Mastodawn

Prof. Sam Lawler 10h ago

FCC reply comments are due by 5pm EDT Monday 30 March on Reflect Orbital. If you wrote in a comment, please please please write in again saying that they did not address your concerns in their letter (which is very hard to find in the FCC dumpster-fire-of-a-website). Instructions here: https://aas.org/posts/advocacy/2026/02/how-submit-comments-satellite-applications-fcc

The most horrifying part in their "consolidated reply": they agree that they could in fact cause permanent eye damage to people using medium-sized telescopes. WILD.

Prof. Sam Lawler 10h ago

Any journalists want to write about this? Or anyone know how to figure out who insures Reflect Orbital? Reflect Orbital will cause eye damage to people using telescopes, as astronomers have previously calculated, and they openly admitted it in their reply.

(There is a whole slew of absolutely devastating ecological damage they will also cause, but I'm focusing on this one for now because it's so shocking)

Prof. Sam Lawler

Following up to say... the whole idea is so fucking ignorant that it's all shocking. I'm just focusing on the eye damage issue because it's something they readily admit will cause harm, and it's a concrete calculation (even if I think they did it in a bullshit way that ignores a lot of things that actually make it MORE likely to cause eye damage)

Ecological damage has me far more worried, and losing so much of the night sky for some techbro fuckweasel's pipe dream is just devastating.

Prof. Sam Lawler 5h ago

I managed to proofread and comment on the entire 6 page American Astronomical Society draft response to Reflect Orbital's reply and also write my own draft response and not throw my laptop out the window with rage over Reflect Orbital's absolutely fucking terrible plans. Please clap.

Do I think this will actually help? No, not really, the FCC is evil and blinded by $$$. Do I still have to do this? Yes. Yes I do.

Legit_Spaghetti 5h ago

@sundogplanets 👏👏👏

For some reason this whole situation reminds me of the ELF (Earth Liberation Front) and the time they burned down that ski resort in Vail. Sunshine Overaker is still on the FBI's wanted list, almost 30 years later.

Burning down a ski resort is one thing. I can see something like the destruction of our night skies inspiring an entirely new breed of activist, the kind that wouldn't shy away from taking down the very satellites trying to steal the stars from us.

My camera shoots fascists 5h ago

@Legit_Spaghetti @sundogplanets

Unfortunately, slingshots won't shoot that far.

Legit_Spaghetti 5h ago

@Mikal @sundogplanets I don't think you'd need anything as dramatic as an anti-satellite weapon (not that anyone could even build such a thing without government funding and without setting off all kinds of alarm bells among the different alphabet soup agencies). Compromising a satellite's software would be a much cheaper and slightly more achievable way to do it.

My camera shoots fascists 5h ago

@Legit_Spaghetti @sundogplanets

Where are the antifa super hackers when you need them? Or maybe night sky liberation front?

But, yeah, wouldn't that be hilarious. Hack them so they turn the wrong way and use whatever thrust capability they have to launch themselves out of orbit on a slow path out into deep space. Byyeeee 👋

Legit_Spaghetti 4h ago

@Mikal @sundogplanets That would be funny, but I don't think they have enough propellant to get there. Deorbiting should be possible though.

Of course, that kind of unplanned maneuver would increase the risk of an ablation cascade, but that's where we're headed anyway with these turbostupid gigaconstellations.

teledyn 𓂀 5h ago

@sundogplanets it is important, and, as a senior I can add "quite satisfying", to later be able to say "I told you so" and get grant money to clean up the mess.

As Bucky said, people always do the right thing, but ONLY after they have exhausted every stupid alternative. This is, I think, called, in biology, "the genetic algorithm" ☺️

Gurre Vildskägg 2h ago

@teledyn @sundogplanets

Grattis application starting something like
"Now that the Kessler syndrome is at most a decade away it is time to start working on a clean-up system. In this [...]"

Thank you for doing this. 🌏🌎🌍

My camera shoots fascists 5h ago

As a complete lay person, with no formal expertise in this matter whatsoever, is it appropriate to write a comment that just says "This is a fantastically stupid fucking idea. What the hell are you thinking? No no no no!"

Prof. Sam Lawler 30m ago

@Mikal Yes, it is completely appropriate! (And this is probably obvious, but while I heartily encourage swearing as needed in social media posts, I think swear words will make your comment less likely to be read)

Cyberlyra 5h ago

@sundogplanets CLAPPING!! It wil have an impact.

Also cc'ing @Paulatics as she is on the case in #Canada

matthew green 4h ago

@sundogplanets standing ovation

cafuego 🔭🤦🏼‍♂️2h ago

@sundogplanets Nevertheless, thank you 🙏🏻

Damian Lehmann 1h ago

@sundogplanets 👏

Szescstopni 1h ago

@sundogplanets 👏👏

Maybe they're just banking on aggressive interpretations of the space liability convention, and assuming that the US regime will insulate them from liability?

Prof. Sam Lawler 7h ago

@DaveMWilburn Huh. That's a scary idea.