Why isn’t this on the TV news? Well informed commentary and revelations from NZ’s own Ben Vidgen (and see my comments below regarding a “Blue Beam”/NASA connection)
Read Ben’s full article and other great blogs HERE
Ben has worked as investigative journalist, researcher and writers for a number of NZ/Australian publications, radio stations, as well as working for universities, NGO and commercial clients, as well as being a best selling author (State Secrets 1 & II [Return Fire]) specialising in organised crime and national security issues. With a degree in history and political science specialising in political violence and counter terrorism Ben spent six year in New Zealand Army territorial (reserves) serving in the Royal Artillery and the infantry with posting in signals, artillery intelligence, field and counter intelligence, reconnaissance and as a rifleman & platoon grenadier. Ben also has decades of experience in all aspect of the hospitality and tourism industry (from kitchen hand to marketing and promotions) through out Australasia as well a having strong root in the arts community of New Zealand’s South Island his beloved home and were he prints his own cafe publications and books . View all posts by BENS WORLD – an interesting read with your coffee.
- Japan’s ALE-2 satellite is designed to drop bunches of chemical pellets into the atmosphere from orbit, producing fiery streaks of glowing plasma that look like meteor showers. (My emphasis, MH) The “Sky Canvas” mission, arranged with logistical help from Seattle-based Spaceflight, could well light up the skies over the Tokyo Olympics’ opening ceremonies next June. New Zealand authorities cleared the satellite for launch after determining that the displays wouldn’t pose a danger and would have a “negligible” effect on light pollution.
- The six other payloads are 2-inch-wide PocketQube microsatellites from Alba Orbital, built for purposes ranging from a demonstration of satellite-to-satellite communications to a student-led experiment to measure human-made electromagnetic pollution.
- Today’s mission was nicknamed “Running Out of Fingers” because it was the 10th launch for Rocket Lab’s low-cost Electron rocket. This was the first rocket equipped with guidance and navigation hardware for monitoring the first-stage booster’s atmospheric re-entry, as well as a thruster system to control the booster’s orientation during descent. Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck tweeted that the systems worked as planned, marking a “massive step” toward recovering and reusing the boosters to drive down the cost of future launches .
Martin comments: “drop bunches of chemical pellets into the atmosphere from orbit, producing fiery streaks of glowing plasma that look like meteor showers”. This reminds me of something else very similar from NASA. Remember this?