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I shall be rather annoyed...


Martin Harris - Moderator
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...if the NASA satellite lands on my head.
 
I do wonder whether the operator has read Articles 74 and 98 of the ANO?
 
Do be careful of the sharp edges (I loved that bit!!!) if you find it in your garden or at your flying field and I suspect it may be rather hot for an hour or two.

Edited By Martin Harris on 22/09/2011 10:33:00

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It does seem a little odd that we have to fit failsafes and are legally bound to be reasonably satisfied that our flights can be completed safely with models weighing more than 7kg when an organisation like NASA seems to be able to launch something which they freely admit could land uncontrolled virtually anywhere on Earth. I know they are from the USA so I wonder what the AMA would have to say?
 
Surely it shouldn't be too difficult to control where it lands? If not controlled, why not exploded over an ocean or USA desert?
 
I'm generally supportive of space research and exploration but I'd guess the risks of losing the satellite to a premature detonation outweigh the projected costs of compensation for anyone unlucky enough to be landed on?
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I think the technical problems are pretty challenging Martin. Once it enters the atmosphere its going to start to tumble - so its trajectory is anyones guess.
 
As for blowing it up - with what? Its doing 5 miles a second! We've nothing that could hit it!
 
I suppose you could say why didn't they put a "self-destruct" charge on board, but lets be honest every gram of payload is precious on these things and hindsight is a wonderful thing!
 
Having said all that, if I have the misfortunate to have model go in out of control (finger's crossed, touch wood) I shall at least count myself in good company!
 
BEB
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Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 22/09/2011 13:41:13:
I think the technical problems are pretty challenging Martin. Once it enters the atmosphere its going to start to tumble - so its trajectory is anyones guess.
 
BEB

They knew that would happen, so they shouldn't have taken off.

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Typical American authorities, they do something risky and then let the rest of the world deal with the poo. Look at the economy, last time obviously irresponsible sub prime mortgages, and now they bicker and refuse to act sensibly on their outrageous debt problem which now appears too big to resolve.
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Posted by Allan Bowker on 22/09/2011 12:56:28:
Speaking of TV Chris, is our area fully switched over now Chris?
I started retuning all the kit in the house last night, don't want to do all that again
(7 receivers!)
 
Hi Allan
 
Yep all done in the Yorkshire and the Midlands now (Except Oxford next week). You should be seeing a much stronger digital signal now.
 
 
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Well, if its anything like the two communications sattelites we had on display at Cosford some years ago there is quite a few quids worth of scrap metal there, everything is gold plated, all contacts are platignum and as this ball of fun was built before solid state gadgetery and surface mount components it will have a lot of other goodies too.
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The odds are a bit worrying. I am sure that I have heard and seen the statement that you only have a 1 in 3500 chance of being hit.
 
Now I know that my maths are not brilliant but if one person in 3500 is going to be hit and there are seven billion people on earth my calculators says that 2 million are going to get hit.
 
I wonder how high their insurance premuims are!!!!
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The statement was that there was a chance of 1:3200 of a person being hit, so instead of multiplying you should have divided, ie 1/(3.2x10^3x7x10^9) = 1:22.4x10^12 for any one individual. How the hell they worked that one I don't know. Sounds like some gross assumptions were made. Maybe BBC's "More or Less" could tell us.
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Posted by Peter Miller on 23/09/2011 07:03:15:
The odds are a bit worrying. I am sure that I have heard and seen the statement that you only have a 1 in 3500 chance of being hit.
 
Now I know that my maths are not brilliant but if one person in 3500 is going to be hit and there are seven billion people on earth my calculators says that 2 million are going to get hit.
 
I wonder how high their insurance premuims are!!!!
 
 
Wooooaaaa there.
 
I think that the probability was that there was a one in 3500 chance that anybody would be hit, not that any one person would be.
 
And the insurance companies would find a weaset out of paying anyway!
 
Plummet
 
edit contents
memo to self... read all the posts before replying to one to discover if someone else has made the same point.  It MIGHT stop you looking like a pratt.

Edited By Plummet on 23/09/2011 08:14:31

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