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Military Hush-Up: Incoming Space Rocks Now Classified

Makes you wonder what forced the change in policy? what is it they really don't want scientists to see?

source: http://www.space.com/news/090610-military-fireballs.html


By Leonard David
SPACE.com's Space Insider Columnist
posted: 10 June 2009
05:35 pm ET

For 15 years, scientists have benefited from data gleaned by U.S. classified satellites of natural fireball events in Earth's atmosphere – but no longer.

A recent U.S. military policy decision now explicitly states that observations by hush-hush government spacecraft of incoming bolides and fireballs are classified secret and are not to be released, SPACE.com has learned.

The satellites' main objectives include detecting nuclear bomb tests, and their characterizations of asteroids and lesser meteoroids as they crash through the atmosphere has been a byproduct data bonanza for scientists.

The upshot: Space rocks that explode in the atmosphere are now classified.

"It's baffling to us why this would suddenly change," said one scientist familiar with the work. "It's unfortunate because there was this great synergy...a very good cooperative arrangement. Systems were put into dual-use mode where a lot of science was getting done that couldn't be done any other way. It's a regrettable change in policy."

Scientists say not only will research into the threat from space be hampered, but public understanding of sometimes dramatic sky explosions will be diminished, perhaps leading to hype and fear of the unknown.

Incoming!

Most "shooting stars" are caused by natural space debris no larger than peas. But routinely, rocks as big as basketballs and even small cars crash into the atmosphere. Most vaporize or explode on the way in, but some reach the surface or explode above the surface. Understandably, scientists want to know about these events so they can better predict the risk here on Earth.

Yet because the world is two-thirds ocean, most incoming objects aren't visible to observers on the ground. Many other incoming space rocks go unnoticed because daylight drowns them out.

Over the last decade or so, hundreds of these events have been spotted by the classified satellites. Priceless observational information derived from the spacecraft were made quickly available, giving researchers such insights as time, a location, height above the surface, as well as light-curves to help pin down the amount of energy churned out from the fireballs.

And in the shaky world we now live, it's nice to know that a sky-high detonation is natural versus a nuclear weapon blast.

Where the space-based surveillance truly shines is over remote stretches of ocean – far away from the prospect of ground-based data collection.

But all that ended within the last few months, leaving scientists blind-sided and miffed by the shift in policy. The hope is that the policy decision will be revisited and overturned.

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Rather than any conspiracy or hush-up, my opinion is that the military is no longer keen to share its observational data with scientists, as they themselves are being kept constantly busy trying to detect launches from either Iran or North Korea. Both these countries seem to be going mad about missile tests right about now. As soon as they've figured out the range, ballistics and actual capabilities of the new ICBM's developed by the 'new axis of evil', they'll go back to letting scientists have a look at the data.

It's just a bit of returning Cold War paranoia, that's all. It'll pass.
The "being kept constantly busy scenario" whereby they have no time to share data is ofcourse an opinion. But the data of asteroids and lesser meteoroids was a byproduct data bonanza for scientists.

The military would actually have more tasks to perform if they had to revoke access to the data or stop supplying a possible replica (backup) of the data to the scientists as this would no doubt be an automated proces which they then stopped.

As for the Cold war paranoia i think that went out the window when the wall came down.

But most opinions will be plausible, just another case of we will never really know why.
Call me a hopeless pragmatist, but I always try to see the logical side first, going by the assumption that everyone works on basically the same set of principles. I honestly doubt that cutting off access to this data is an attempt to cover something up.

Mind you that this is not recent news, and the cutoff happened almost a month or two ago now.

As for Cold War paranoia being over, that might be true for the American and Russian people, but if governments are trusting each other now, why is the US building a ballistic missile shield on the Russian border?
maybe so but they had the data available to them for 10 years, would have been polite to inform the community of scientists why they may no longer access the data.

I only associate cold war with the old east vs west situation from back then. Guess this new era calls for a new name, any takers?
We are now crossing the galactic photon belt, 2012 etc, so we are told. This narrow band of space is also full of asteroids, and already I'm thinking about Bruce Willis. Was the president in that movie a good guy, a bad guy, or a guy who needs another 100 days?
A very worrying turn of events in this world, thanks for this post.
I always get the films deep impact, Armageddon and Meteor mixed up :-)

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