National Solar Observatory, USPS office in Sunspot, NM evacuated for 'safety reasons'

a reply to: Dumbdowned

Hey everyone, I hope everybody had a good weekend, in case some of you hadn't heard the sunspot observatory will be open again Monday.

Apparently according to the statements released, the FBI were on a manhunt for someone and needed to close down the observatory. Wether you believe that or not, the place being shut down for two weeks while they search for someone is awfully suspicious imo.

Although the end turned out to be much less exciting, as I'm sure most of us expected anyways, this was still lots of fun and I commend all of you who participated in this forum.

Now all that's left to say is, I want to believe.

a reply to: KingOfKizzuwatna

I was just out in the early morning sun (the first we've had in 3 days), and all I got was hot and soggy from the excess humidity. I'm not really supposed to BE out in the sun much, thanks to the pills I'm taking as it is, so anything related to the sun should have done me almost immediate damage.

a reply to: Dumbdowned

It's not "coming down", it came down and was recovered. It reached its maximum altitude and descended as planned, and a team recovered it the same day as the launch. A parachute from high altitude doesn't take days to land. The payload came down and the parachute opened at a set altitude to slow it down for landing. It landed on the 7th.

The Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI) was successfully launched on a NASA Black Brant IX suborbital sounding rocket from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on Friday. The payload flew to an altitude of 189 miles before descending by parachute. The payload is being recovered. The science team reported that good data was obtained during the flight.

FOXSI third flight.

originally posted by: BigDave-AR

originally posted by: Creep Thumper

originally posted by: BigDave-AR

originally posted by: 898929
a reply to: Jonjonj

The FBI recently delt with some undercover cop that worked under the sheriff (house) involved in this whole thing. I don't think it has anything to do with the observatory closing, you never know though. This happened like less than a month ago too.

That deputy didn’t pass the visual inspection he looked like a creep IMO prison quality tats on a LEO raises eyebrows.

Dave, can you give me the link for the photo?

Here ya go a few in here along with the specifics
d3el53au0d7w62.cloudfront.net...
www.abqjournal.com...

ETA- I’m not sure he fits your typical undercover type I doubt anyone took him serious he looks like a complete goober...

Whatev- I believe that was a blanket statement that they release any data unaltered that may have got taken out of context the footage part was odd though and IMO added a lot to things not seeming right about this.

GOMER!!! Well, Golllleee!

a reply to: BigDave-AR

They belong to the Office of Secure Transportation (OST), which has a checkered record of safety and disciplinary issues.

Secure, my &$$!!! O_O

a reply to: CaptainBeno

Yeah. I'm headed a diff direction with it. I still think while there was a legit reason for the FBI to show up, the observatory has run with it, and are trying to generate business with the whole mess.

a reply to: wylekat

Hahaha that pic is great, still better than all of my pictures lol

a reply to: wylekat

If you really want the warm fuzzies....

a reply to: vinifalou

Maybe. And maybe not.

Depends on the level of trust you have in the government.


My level of trust in the government is in the negatives. Since aliens are the go to now, If, IF an alien ship were to land, You'd have the military, every ABC agent, every news outlet, and everyone else who swears they might be important going on about the imminent invasion, the panic in the streets, and the end of the world!

Meanwhile, said alien wants to trade some tech for a rare Spiderman comic.

a reply to: caterpillage

Yeah, it may not have amounted to much in the end

It ain't over till the alien opera singer belts one out.

www.youtube.com...

I'm still in the camp of the observatory is going full on advertising/ viral marketing/ playing this up for all they can squeeze from it- but I could be wrong.

originally posted by: Bigburgh

originally posted by: BigDave-AR
There ya go giving me the munchies again big guy, my waist line is not amused.

I'm still in the dark here.. build this!

🤗

Oooooh. Can I play Xwing on that?

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Dumbdowned

It's not "coming down", it came down and was recovered. It reached its maximum altitude and descended as planned, and a team recovered it the same day as the launch. A parachute from high altitude doesn't take days to land. The payload came down and the parachute opened at a set altitude to slow it down for landing. It landed on the 7th.

The Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI) was successfully launched on a NASA Black Brant IX suborbital sounding rocket from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on Friday. The payload flew to an altitude of 189 miles before descending by parachute. The payload is being recovered. The science team reported that good data was obtained during the flight.

FOXSI third flight.

You're again making up stories with an irrelevant source!
Wow I never said it takes many days or weeks to come down.
It comes down slower than going up so why you making such a fuss about it.

They evacuated the observatory area due to this launch.
They'd never link this launch event with the observatory evacuation for some secret military reasons as always.

Here's the credible source from twitter.
twitter.com...

a reply to: Dumbdowned

All payloads fall freefall to set altitudes where the chute system opens and slows them down.

The payload was launched on a suborbital sounding rocket. It wasn't accelerated fast enough to go into orbit. It reached a low orbital altitude but it wasn't capable of staying up for several days.

The rocket observes and collects x-ray data throughout its brief six to seven-minute flight by targeting active regions, small solar flares, and the quiet Sun.

foxsi.umn.edu...

UPDATE - 3 p.m., EDT, Sep. 7, 2018: The Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI) was successfully launched on a NASA Black Brant IX suborbital sounding rocket at 1:21 p.m. EDT (11:21 a.m. MDT) from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The payload flew to an altitude of 189 miles before descending by parachute. The payload is being recovered. The science team reported that good data was obtained during the flight.

www.nasa.gov...

They wouldn't evacuate the day before the launch without a very good reason.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I'm guessing it would have likely come back down within the boundary of WSMR? The place is certainly big enough

a reply to: caterpillage

Or fairly close to, depending on winds aloft. GPS transmitter and radar FTW.

originally posted by: BlueAjah
a reply to: Mactaddy

I am interested!

I have always had an interest in the science of astronomy, but my knowledge is low level. I have bookmarks to all kinds of sites, and try to educate myself frequently.

This past week I have been pouring over data every day to see what is going on, and to see if it could have something to do with the actions at the solar observatory.

I have seen things in recent data that are odd, but I do not know enough to interpret it.

Today there is an alert for a G4 geomagnetic storm. There were a few days of G4 last week. I wonder if something bigger is coming.

I admit to being pretty math handicapped for things like data tables. That said, our cats are acting odd(er than usual), but I am unsure if it's something coming from space, the stupid hurricane, or the fact we ended up with an unusual influx of fleas (which we are currently murdering). It could also be I am more ill than usual (oh, thank you dank, damp weather!) and I have them crawl on me when I am feeling awful. It's a tossup.

a reply to: BlueAjah
If it was a "simple" criminal, their reaction was overblown.

If it was a simple criminal, or hell- even a super criminal- leaving the place completely unprotected and unwatched to the point it was makes not a damn bit of sense in itself.

a reply to: BlueAjah

They left everything unguarded. Unless that was a trap for the thieves.
If that was their idea- it was REAL stupid.

a reply to: wylekat

It was unguarded as far as we saw. There could have been people out of sight in the buildings doing things. One of the domes has treeline right up around the building.

Their official reason for the shutdown due to a violent suspect has been found alive or dead?

www.alamogordonews.com...

I believe this looks like a coverup but a belgian tourist a few days found dead out of nowhere in white sands national monument.

Could he be the suspect or unrelated I don't know.