contributor / Getty)
If legitimate, it’s thought a co-orbital anti-satellite weapon (ASAT) would be launched into orbit, circle the Earth, and then deploy a nuclear device that would fry nearby satellites. More than just being a danger in space, detonating too close to the Earth would also cause havoc for our electrical infrastructure on the surface.
The so-called ‘Sput-nuke’ has the potential to disrupt military space operations and hundreds of millions of people all over the world.
It’s not just Russia taking its arms race higher than ever, with countries including China and the USA all developing ‘dozens’ of space weapons. The three nations have been testing high-flying missiles that can target satellites and other space systems while boasting lasers and signal jammers.
As a final thought to keep you up at night, there are only two major pacts that oversee nuclear weapons in space, with both the Limited Test Ban Treaty (1963) and the Outer Space Treaty (1967) not looking like they can stand up to much in today’s shaky political climate.
Russia might be the one to watch for now, but as the NYT warns: “Any nation with ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons, like North Korea, holds the potential to reverse the progress of the space age with a single detonation.”Featured Image Credit: KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/Contributor / GRIGORY SYSOYEV/Contributor / Getty
Published 11:51 2 Dec 2024 GMT
New satellite will take your selfie from space with Earth in the background
A former NASA engineer has invented the ultimate selfie
A new satellite will be able to take your selfie from space with Earth in the background.
One man has built a satellite with the sole intention of taking everyday people to space – well, their selfies at least.
Mark Rober explained his project in a YouTube video where he said that the satellite will be ‘one small step for mankind, one giant leap for your selfie game’.Play
Rober is a former NASA engineer and previously spent seven years working on the Mars Curiosity rover.
For his new venture, he decided to create a new, ‘custom-built’ satellite named SAT GUS, which is due to launch into space next month.
In the video, Rober said: “What makes SAT GUS so special is that she’s got a phone right here and a camera right here, and her sole purpose is to take your selfie in space with the Earth photobombing you.
“And it gets even cooler because if you tell me the city you live in, when you upload your picture, the satellite will not only take the selfie over your city, but we’ll tell you precisely when that will happen.
“So if you go out yard and wave, you’ll technically be in the photo twice.”
The YouTuber went on to say: “It’s incredible we live in a day and age where just an everyday civilian like you and me can just decide to build something and send it to space.”
The satellite can take your selfie from space (YouTube/@MarkRober)
The satellite has a Google Pixel phone onboard, protected by a radiation resistant case.
There’s another camera facing it so you can upload your selfie to the phone and the camera will snap a picture of it with Earth in the background.
The invention has a GPS tracker and solar panels to power the phone.
Viewers of the video were blown away by the invention, with many taking to the YouTube comment section to share their reactions.
One user wrote: “This is another level of YouTube creator content, and educational entertainment in general. Mark, your impact on the next generation of engineers will have ripple effects for all humanity. Epic stuff.”
Another said: “This is something that would have been considered totally science fiction back when I was a kid! And now accessible to all!”
A third person commented: “Mark casually explains space engineering like it’s IKEA furniture. ‘Just add solar panels and a flywheel!’”
And a fourth added: “Bro casually just built a satellite and explained it like it was building legos…”Featured Image Credit: YouTube/@MarkRober
