U.S. Air Force to shut down 'Space Fence' surveillance system

I also want to point out that there are DOZENS of endeavors looking for inbound objects, there are billions on the table coming from different sources, there are several deflection ideas and in some of them, nukes and rocket science is involved... So I'm certainly not the only one who thinks it's possible. What would even be the point of that investment if it was just so impossible as you seem to think.

As for calculation?.... How about accurately predicting the location of one a mere 3 meters? Not bad for a calculation.

Research published in the March 26, 2009 issue of the journal Nature, describes how scientists were able to identify an asteroid in space before it entered Earth’s atmosphere, enabling computers to determine its area of origin in the Solar System as well as predict the arrival time and location on Earth of its shattered surviving parts. The four-meter-diameter asteroid, called 2008 TC3, was initially sighted by the automated Catalina Sky Survey telescope, on October 6, 2008. Computations correctly predicted impact would occur 19 hours after discovery in the Nubian Desert of northern Sudan

As for precise interception... Don't underestimate technology.

reply to post by NotAnAspie


I'm sorry, but the experts that know what they're talking about, a hell of a lot more than you do, have said that with current technology we probably couldn't stop one coming in. If it's big enough you would have to hit it really far out, so that you just have to nudge it, instead of hammering it into a much smaller rock. We have nothing that can do that.

Do you even understand ICBMs? Do you know how they navigate? They use GPS. GPS doesn't work in deep space, where you'd have to intercept an incoming rock. The closer you try to hit it, the more force you have to hit it with, because you have to either nudge it farther off course, or you have to hammer it into something small enough that it will burn up in the atmosphere. So if the experts say with current technology it would be at best extremely difficult, who the hell are you to say that they're wrong?

As for not knowing the Iskander by name, gee, I'm sorry I don't know EVERY SINGLE MISSILE by their performance specs. I also never said a hypersonic missile was impossible did I? So get off your high horse.

reply to post by HomerinNC


Naw.

Not a budget issue, imho.

They just have to set up the next PEARL HARBOR more effectively.

Can't have us getting sufficient warning and effective counter-measures against the initial missile attacks.

Gotta have the USA in ashes so the NWO tyrannical global government can more easily be overtly erected on our ashes.

Ain't they sooooooooooooooo SWEET!

As Hillary says . . . it's FOR THE CHILDREN . . . piles of them.

Or maybe it will be a MORE MODEST PROPOSAL . . . one in every pot . . . a la Jonathan Swift and their engineered famines.

.

Originally posted by HomerinNC
They say due to budget constraints, wonder if that is the TRUE reason???

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force will shut down its space surveillance system that tracks satellites and other orbiting objects by October 1 due to budget constraints caused by automatic federal budget cuts known as the sequestration, it announced Monday.

Deactivating the system by October 1 would save the Air Force Space Command $14 million annually starting in fiscal year 2014.

The surveillance system got the nickname "Space Fence" because it transmits a "fence" of radar energy vertically into space that can detect any object or debris that crosses it without being cued to do so.

Story

In the source article it says the "Space Fence" is out moded and a new one is being planned that will become the most accurate in the Air Force's space surveillance network.

So which is it? Shut down because of Sequestration? Or because it was out dated?

Originally posted by roadgravel
Isn't the US military budget the largest budget on Earth.

The government just offered a 10 million reward (a thread here). Money is nothing.

Nope. Not even top 3. The US spends more on Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security than on defense.

These cuts have been years in the making. The surveillance facility close to me was abandoned as part of the base closures that closed so many military facilities acros the country. When the government closed Griffithss AFB, they also closed the monitoring facility known as the Vernona Test Site. Griffiths AFB was a SAC base on the east coast. EADS is currently located there. When the military closes a facility they take what they need and forget the rest. I have some great pics of a test site I did some urban exploring at. I posted the pics on a thread called Urban Exploring. They're pretty cool. They left documents marked classified and all sorts of equipment. Not far from where I live is a static RCS facility. It's cool to drive by and see upside down jets and helicopters. The media calls it the Upside Down Air Force.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by AthiestJesus

 

And if they are needed, right now at least 17 squadrons are totally useless.

Space Fence isn't going to find an asteroid or meteor in any time for anything to happen anyway. It's a low earth orbit system. It can't even see up to geosynchronous orbit. By the time it saw an asteroid, you'd be screwed anyway.

Even a satellite has many other systems tracking it. Space Fence is just the one that has tracked almost everything in orbit. It's not the only system though.

edit on 8/12/2013 by Zaphod58 because: (no reason given)

17 squadrons grounded means that they are totally useless?....I thought that meant that they simply don't take off...do the aircraft themselves deteriorate that rapidly?

reply to post by jimmyx


Pilots lose their ratings after a certain amount of time. If they're grounded for so long, first the aircraft have to be gone over, including a functional check flight, then the pilots have to be recertified on the aircraft, then for combat operations. It can take as long as 90 days to recertify, depending on how long they were grounded. Red Flag oohs on indefinite suspension because the aggressor pilots were part of the grounding. That hurts a lot.

