Re:US aircraft shoots down new airborne object over Canada
by fpoling on Sunday February 12, 2023 @10:32AM
(#34763553)
Now that US has learned that the big ballon was spy one, it would not be an embarrassment but a reasonable assumption that smaller ones could be spy ones as well. So they should be stopped.
Re:US aircraft shoots down new airborne object over Canada
by voldacar on Sunday February 12, 2023 @11:22AM
(#34764032)
The balloon stopped drifting and lingered around military sites beneath it. That seems to rule out solar observation or atmospheric data collection.
Re:US aircraft shoots down new airborne object over Canada
by joemazerino on Sunday February 12, 2023 @01:50PM
(#34765601)
Science balloons have to go through a rigorous, and constant, check with DOD to ensure no mis communicating happens. I have first hand experience with this. We had to constantly ping our DOD channels to make sure they knew where we were and how long we would be staying there or risk being shot down.
We don't even know if it was the PRC's object. The PRC has taken responsibility for the first balloon, but denies involvement with this one. This isn't a big-budget project. A startup company or a university could launch some balloon-borne instrument package.
It's going to be embarrassing if it turns out to be somebody's solar telescope or high altitude pollution instrument package, both of which have been launched on balloons of that size.