Seemingly trivial things that intrigue you
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What a waste of solar cells.0
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It's a 'kin balloon, with 'kin bits hanging off it. Is this 1823?0
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The Yanks have been monitoring it, so I guess they have an idea what it's been up to.0
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"What's happened very recently with advances in AI is that you can have a balloon that doesn't need its own motion system. Merely by adjusting the altitude it can control its direction."https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/u
That could also involve radio communications from its home base, he said.
But "if the point of it is to monitor [intercontinental ballistic missile] silos, which is one of the theories … you wouldn't necessarily need to tell it to adjust its location," he added.
Mr Kim said that as satellites become more vulnerable to being attacked from the Earth and space, balloons have distinct advantages.
Firstly, they do not easily show up on radars.
"These are materials that don't reflect, they're not metal. So even though these balloons expand to quite large, detecting the balloon itself is going to be a problem," he said.
And the payload, if small enough, can be overlooked.
Balloons also have the advantage of holding relatively stationary positions over a surveillance target, compared to constantly orbiting satellites used by spy agencies to take photographs.
"These things can stay overhead, they can stay over one spot months at a time, compared to the low-Earth-orbit satellites," Mr Kim said.0 -
Wait a minute, they let it fly over the entirety of the USA, then shoot it down.
My only conclusion is that they now expect the Chinese to try and reclaim the film. 🤣The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
Yep, truly intriguing on many levels. Not to mention what's going on behind the scenes. They're slow and people can spot it from the ground so it's hardly covert. No probs if they're shot down though, no pilot and relatively cheap.0
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I’m almost inclined to believe the Chinese that it was a weather balloon blown off course. Either that or some kind of diversion so whilst everyone was getting worked up about that they were doing something more serious. It really does seem odd that such visible, slow moving, old technology would be used for a proper spying mission.0
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There are two of them, you know that right?Pross said:I’m almost inclined to believe the Chinese that it was a weather balloon blown off course. Either that or some kind of diversion so whilst everyone was getting worked up about that they were doing something more serious. It really does seem odd that such visible, slow moving, old technology would be used for a proper spying mission.
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Nope, not really followed the story but have only mention of ‘a balloon’. It all feels like a fuss about nothing when there are satellites up there spying constantly so really struggling to see what these add for the risk of being so easily seen and shot down.First.Aspect said:
There are two of them, you know that right?Pross said:I’m almost inclined to believe the Chinese that it was a weather balloon blown off course. Either that or some kind of diversion so whilst everyone was getting worked up about that they were doing something more serious. It really does seem odd that such visible, slow moving, old technology would be used for a proper spying mission.
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Pross said:
Nope, not really followed the story but have only mention of ‘a balloon’. It all feels like a fuss about nothing when there are satellites up there spying constantly so really struggling to see what these add for the risk of being so easily seen and shot down.First.Aspect said:
There are two of them, you know that right?Pross said:I’m almost inclined to believe the Chinese that it was a weather balloon blown off course. Either that or some kind of diversion so whilst everyone was getting worked up about that they were doing something more serious. It really does seem odd that such visible, slow moving, old technology would be used for a proper spying mission.
There was a comment somewhere - probably on Twitter - that it was only shot down because of the media frenzy, not least on Twitter.0 -
The term mental health being used too often nowadays.0
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I would be inclined to send a balloon across China with a large, stuffed Winnie the Pooh clinging on to it in response.seanoconn - gruagach craic!0
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Time will tell what the instruments actually are. If it is cameras then it's not a weather balloon is it. I think it is telling that the US are angry and the Chinese are apologetic. Have a hunch they've been caught pretty obviously doing what both sides know each other are doing all the time anyway, and this is more of a "can you please be more subtle about it" row than anything else. There may also be concern about what happens if a bit falls off it, but most likely that's being over stated by the US.Pross said:
Nope, not really followed the story but have only mention of ‘a balloon’. It all feels like a fuss about nothing when there are satellites up there spying constantly so really struggling to see what these add for the risk of being so easily seen and shot down.First.Aspect said:
There are two of them, you know that right?Pross said:I’m almost inclined to believe the Chinese that it was a weather balloon blown off course. Either that or some kind of diversion so whilst everyone was getting worked up about that they were doing something more serious. It really does seem odd that such visible, slow moving, old technology would be used for a proper spying mission.
Answer to why use a balloon vs. spy satellites - cost and resolution I expect. Perhaps there's a lot more information you can get with IR imaging, or not looking straight down. Not being in the intelligence services I don't know.0 -
BBC article said one advantage is the slow pass. Satellites zip by on fixed pathways. Geostationary orbit is something like 36,000km.
Although I am intrigued by this idea balloons can stay in place by simply moving up and down and catching different winds.