Originally posted by OccamsRazor04

Originally posted by roadgravel
Isn't the US military budget the largest budget on Earth.

The government just offered a 10 million reward (a thread here). Money is nothing.

Nope. Not even top 3. The US spends more on Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security than on defense.

Oh pa-lese. The idea is to compare US military budgets to the military budgets of other countries, not to compare it to US medicade, medicare, and social security, all three of which have funding source outside of the IRS income tax. [DoD is funded via income tax, which these days is nearly all from people, not corporations that funnel money through the Caymans.]

Seriously, it is time to stop watching Fox News.

reply to post by Zaphod58

Red Flag oohs on indefinite suspension because the aggressor pilots were part of the grounding. That hurts a lot.

The aggressor pilots can fly OT, so I don't believe staying current is a problem. The MEP is on schedules, i.e. Weapons school is not cancelled, so that would be another oportunity to stay current.

This is the Bullseye story on the shutdown:
Bullseye

The Green Flags seem to be uninterrupted, though I don't know if that is another out for the Aggressors. Probably not since the Red team in a green flag is ground based as far as I know.

reply to post by bg_socalif

In the source article it says the "Space Fence" is out moded and a new one is being planned that will become the most accurate in the Air Force's space surveillance network. So which is it? Shut down because of Sequestration? Or because it was out dated?

Maybe both! There are bids on the new system, but delayed. BTW, someone mentioned contract cancellation costs, but they are using an option not to renew the contract, so there are no contract costs.

A friend of mine has been hanging out in Texas for a last chance effort to use the fence before it is shutdown. There have been a handful of people that have detected objects in space using the fence RF as a stimulus.

Pavepaws got a significant enhancement post 9/11. Possibly that makes the fence less important.

reply to post by gariac


Damn I hate Swype.

According to the commander of Red Flag, they have lost 100 graduates, and won't be able to start up again until the instructors are current and comfortable again. Even the article you linked said many of the aggressor pilots will lose their currencies. They can fly with the OT guys which will help with aircraft currencies, but not their flight instructor and other statuses.

Originally posted by gariac

Originally posted by OccamsRazor04

Originally posted by roadgravel
Isn't the US military budget the largest budget on Earth.

The government just offered a 10 million reward (a thread here). Money is nothing.

Nope. Not even top 3. The US spends more on Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security than on defense.

Oh pa-lese. The idea is to compare US military budgets to the military budgets of other countries, not to compare it to US medicade, medicare, and social security, all three of which have funding source outside of the IRS income tax. [DoD is funded via income tax, which these days is nearly all from people, not corporations that funnel money through the Caymans.]

Seriously, it is time to stop watching Fox News.

I don't watch Fox News. It's nice that your response to being wrong is to change the goalposts and make ad-hominem attacks. The idea is to compare the US Military budget to other budgets, since that is what you stated. Then we can compare spending to money available to spend, and quickly see the money is not there.

reply to post by OccamsRazor04


Why bring up social security, medicare, etc. It is 100% irrelevant to the topic.

Further, you seem to be unclear on how sequestration works. Social security, medicare, even military pensions are exempt. However the "fence" is part of discretionary spending, hence it was on the chopping block. Can you comprehend the difference?

reply to post by Zaphod58


obozo doesn't care about the security of our country - he's all about fantaboulous parities with bouncy and k-dog - and global community -

And always about "the children" = oops! that's hillary.

reply to post by Happy1


He didn't make this decision, even though you and everyone else want to blame him for everything. The Air Force made the decision on their own to defund the program. They chose to focus on their primary mission of flying, and took the money from Space Fence to do that.

Note that the DoD has a few over the horizon radar systems. Kind of like the fence, but shortwave, not VHF. I spent some time looking for the Wide Aperature Research Facility Bistatic HF Radar run by SRI. It shows up on various forums, but I think all the gear is gone or they have the locations listed incorrectly. However it was fun to drive through the central valley farm roads looking for the sites.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by Nephalim

 

Well, do you want a force that is worthless in a fight, but knows where every single satellite in orbit is, or a force that can fight if necessary, but doesn't have exact coordinates on every single satellite in orbit? That's the choice that was given to them by Congress.

It depends on whether the bigger threat is our opponents AF or a rouge satelite...

God Bless,

reply to post by HomerinNC


This is another piece of the puzzle falling into place, imho - and as another post mentioned, the cost savings vs the project benefits simply don't compute. I suspect there are ulterior motives in play.

Thanks for sharing the story, s n f.

FITO

reply to post by ElohimJD


Seeing as there are other sources of tracking available, just not with the super fine detail that Space Fence offered, I'd say flying is more important right now.