Really Rocket Science

Relax. We are not designing instructions on how to take-down U.S. military satellites. But the U.S. Space Countermeasures Hands On Program (Space CHOP, for short) is trying to do just that — using store bought, DIY gear to disrupt or take-down U.S. military satellites. The goal: if we can discover our own vulnerabilities first, we can protect ourselves from the real enemies. Popular Mechanics chronicles Space CHOP’s activities:

Space CHOP was formed in 1999, and one of its earliest experiments used a UHF generator and a small amplifier purchased from an electronics store. The team pieced together an antenna out of copper wire, PVC piping and other easily obtained materials. (The Air Force won’t elaborate on Space CHOP hardware or targets.) By aiming the antenna at the sky and turning on just a few milliwatts of power, the team showed it could block signals from a military communications satellite.

"We demonstrated that a few unsophisticated guys with a few thousand dollars’ worth of equipment could interfere with a seriously sophisticated satellite system," says John Holbrook, Space CHOP’s program manager. "If we had turned on full power, we would’ve knocked [the system] out."

And it is not just DIY, technological experimentation. This team uses good, old-fashioned intelligence and face-to-face investigating:

More often than not, the Space CHOP team doesn’t need any equipment to uncover a vulnerability. They scour the Internet for potentially damaging information. They case out Air Force bases. Or, posing as graduate students, they pump defense contractors and military officers for information until they’ve figured out a way to take down a satellite or its link on the ground.

As the author of this Popular Mechanics article, Noah Shachtman, notes on his blog, this is not a fantasy threat. From the AP:

The Bush administration warned Wednesday against threats by terrorist groups and other nations against U.S. commercial and military satellites, and discounted the need for a treaty aimed at preventing an arms race in space.

Undersecretary of State Robert G. Joseph also reasserted U.S. policy that it has a right to use force against hostile nations or terror groups that might try to attack American satellites or ground installations that support space programs. President Bush adopted a new U.S. space policy earlier this year.

"We reserve the right to defend ourselves against hostile attacks and interference with our space assets," Joseph said in prepared remarks to the George C. Marshall Institute.

Joseph, the senior arms control official at the State Department, said nations cannot all be counted on to use space purely for peaceful purposes.

"A number of countries are exploring and acquiring capabilities to counter, attack, and defeat U.S. space systems," Joseph said

He also said terrorists "understand our vulnerabilities and have targeted our economy in the past, as they did on 9/11." He said terrorists and enemy states might view the U.S. space program as "a highly lucrative target," while sophisticated technologies could improve their ability to interfere with U.S. space systems and services.

Not a member of Space CHOP but still want to hack satellites? Try grabbing free satellite signals.

Like many people, the iPhone shook my perspective on technology. It’s no longer about the best laptop, best mp3 player, or best phone. It’s about technological fusion — forging devices that can do it all.

So, why not an iCar? While you can’t carry it in your front pocket, there is no reason you don’t want your car to have the best technological capabilites. A radio is no longer good enough (a sad realization for a ’94 Geo Prism driver). CNET has all the nerd-gossip:

Apple and Volkswagen are reported to be in talks about an "iCar" or car integration system, according to reports from German magazine Capital and the Associated Press.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Audi Chairman Martin Winterkorn, who heads the Audi brand group that includes Volkswagen, met recently in California to discuss ideas, but no concrete plans, a Volkswagen representative told the Associated Press.

"We wouldn’t comment on rumors and speculation," said Tom Neumyar, senior manager for iPod and iTunes at Apple.

Volkswagen of America would neither confirm nor deny the reports.

While its currently all speculation, just imagine the possibilities: navigation system, iTunes synching, integrated touchscreens, chatting among back-seat passengers, integrated bluetooth, etc.. LAPTOP Magazine details some more wishlist items (some not-so-serious):

Dashboard on the Dashboard
We can’t wait to slip into our silver, leather-interior car and control everything–from the air conditioning to the gears–via a strictly touch-sensitive dashboard that’s void of any buttons or control wheels. Our fingers will manipulate everything on the panel with simple finger strokes and taps. In keeping with Apple’s current Mac OS X Dashboard, we’re demanding customizable Widgets with everything from Google Maps to current gas prices.

Click Wheel As Steering Wheel
It’s going to take some getting used to, or even a retake of your driver’s test, but replacing the olden-day steering wheel with an iPod-like Click Wheel will make it easier to turn the corner; you’ll merely have to slide your hand over the touch-sensitive plastic wheel. Bonus: A simple push of the center button emits a loud honk that sounds like a Leopard purr.
[…]

Smart Playlists
Using live traffic updates, your music playlists will be automatically generated by the amount of congestion. When you’re about to enter areas with heavy traffic, you’ll be soothed by the mellowest tracks in your collection. When all that’s in front of you is open highway, the bounciest and raciest pop and punk tracks will move to the top of the list. Your iCar will even customize your library based on where you are. If you’re cruising down the Jersey Turnpike, for example, you’ll hear Lynyrd Skynyrd’s "That Smell" blaring through the Apple Hi-Fi sound system.

