Pentagon plan to save endangered satellites not without risks

As you may or may not know (we sure didn't), all those satellites orbiting our little ball of blue are highly susceptible to traumatic events such as intense solar storms or space-based nuclear blasts, and would likely be crippled by the resulting swarm of charged particles. The big brains at the Pentagon are aware of this danger, of course, and have come up with a solution called "radiation belt remediation" that would employ even more sats to broadcast low frequency radio waves into particle filled areas, creating so-called wave-particle interactions that would encourage the pesky molecules to fall harmlessly into the Earth's upper atmosphere. Sounds like a great plan, except a team of researchers at New Zealand's University of Otago believe that all those charged particles in the ionosphere would absorb the vital communications signals that are normally supposed to be reflected back down to terra firma. Long story short, by saving the satellites, communications on the ground would be severely hampered, affecting everyone from military personnel to amateur radio hobbyists -- and in a worst case scenario, GPS signal quality and accuracy could be severely degraded, much to the dismay of the burgeoning geocaching community. Still, if this is the only option we've got in the face of a nuclear attack, losing ground -based communications for a week or so is a small price to pay in order to save hundreds of satellites; we can deal with our in-car sat nav systems acting screwy for a little while, but we must protect our ability to receive XM/Sirius and DISH/DirecTV broadcasts at all costs.

[MDC @ Aug 15th 2006 8:20PM]

Do you think they care about GPS outside of guidance? What is more important, keeping up the satellite to bring you 130 channels of mind numbing dumbness or reigning hell on any low SES culture. Wake up.

[Scott @ Aug 15th 2006 8:26PM]

Alright. Everyone get your Tin Hats on!

[andrew k. from AZ @ Aug 15th 2006 9:32PM]

The geocaching community?!?!?! Say it isn't so!!!!!! Teh horrors!!!!!

[alex @ Aug 15th 2006 9:42PM]

"radiation belt remediation" ... surely they wouldn't be accidentally using some space based system which emits enough energy to affect the space around it as some kind of 'weapon'...

[demonsun @ Aug 15th 2006 11:12PM]

Does anybody here actually realise how important GPS, and satellite data connections are?

Those massive container ships rely on GPS to tell them their precise location in crowded harbors, so that they can know their exact depth. without satellite communication, the world stock markets can't function, international communication is also hampered. Contact with remote research stations and communities is lost. In all ssituations a loss of satellite coms for a week as compared to few months, is much better, and safer for the world.

[bsv @ Aug 15th 2006 11:31PM]

Speaking to some guys where I work, who research space weather, they're starting to see natural wave/particle interactions as a possible cause of some satellite killing events. So it's interesting to see the phenomena being turned on its head so to speak and used to stop the very thing it can cause. Also good to see Otago on Engadget!!!

[Big Sam @ Aug 16th 2006 1:50AM]

Planes use GPS as well.

[Nexus @ Aug 16th 2006 3:49AM]

Oh NO!! We are all DOOMED! Doomed I say...

[bill @ Aug 16th 2006 4:59AM]

Well fortunately, since GPS does not require a signal to be bounced off of the ionosphere, GPS receivers should continue to work fine in that scenario.

And to the ship and plane guys: yes, they use GPS, but the governing agencies (FAA/Coast Guard) do not allow for GPS as a sole OR primary means of navigation... They still have to use the signs and paper maps like the rest of us.

[Mookie @ Aug 16th 2006 5:10AM]

Time to turn the LORAN back on..:-D

[Josh @ Aug 16th 2006 6:12AM]

Satellites' behaviour determining what we can and can't do...I, for one, welcome our....

[joe @ Aug 16th 2006 11:38AM]

i, for one, welcome our raining metallic signal disrupting robot satellite overlords

[Billy Goto @ Aug 16th 2006 1:19PM]

Don't get your tinfoil hats in a bunch... Of the services you mentioned (Sirius, XM, Dish and DirecTV), NONE use satellites in low-earth orbit, and none of this ionospheric nonsense applies to them. They're all geosynchronous or geostationary, which is about 100x higher up.

[Mark @ Aug 26th 2006 10:36PM]

Sounds like another HAARP project to me. After having to endure the Ozone hole down here in New Zealand for the last 20 years I'm personally not to happy having the US interfere with any more of our part of the world let alone our radiation belts. When are these people going to stop messing with our eco systems?