Seems odd given the generally prevailing west to east winds in the northern hemisphere.0 -
It's just pure coincidence it flew over the biggest military complex of nuclear arms in the western hemisphere. Chinese companies obviously just don't notice they're buying farm land next to American military bases when they put in an offer.Pross said:
Nope, not really followed the story but have only mention of ‘a balloon’. It all feels like a fuss about nothing when there are satellites up there spying constantly so really struggling to see what these add for the risk of being so easily seen and shot down.First.Aspect said:
There are two of them, you know that right?Pross said:I’m almost inclined to believe the Chinese that it was a weather balloon blown off course. Either that or some kind of diversion so whilst everyone was getting worked up about that they were doing something more serious. It really does seem odd that such visible, slow moving, old technology would be used for a proper spying mission.
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These 'spy' balloons are getting everywhere. Here's a German one...
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Given that the balloon was visible from the ground and the republicans were screaming for it to be shot down and there's a large number of gun owning mad men out there, how many pot shots were taken at said balloon?0
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I looked that up as I was curious about the height of the jet stream.morstar said:BBC article said one advantage is the slow pass. Satellites zip by on fixed pathways. Geostationary orbit is something like 36,000km.
Although I am intrigued by this idea balloons can stay in place by simply moving up and down and catching different winds.
Seems odd given the generally prevailing west to east winds in the northern hemisphere.
From what I can gather, the jet stream sits between approx. 20,000 and 40,000 feet. Above that, it's pretty calm with winds maxing at 50mph whereas, the jet stream itself can travel up to 275 mph.seanoconn - gruagach craic!0 -
Thank you. And interesting. I had no idea it was so calm high up. I guess it makes sense if you think about it but I’d never considered the possibility.pinno said:
I looked that up as I was curious about the height of the jet stream.morstar said:BBC article said one advantage is the slow pass. Satellites zip by on fixed pathways. Geostationary orbit is something like 36,000km.
Although I am intrigued by this idea balloons can stay in place by simply moving up and down and catching different winds.
Seems odd given the generally prevailing west to east winds in the northern hemisphere.
From what I can gather, the jet stream sits between approx. 20,000 and 40,000 feet. Above that, it's pretty calm with winds maxing at 50mph whereas, the jet stream itself can travel up to 275 mph.0 -
@ 66,000 feet?!veronese68 said:Given that the balloon was visible from the ground and the republicans were screaming for it to be shot down and there's a large number of gun owning mad men out there, how many pot shots were taken at said balloon?
seanoconn - gruagach craic!0 -
I thought I'd read it was visible from the ground with the naked eye, I'm not saying shooting at it is rational, there's a lot of gun toting idiots in the US. I'd have thought more likely than hitting the balloon would be someone being injured by a bullet falling back to earthpinno said:
@ 66,000 feet?!veronese68 said:Given that the balloon was visible from the ground and the republicans were screaming for it to be shot down and there's a large number of gun owning mad men out there, how many pot shots were taken at said balloon?
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They are very large at that altitude.veronese68 said:
I thought I'd read it was visible from the ground with the naked eye, I'm not saying shooting at it is rational, there's a lot of gun toting idiots in the US. I'd have thought more likely than hitting the balloon would be someone being injured by a bullet falling back to earthpinno said:
@ 66,000 feet?!veronese68 said:Given that the balloon was visible from the ground and the republicans were screaming for it to be shot down and there's a large number of gun owning mad men out there, how many pot shots were taken at said balloon?
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Apparently the payload was about the same size as three buses (not sure if that was the international 'London bus' unit of measurement)0
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I'm sure there would have been some gun toting idiots with their assault rifles having a pop.veronese68 said:
I thought I'd read it was visible from the ground with the naked eye, I'm not saying shooting at it is rational, there's a lot of gun toting idiots in the US. I'd have thought more likely than hitting the balloon would be someone being injured by a bullet falling back to earthpinno said:
@ 66,000 feet?!veronese68 said:Given that the balloon was visible from the ground and the republicans were screaming for it to be shot down and there's a large number of gun owning mad men out there, how many pot shots were taken at said balloon?
seanoconn - gruagach craic!0 -
Saw some tweets with the local governor pleading for people not to shoot at it as they won’t hit it but their bullets will land somewhere.pinno said:
I'm sure there would have been some gun toting idiots with their assault rifles having a pop.veronese68 said:
I thought I'd read it was visible from the ground with the naked eye, I'm not saying shooting at it is rational, there's a lot of gun toting idiots in the US. I'd have thought more likely than hitting the balloon would be someone being injured by a bullet falling back to earthpinno said:
@ 66,000 feet?!veronese68 said:Given that the balloon was visible from the ground and the republicans were screaming for it to be shot down and there's a large number of gun owning mad men out there, how many pot shots were taken at said balloon?
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How large was the balloon, in Wembleys?briantrumpet said:Apparently the payload was about the same size as three buses (not sure if that was the international 'London bus' unit of measurement)
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