AirPort Antennas
Pull into the garage and you’ll be able to download iTunes movies over the air to the backseat monitors for the kids to watch, or sync videos, photos, and music with your Apple TV. We’re also excited about the possibility of swapping playlists with other iCar owners via Wi-Fi while you’re at a stoplight-provided they have DRM-free tracks.

Critical to this dream iBeetle (or iPassat) will be Internet-access. What will this iPhone iCar do without the requisite AT&T signal? Perhaps Qualcomm’s Omnivision Mobile Platform can be integrated. Using OmniTracs and OmniExpress, this mobile platform can connect one’s vehicle through satellite and wireless networks.

A Geo driver can dream, right?

On an even lighter note, imagine Microsoft’s retaliation, as one CNET reader jokes:

God help us if Microsoft attempts anything similar. Considering the hackability of their operating system, we’d be in HUGE trouble…

Great Photoshop contest on Fark.com, like this "Zune Buggy:"

Defense Industry Daily reports that the DoD has awarded a contract to bring Voice Over IP services to military personnel in the field:

DRS Systems, Inc. in Parsippany, NJ received a $50 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract for a satellite-based internet-broadband service and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network in support of deployed military personnel. Locations include Iraq and the Balkans, as well as other non-Global Information Grid (GIG) operations in the European Command, Central Command, Pacific Command, and African Command Areas of Responsibility as well as the British Indian Ocean Trust Authority (Diego Garcia), and other unidentified locations per tasking received by the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Europe office. M.C. Dean has also received some contracts along these lines.

The terms of the deal include options that could bring the total value of the contract to $250 million. Approximately 75% of the work will be performed in Iraq, and the project is expected to be complete by August 2008 (or August 2012 if all options are excercised).

Defenselink also has the details (see the Navy section).

The Japanese telecommunications satellite JCSAT-11 was rolled out over the weekend to launch pad No.200 at the Baikonur cosmodrome. Liftoff of the Proton-M launch vehicle with a Briz-M upper stage is scheduled for 6:43 p.m. EDT tonight.

Built by Lockheed Martin, JCSAT-11 is a hybrid satellite, equipped with Ku-band high-power transponders and C-band medium-power transponders. For the time being, JCSAT-11 will be reserved entirely in orbit as a back up satellite for other JCSAT satellites as part of JSAT’s efforts to build a seamless global network.

ILS is lifting the bird. They’ve set up a launch blog, though the most recent post is a few days old:

 Bright and early Friday morning (well, not that bright, as the sun was just rising), the entire launch vehicle was rolled out to the Breeze M fueling station, where its propellants (fuel and oxidizer) were loaded into the upper stage over a two-day span. These operations are entirely in the hands of our partners at Krunichev and the Russian Space Forces, so our team had a little bit of time to catch up on administrative tasks. In the meantime, the Russian state commission arrived on the second day of fueling and gave the go-ahead for the integrated launch vehicle to roll to the pad with the JCSAT-11 satellite.

During these two fueling days, our team had a chance to sneak in a quick tour of the launch pad, which was used for the Russian N-2 Moon Booster and Energia boosters in years past. These were truly massive rockets, with a lift capability of over 100 metric tons (220,000 pounds) to Low Earth Orbit! The sheer scale of the pad was equally large and impressive.

On a related note, JSAT is helping the Widely Integrated Distributed Environment (WIDE) Project, which is seeking to produce the next generation of communications and broadcasting based on the IPv4 and IPv6 multicast technology. WIDE recently announced an IPTV partnership with the Open Student Television Network (OSTN), which we recently blogged about here.

As always, we’ll update you on the launch in the comments below. 

With all the talk and anticipation lately about the nascent space tourism industry, it’s easy to forget that actual travel in space to this day remains one of humanity’s most exclusive clubs.

But soon, two more people may be able to add their name to the (estimated) 400 to 700 people who have truly slipped the surly bonds of earth.

First up is a Russian grocer who made his money with the Seventh Continent grocery chain: 

A grocery tycoon and politician who planted a flag on the North Pole’s seabed last month will now go into orbit as the first Russian space tourist, leading business daily Vedomosti says.

Vladimir Gruzdev, aged 40, underwent medical tests in June and had been formally approved for a flight on board a Soyuz-TMA spacecraft in September 2008, the newspaper quoted an unnamed source from the Russian space company Energia as saying.

He was one of three submariners who on August 2 planted a rust-proof titanium Russian flag at the North Pole, 4,300 metres under water, in order to boost Russia’s claim for a larger chunk of resource-rich Arctic seabed.

The kid-faced Gruzdev can be seen on the left in this photo from a news report about his exploits at the North Pole last month. 

Next up is Korea’s first astronaut, to be announced later today from two remaining candidates: 

 South Korea’s first astronaut who will fly to the International Space Station early next year will be named Wednesday from two candidates, Ko San and Yi So-yeon.

