Prof. Sam LawlerMay 11

Feeling extremely burned out on my academic work, which lately has been almost 100% focused on satellite pollution. So I spent all weekend doing farm work instead, which was mostly very pleasant.

Turns out pulling weeds and shoveling literal shit is WAY fucking better than writing useless-but-important FCC comments about incredibly fucking dangerous shit (metaphorical shit) techbros want to launch into orbit.

Show threadProf. Sam LawlerMay 11

And then we had a little farm accident. Everything is fine, but with a moment of hesitation or a misstep, that could have turned out EXTREMELY bad.

(A nice reminder that farming is actually quite dangerous. And farming is incredibly important, obviously.)

Everything can change in a moment. So what to spend my time on?

Show threadProf. Sam LawlerMay 11

I am tired of writing articles about satellite pollution. I am tired of doing research on satellite pollution. I am tired of talking to journalists about satellite pollution. I am tired of talking to politicians about satellite pollution.

But I am real fucking tired of seeing satellites all over the sky every night, and these are the tools I have to fight it.

So, I'll be on the CBC morning radio shows in Regina and Saskatoon tomorrow, talking about, you guessed it...

Show threadProf. Sam LawlerMay 11

This ramble is really to commiserate with everyone who's tired of fighting whatever your fight is. Because, holy shit, there's so much awful stuff to fight right now.

Keep fighting.

Thank you.

Show threadT. J. BombadilMay 11
@sundogplanets I was just asked, in all seriousness, if I’d like to be the astronomer to help advocate for space-based solar power and how it could do good things for astronomy (by mounting telescopes on the back sides or something?). I was pretty unambiguous about how I wasn’t the guy. I almost sent him to you for a more pithy and four-letter comment.
Show threadProf. Sam LawlerMay 11
@c_dan4th WOW yeah I'd have some fun writing that email. Hopefully they know better than to ask me. May I ask what company so I can keep an eye on them?
Show threadMartin Vermeer FCD

@sundogplanets @c_dan4th At this point I suppose the most powerful argument against this is the state of the market of ground-based PV and grid storage. You cannot beat dirt cheap.

I was sympathetic to the idea back in the 1970s. The biggest environmental problem is not so much visual pollution as the microwave power downlink.

May 11 at 6:15amWeb
Show threadProf. Sam LawlerMay 11
@martinvermeer @c_dan4th Yeah, frying birds, doing who even knows what to atmospheric chemistry, and making a no-fly zone? All seems bad.
Show threadMartin Vermeer FCDMay 11

@sundogplanets @c_dan4th It's more the leakage from a beam that may be extremely well defined and harmonically clean, but... several gigawatts. A radio astronomer's nightmare.

Or, someone hacks the beam's guidance, and it illuminates New York City. The spot is just about city size.

Show threadT. J. BombadilMay 11
@martinvermeer @sundogplanets Next thing you know, they’ll decide they want to do wind turbines in space.