Re:Stealth bomber in flight on Google Maps
by jcims on Monday December 20, 2021 @01:51PM
(#29628457)
It actually works out to be pretty close. A satellite flying ~17k mph at 250 miles altitude would largely have the same angular displacement from the ground as a plane moving 400 mph at 31,000 feet. Most satellites fly in an easterly direction, so the question would ultimately be what the inclination of the orbit is relative to the direction of flight.
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Re:Stealth bomber in flight on Google Maps
by chrissnell on Monday December 20, 2021 @02:28PM
(#29629001)
I think this plane is flying much lower and slower. The B2s are based at Whiteman AFB, which is about 25 miles south of this photograph. The prevailing winds in this part of the country are from the south, so I suspect that it is about to turn onto the final leg of its approach for a landing to the south. I’d guess that it’s no more than 8-10K’ and traveling at a 2-300 knots max.
Re:Stealth bomber in flight on Google Maps
by t0mas88 on Monday December 20, 2021 @04:15PM
(#29630381)
Definitely. Rule of thumb in a jet is to slow down if you're closer than 3x the altitude. So at 8k feet you want to be at least 24 nautical miles (27 normal miles) away or if closer you want to be slowing down (or descending). If you don't slow down before you're going to have to do so in the descend and typical jets can't really slow down much in that.
Re:Stealth bomber in flight on Google Maps
by dylan604 on Monday December 20, 2021 @05:53PM
(#29631554)
I asked google maps to get directions from there to Whiteman AFB. Unfortunately, flight directions were not available.
Re:Stealth bomber in flight on Google Maps
by bigiain on Monday December 20, 2021 @06:14PM
(#29631747)
And you are now on a list...
Re:Stealth bomber in flight on Google Maps
by dylan604 on Monday December 20, 2021 @06:49PM
(#29632035)
I've been on a list for so so long now that this one is just another. No big deal.
Re:Stealth bomber in flight on Google Maps
by Terry_Roll on Monday December 20, 2021 @07:15PM
(#29632203)
Hey welcome to the list, I've been on it since Primary School believe it or not, but only found out a few years ago!
Re:Stealth bomber in flight on Google Maps
by Sporktacular on Tuesday December 21, 2021 @07:03AM
(#29636547)
How did you find out?
Re:Stealth bomber in flight on Google Maps
by bragr on Monday December 20, 2021 @02:13PM
(#29628797)
Most imaging satellites are in sun synchronous orbits so likely in this case moving north or south and slightly retrograde e.g. west.
I'd bet orbital motion is negligible here because the distortion seems to the eye to be entirely in the direction of the plane's apparent motion vector and I don't see any significant skew to that.
Re:Stealth bomber in flight on Google Maps
by ericbarrett on Monday December 20, 2021 @02:07PM
(#29628703)
That's super interesting! I love this discussion. Would the satellite be that low though? 250 miles (400km) is still going to experience significant atmospheric drag. Fine for a cheap mass deployment like Starlink, but I'd expect an imaging satellite to be set up for a longer mission duration. Then again maybe the cost of additional mass for station-keeping is worth it for the imaging quality.
Re:Stealth bomber in flight on Google Maps
by penagwin on Monday December 20, 2021 @03:16PM
(#29629712)
You can find a list of satellites here: https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/satellite-database
According to the image on Google maps it was taken by Maxar. Maxar appears to have a few satellites, looks like 5 in geostationary orbit (~35,700km), 3 at about 400km and 1 at about 500km.