So beloved are the original satellites that the operations team has employed a bit of humor to the original constellation’s retirement, creating photos of the satellites in retirement on various tropical beaches or marking the end of their service with gravestones etched with the original satellites names and dates of service.
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/07/iridium-satellite-network-55-more/ … Great article! But @IridiumBoss ... make them use a better pic of you next time! #spaceX #iridiumnext
Sadly, there are no better pictures of me!
Saw about five public domain ones, mainly on his twitter feed. That one was of him watching the launch. That's emotion. That's why it's the best one. Could have used a portrait one, suit and booted, but no - emotion, that's the ticket.
Personally, I love the pic... Watching a launch (8 of them!) will be some of the most dramatic moments of my career...
Does anyone know if these new satellites will have the same reflective properties as the original constellation, that produced the "Iridium Flare" (http://www.heavens-above.com/iridiumhelp.aspx)? That would be a sad thing to lose for sky watchers.
Totally different Main Mission Antenna (MMA) design. Current: angular panels. New: flat phased array. Guess we buy ads now?
"We tried to work with other launch vehicle companies but all were at least twice the cost of SpaceX and unaffordable based on the scope of the network we needed to launch," Desch said
Feature article from Chris Gebhardt speaking to Matt Desch:https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/07/iridium-satellite-network-55-more/Very interesting read about the satellites, especially as there's so much focus on the rockets.
“Airplanes today are supposed to be kept 60 miles apart,” said Mr. Desch.
“We needed the network to have a business case on its own. We knew that the real value was putting airplanes closer together (30 km instead of 60 km), allowing them to climb faster, burn less fuel, save money, reduce carbon emissions,” said Mr. Desch.
The new constellation replaces an aging network and promises innovative, everyday telecommunications applications from airplane location services to maritime distress/communication to public global push-to-talk services to civilian remote wi-fi and cellular network capabilities to thousands of other applications for government, military, and civilian populations.
Great article Chris G - thanks. That's the quality of information that keeps me hooked to NSF.But I do have a question for anyone that might know. The article states that as the new satellite moves in close to the one it's replacing that communications are handed off to the new one and the old one is shut down and deorbited. So why are they deorbiting what is a working satellite? If something happens to the new one, at least the old one could be turned back on until the on-orbit spare comes into range. I know that it cannot come close to what the new one can do, but at least basic communications could be maintained. It would be like booting up your computer in safe mode - loss of a LOT of capability, but basic functionality is restored until it can be fixed/replaced. Without it there would be a total loss of communication for that slot for however long it takes for the on-orbit spare to come along side and take over. Seems like a waste of a functioning spare that's already in position, even if it only provides "some" capability. Isn't something better than nothing? When it finally gives up the ghost, then deorbit it. But keep it around (and available) until then.
Sorry, didn't think of this before, but memory says that Iridium flares are tumbling, non-functional satellites. So the new Iridium will not affect the flares.
