"Humanity Star" or "Space Disco Ball"?

[p1t1o]

https://gizmodo.com/shimmering-disco-ball-launched-into-space-by-a-milliona-1822408141

 

Its lifetime will be short, but I like it

[kerbiloid]

Quote

It should spin rapidly and reflect the Sun’s light such that it’s visible from Earth’s surface at night.

Interesting, will the astronomers first skin him then fry, or vice versa.

[Scotius]

So, its only purpose is to be a piece of shiny bling in space. No scientific or practical purpose whatsoever. It's going to be a piece of useless trash that someone will have to track, making sure it doesn't endanger other obiects in already cluttered low orbit. Meh.

[Ultimate Steve]

8 minutes ago, Scotius said:

So, its only purpose is to be a piece of shiny bling in space. No scientific or practical purpose whatsoever. It's going to be a piece of useless trash that someone will have to track, making sure it doesn't endanger other obiects in already cluttered low orbit. Meh.

It will be gone after about nine months, though. And this isn't the first time stuff like this has been done, I think giant reflector experiments were done on Mir a few times. There's also the possibility that this might have been an extra mass simulator for this mission. If you're going to have a mass simulator, why not make it something not as boring like a chunk of concrete or a bunch of copper rods? Why not make it a piece of shiny bling or a car or something?

 

[NSEP]

18 minutes ago, Scotius said:

So, its only purpose is to be a piece of shiny bling in space. No scientific or practical purpose whatsoever. It's going to be a piece of useless trash that someone will have to track, making sure it doesn't endanger other obiects in already cluttered low orbit. Meh.

*Cough* Degrading Orbits *Cough*

The purpose of the satellite is to end this Flat Earth Madness inspire the people to look up, and dust off that little bit of ignorance about spaceflight in the general public. Not bad for 9 months.

[insert_name]

This is rather smart, make a pr sat and keep it secret until the last minute to tantalize the media

[YNM]

Would it even be visible ? Somehow I question it, given how satellites "glows"...

[Green Baron]

It is already an incidence to watch a quiet sky for more 10 minutes, I find it annoying nonsense.

Hough.

[Stone Blue]

Meh... this idea has already been done a bunch of times... three discoballs ("Starshine") were sent up...two on Shuttle missions...
The French and JAXA have sent up a couple, that are still operational and trackable online... User @Well informed me about the French "STARLETTE" , and I came across JAXA's "Ajisai" sat... at least those two actually have practical purpose, as well as "kewl factor"

They, and Humanity Star, can be tracked on www.n2yo.com

Edited January 25, 2018 by Stone Blue

[PakledHostage]

3 hours ago, Ultimate Steve said:

There's also the possibility that this might have been an extra mass simulator for this mission. If you're going to have a mass simulator, why not make it something not as boring like a chunk of concrete or a bunch of copper rods? Why not make it a piece of shiny bling or a car or something?

 

It was a test payload launched aboard Rocket Labs' "Still Testing" launch the other day. 

And I agree. If it is OK to put up a car that'll stay up for eons, then it should also be equally OK to put up a disco ball who's orbit will decay on its own within 9 months.

Edited January 25, 2018 by PakledHostage

[kerbiloid]

Let me make a suggestion.

10 t of old CD put into orbit and spreaded around.
(Not these dim darkblue DVD, no. But those old silver or golden CD shining as a mirror under sunlight).

Upd.: it's possible to write commercial or personal info for money to launch it into space. Hurry up, send hello from da spase.

Edited January 26, 2018 by kerbiloid

[p1t1o]

Wow quite a polarising topic!

Honestly I hadnt realised that the idea had been done in so many iterations before though, that does make it seem less cool to me.

If anyone is worried about space junk though - one object wont make the slightest difference, especially in such a short lived orbit.

Just for reference, this:

 

And this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_West_Ford

Edited January 26, 2018 by p1t1o

[cypher_00]

Omg that thing is huge!

I had to look it up because i did not see this picture before:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Echo

A  satelloon how cool..

[Just Jim]

Sorry, but it serves no function but to be shiny for a couple months??? At least putting a car in orbit around Mars serves as a test to see of something that heavy can make it to LMO... but this shiny thing??? IMO, without a doubt the stupidest waste of money ever!

Edited January 26, 2018 by Just Jim

[p1t1o]

Just now, Just Jim said:

Sorry, but it serves no function but to be shiny for a couple months??? At least putting a car in orbit around Mars serves as a test to see of something that heavy can make it to LMO... but this shiny thing??? IMO, without a doubt the stupidest waste of money ever!

Are you kidding? I can think of hundreds of worse wastes of money!

I'd rather a millionaire waste money on something like this, something whistful and whimsical, if not actually of any use, rather than spending it on artificially inflating property prices or keeping a collection of hypercars that see the road for a few hours per decade.

I mean, I'd rather they didnt waste it at all, but if they are, I quite like this. Not as much as I did when I first posted this thread, but it seems fine, he's not selling anything.

 

On the other hand, as cool as his inventions are, almost every time Elon Musk opens his mouth it sets my teeth on edge. 

[adsii1970]

19 hours ago, Scotius said:

So, its only purpose is to be a piece of shiny bling in space. No scientific or practical purpose whatsoever. It's going to be a piece of useless trash that someone will have to track, making sure it doesn't endanger other obiects in already cluttered low orbit. Meh.

Sorry, folks, stupid fat fingers, slow brain, and an empty coffee cup... Geesh...

He probably hasn't even thought of this and I can imagine that whomever he hires to launch this thing in space will probably have to take that in consideration. I remember a while back that NASA actually discussed the need to have some sort space traffic control. This concern was discussed in Space.com:

https://www.space.com/6080-space-traffic-control-system-needed.html

 

Edited January 26, 2018 by adsii1970

[Just Jim]

3 minutes ago, p1t1o said:

Are you kidding? I can think of hundreds of worse wastes of money!

Oh, so can I... and I'm not going to argue who's wasting the most in the long run.

But in my own opinion... I would rather see the money being spent on a scholarship fund to help folks really interested in the space program, but can't afford it... not sending disco balls into orbit.

 

[adsii1970]

20 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

Sorry, but it serves no function but to be shiny for a couple months??? At least putting a car in orbit around Mars serves as a test to see of something that heavy can make it to LMO... but this shiny thing??? IMO, without a doubt the stupidest waste of money ever!

Yeah, but if its his money, he is entitled to waste it however he sees fit.

[Just Jim]

7 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

Yeah, but if its his money, he is entitled to waste it however he sees fit.

It's his companies money... but I suppose as long as the tax-payers here and... New Zealand is it??? As long as they don't get stuck, then yeah, it's his and his companies to waste as they see fit

[NSEP]

37 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

Sorry, but it serves no function but to be shiny for a couple months??? At least putting a car in orbit around Mars serves as a test to see of something that heavy can make it to LMO... but this shiny thing??? IMO, without a doubt the stupidest waste of money ever!

They've got to waste money somehow. Usually they use concrete blocks as dummy payloads, wich is boring. They can't carry a car anywhere, launching an expensive satellite would be wastefull and problematic if the thing fails, and using nothing as a payload is a waste of fuel.

 

Edited January 26, 2018 by NSEP

[Just Jim]

9 minutes ago, NSEP said:

They've got to waste money somehow. Usually they use concrete blocks as dummy payloads, wich is boring. They can't carry a car anywhere, launching an expensive satellite would be wastefull and problematic if the thing fails, and using nothing as a payload is a waste of fuel.

Again... I'm not going to argue about this!!!  The OP asked if it's a "Humanity Star" or "Giant Disco Ball"... and I've given my opinion. 

If I had known there was a right and wrong answer, and I was going to be criticized for mine, I would have kept my mouth shut!!!

[NSEP]

2 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

Again... I'm not going to argue about this!!!  The OP asked if it's a "Humanity Star" or "Giant Disco Ball"... and I've given my opinion. 

If I had known there was a right and wrong answer, and I was going to be criticized for mine, I would have kept my mouth shut!!!

Okay.

[adsii1970]

2 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

Again... I'm not going to argue about this!!!  The OP asked if it's a "Humanity Star" or "Giant Disco Ball"... and I've given my opinion. 

If I had known there was a right and wrong answer, and I was going to be criticized for mine, I would have kept my mouth shut!!!

To be honest, I couldn't care less on if it is a disco ball, a bunch of tires, or a ball of yarn. And yes, its a waste of money, but at the same time, it is so completely Kerbal!

[NSEP]

13 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

To be honest, I couldn't care less on if it is a disco ball, a bunch of tires, or a ball of yarn. And yes, its a waste of money, but at the same time, it is so completely Kerbal!

Speaking of Kerbal... a YouTuber named Riaz Space who makes educational/informative videos using Kerbal Space Program as a way to give you information about launch vehicles uses Kerbal Heads as their dummy payload. Not entirely related but i thought it would be worth sharing

Here is a video, just wait for it...

 

[p1t1o]

32 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

Oh, so can I... and I'm not going to argue who's wasting the most in the long run.

But in my own opinion... I would rather see the money being spent on a scholarship fund to help folks really interested in the space program, but can't afford it... not sending disco balls into orbit.

 

Agreed for sure.

...but I'd also say precisely the same thing about manned exploration of the Moon or Mars (at this point in time), and wouldnt necessarily limit it to space-based scholarships.

Its certainly a waste of money, but in terms of rich people wasting money, this is at least harmless and has a little bit of star-gazing romance about it. A little...positivity?

 

 

10 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

Again... I'm not going to argue about this!!!  The OP asked if it's a "Humanity Star" or "Giant Disco Ball"... and I've given my opinion. 

If I had known there was a right and wrong answer, and I was going to be criticized for mine, I would have kept my mouth shut!!!

Actually that question was kinda rhetorical, like "space shiny thing, what the what?!"

The implied question being "Im not quite sure what to make of this, what do you make of it?"

In which case your opinion is totally valid, even though I might not share it 100%