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more Guess Who's (gonna be) Watching You?
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2007 14:52:18 -0500
Begin forwarded message: From: Jim Thompson <jim () netgate com> Date: January 29, 2007 2:40:38 PM ESTTo: "Synthesis: Law and Technology" <synthesis.law.and.technology () gmail com> Cc: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>, Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Subject: Re: [IP] more Guess Who's (gonna be) Watching You?Geosynchronous orbits (at the equator) are typically some 22,200 miles (approx 36,000 km) 'up' (AMSL). Geosyncronous orbits have difficulty covering high lattitudes. Satellites in geosynchronous or geostationary orbits are almost always used for communications (including relays for sigint and other spy activities, to be sure.) Imaging satellites
want to be closer to the earth for a variety of reasons.Most KH-11/12s are launched into sun-synchronous orbits, not geocentric orbits, in fact, 'geocentric orbit' describes the orbit of *any* object orbiting the earth.
The last KH-11 was launched on Oct 19, 2005 at an orbit that varies between 275km and 1020km, or 170 to 1641 miles AMSL, with the orbit configured either as sun-synchronous or a highly ellipitcal orbit (HEO). A HEO has the advantage of long dwell times at a point in the sky during the approach to and descent from apogee, with some dwell times (on target) as long as 12 hours.
The KH-11 is commonly thought to have a maximum resolution of around 6", mostly limited by the modulation transfer function and atmospheric degradation. The KH12 is commonly thought to improve this to 4". http:// www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/kh-12.htm
Dropping altitude radically improves resolution. A blimp-mounted platform with the KH-11/KH-12 optics would provide sub-centimeter resolution. While such a platform may employ sensors in the visual spectrum, I find it far more likely that it would employ both infrared sensors and synthetic aperture radar. SAR, in-particular, would provide for absolute cloud penetration (and the ability to "see in the dark".) Since the ISIS sensors are designed to cover the 'skin' of the airship, the aperture would be *huge*.
You may wish to do a bit more reading:http://www.lockheedmartin.com/wms/findPage.do? dsp=fec&ci=14477&rsbci=5&fti=0&ti=0&sc=400
http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/systems/haa.htmhttp://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/2006/01/lockheed-wins-1492m- contract-for-high-altitude-airship-updated/index.php http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/2006/05/darpas-isis-project-seeks- slow-soaring-surveillance-superiority/index.php
http://www.darpa.mil/sto/space/isis.html On Jan 29, 2007, at 7:47 AM, David Farber wrote:
Begin forwarded message:From: "Synthesis: Law and Technology" <synthesis.law.and.technology () gmail com>Date: January 29, 2007 11:39:55 AM EST To: dave () farber net, Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com> Subject: Re: [IP] Guess Who's (gonna be) Watching You? Dave, A bit of caution on this one:"It's designed to float 12 miles above the earth, far above planes and weather systems. It will be powered bysolar energy, and will stay in a geocentric orbit for up to a year"when they talk about a 12-mile orbit my unauthorized misuse of physics detector (UMOF) goes off. Seems at first glance to be an over-sensationalized story. Besides, if they can already do this from space why bother with cameras that are lower? Also something at lower altitude would be prone to have more of its sight blocked by clouds at any one time (since it is closer to them). Is there a reason to fear Big Brother may see the acne on our faces? Or the bald spots on our heads? I think they can already see more than enough. This does not appear to be more terrifying than the existing sattelite imagery, does it?Dan Steinberg SYNTHESIS:Law & Technology 35, du Ravin phone: (613) 794-5356 Chelsea, Quebec J9B 1N1 On 1/29/07, David Farber <dave () farber net> wrote: Begin forwarded message: From: Dewayne Hendricks < dewayne () warpspeed com> Date: January 29, 2007 8:37:20 AM EST To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net () warpspeed com> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Guess Who's (gonna be) Watching You? Reply-To: dewayne () warpspeed com [Note: This item comes from reader Randall. DLH] From: Randall <rvh40 () insightbb com > Date: January 23, 2007 11:03:55 PM PST To: David Farber <dave () farber net>, dewayne () warpspeed com Cc: johnmacsgroup () yahoogroups com Subject: Guess Who's (gonna be) Watching You? <http://htdaw.blogsource.com/post.mhtml?post_id=423757>Big Brother's new toy: Another bloated gas bag watching you from the sky2006-05-30 By James Renner Cleveland Free Times Last week, a fire ignited at the Akron Airdock that once housed a fleet of Goodyear blimps. Firemen rushed to the 211-foot-tall structure and quickly doused the flames. Reporters and photographers descended on the landmark. Many were surprised to learn the blimps were no longer being stored there. Turns out Lockheed Martin -- the company that gave us the Trident intercontinental ballistic missile -- was renovating the site for an upcoming project when the fire started. It's being turned into a hangar for a prototype airship. If you're frightened of this administration's habit of spying on American citizens, you may want to stop reading. The prototype is called the High Altitude Airship, or HAA. Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors in Akron won the $40 million contract from the Missile Defense Agency to build HAA in 2003. It is essentially another blimp. A giant one. Seventeen times the size of the Goodyear dirigible. It's designed to float 12 miles above the earth, far above planes and weather systems. It will be powered by solar energy, and will stay in a geocentric orbit for up to a year, undetectable by ground-based radar. You can't see it from the ground. But it can see you. "The possibilities are endless for homeland security," says Kate Dunlap, a Lockheed Martin spokesperson. "It could house cameras, and other surveillance equipment. It would be an eye in the sky." According to a summary released by the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, the HAA can watch over a circle of countryside 600 miles in diameter. That's everything between Toledo and New York City. And they want to build 11. With high-res cameras, that could mean constant surveillance of every square inch of American soil. "If you had a fleet of them, this could be used for border surveillance," suggests Dunlap. Launch date: 2009. Of course, mimicking its defense of warrantless wiretapping and phone- log data mining, the government maintains it only wants to protect its citizens from external threats. But as any geek can tell you, blimps were ubiquitous in The Watchmen, the seminal '80s graphic novel in which heroes have been driven underground and Nixon is still president. Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not watching you. <http://athensnews.com/issue/article.php3?story_id=25082> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -You are subscribed as synthesis.law.and.technology () gmail com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: Archives: http://archives.listbox.com/247/ Modify Your Subscription: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?&Unsubscribe: http://v2.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?id=126708-e856bfca- qt01j36bPowered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -You are subscribed as jim () netgate com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: Archives: http://archives.listbox.com/247/Modify Your Subscription: http://v2.listbox.com/member/? & Unsubscribe: http://v2.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?id=125449-743d9b2d- jkptucbhPowered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
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