The Ministry of Science and Technology said that a seven-person committee will pick one name this morning after assessing the scores from their six-month training program in Russia.

Ko and Yi, both with outstanding intellectual and physical abilities, were selected from more than 36,000 applicants last year through a series of rigorous tests and a TV popularity poll. They have been receiving spaceman trainings in Russia’s Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center near Moscow since January.

The ministry said the result will be announced around 10 a.m.

Regardless of who is named by the Ministry of Science and Technology, it’s clear from the numbers that the era of mass space travel is not quite at hand.

Close observers of the oil industry have been noting for some time now that oil reserves in West Africa are going to play an increasing role in meeting the world’s energy needs in the coming years. That observation is no longer merely predictive; it’s evident in the financial press.

The Financial Times reports that Tullow is expanding its operations in West Africa: 

Tullow Oil told investors to prepare for a significant increase in investment and drove the point home by saying it would maintain, rather than increase, the interim dividend.

It has increased its exploration spend to 45 per cent of a forecast 2007 capital expenditure of £415m. Last year exploration accounted for 30 per cent. More than £100m will go towards accelerating appraisal work in Ghana and Uganda.

Earlier this year the company skewed its capital expenditure away from the North Sea and towards Africa, underlining its reputation as an exploration-driven company. Discoveries in Ghana and Uganda each have the potential to double Tullow’s reserve base, according to Aidan Heavey, chief executive.

India’s Bharat is also looking for a stake, according to Reuters: 

State-run Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) plans to spend up to 15 billion rupees ($370 million) on exploration over two to three years and is scouting overseas for development or producing fields, its chairman said on Tuesday.

India’s third-largest refiner sees exploration and production as growth drivers and is looking for assets in West Africa, Brazil, South America and Australia, chairman Ashok Sinha told Reuters in an interview.

Offshore, Anadarko has hit paydirt (again) in the waters off Ghana:

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:APC) today announced its second oil discovery offshore the Republic of Ghana. The Hyedua-1 well is located on the Deepwater Tano license in approximately 5,020 feet of water, 3.3 miles southwest and down dip from the Mahogany-1 discovery well, which Anadarko announced in June 2007. 

And, of course, China continues to position itself in an attempt to gain access to Africa’s oil reserves: 

HONG KONG, Aug 30 (Reuters) – China’s top offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC Ltd (0883.HK: Quote, Profile , Research) has defended its search for new acreage in Africa against critics who say China is desperate to secure oil reserves at any price to fuel its roaring economy…

Chief Financial Officer Yang Hua told Reuters that there was one criterion for investments: "Value. If there’s no value, no deal," he said.

CNOOC is already in Nigeria, Kenya and Equitorial Guinea.

The Nigerian presence includes a 45 percent interest in the OML 130 block operated by Total (TOTF.PA: Quote, Profile , Research), which Yang said had been appraised at 1.2 billion barrels of proved and probable reserves by energy consulting firm Wood Mackenzie.

While there’s no doubt from the news that oil exploration in Africa is booming, how do all these companies connect their new drilling platforms once they enter the extraction stage?

The answer, of course, is satellites. Three birds in particular help bring African crude to the global marketplace: SES’s NSS-10,  Intelsat’s IS-1R, and Eutelsat’s W Series.

India’s ISRO had a great launch yesterday, via Hindustan Times:

After more than two hours of tension, space launcher GSLV on Sunday successfully placed in orbit the communication satellite INSAT-4CR. Weighing 2,130 kg, it is the heaviest payload to be placed in orbit by an Indian launcher.

With the failure of the last GSLV mission in July 2006 on their minds, Indian Space Research Organisation scientists had readied the present launch in a record 13 months. But the GSLV-F04 kept them on their toes well beyond the planned schedule time. The launch was delayed by a day due to a sudden change in weather. On Sunday, 15 seconds before lift-off at 4.21 p.m., the launch was once again put on hold. It wasn’t till two hours later that the problem—a failed communication link between the third cryogenic stage and ground link — was rectified and the space vehicle soared in a darkening sky.

The drama wasn’t over yet. Thirteen minutes into the flight path, mission control lost contact with the vehicle. Thankfully, it came back on and a hugely relieved ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair was heard muttering “thank god”.

Seventeen minutes after blast-off, as the satellite injected into the slotted transfer orbit, the smiles were back on the faces of the ISRO brass. “It was a dramatic mission with a lot of anxiety but something that gave us immense satisfaction when everything went off successfully. Team ISRO has done it,” said Nair.

B.N. Suresh, director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, which designed the vehicle, said: “It was a small communication glitch.”

Nair said that though mission control had the option of postponing the launch by 48 hours, they were confident the launch sequence was in place. “The perfect and precise launch confirmed our confidence in the system and our team.”

This launch marks the third by ISRO in 2007 with two more scheduled.

Here’s the quick CNN/IBN report:

And here’s the full 5+ minute highlight reel: