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Re:Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down by USAF by deleted_account on Thursday February 16, 2023 @03:30PM (#34825522)
This may be the wrong take-away, but the Air Force shooting your balloon down would be a massive source of pride for the science clubs I remember from my youth. We would have had that on a t-shirt within a week.
Re:Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down by USAF by blamazon on Thursday February 16, 2023 @03:37PM (#34825659)
I would be right away dialing my congresspersons to demand an appropriate victory marking[1] be placed on the relevant aircraft.

It would make for a great photo op someday when all this is just a historical footnote.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_marking

Re:Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down by USAF by dylan604 on Thursday February 16, 2023 @03:54PM (#34825938)
Re:Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down by USAF by askvictor on Thursday February 16, 2023 @05:49PM (#34827711)
Re:Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down by USAF by dylan604 on Thursday February 16, 2023 @05:58PM (#34827846)
seems too complicated with copyright
Re:Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down by USAF by NDizzle on Thursday February 16, 2023 @03:40PM (#34825695)
Yep.

Float around and find out.

Re:Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down by USAF by WillPostForFood on Thursday February 16, 2023 @03:45PM (#34825794)
Pride for club and a little shame for the government.
Re:Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down by USAF by dylan604 on Thursday February 16, 2023 @03:55PM (#34825953)
God. Country. Corp. Unit. Balloon.
Re:Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down by USAF by par on Thursday February 16, 2023 @03:47PM (#34825825)
Yes, but that was a different America. Post 9/11, post housing crisis, post global terrorism, post decline into late stage capitalism is changing the narrative substantially. Everyone is constantly on guard these days. But I agree with and love the sentiment.
Re:Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down by USAF by thepasswordis on Thursday February 16, 2023 @04:10PM (#34826231)
I feel like this sort of spirit is now completely gone. If your science experiment gets shot down, my expectation is you're going to get labelled a terrorist and thrown into a prison cell.
Re:Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down by USAF by krisoft on Thursday February 16, 2023 @04:15PM (#34826326)
> you're going to get labelled a terrorist and thrown into a prison cell

You are making up things.

Re:Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down by USAF by thepasswordis on Thursday February 16, 2023 @06:02PM (#34827909)
Making up that this is how I feel or what I would be worried about?
Re:Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down by USAF by krisoft on Friday February 17, 2023 @12:40AM (#34831211)
I’m sorry. I completely believe that this is how you feel. On the other hand I see no evidence to show that there is any reason these guys will be prosecuted.

I suspect that maybe you feel this way because this is the context you are hearing about pico balloons the first?

The people who launched the balloon first studied the law, and then designed a balloon to colour inside the law. For them the question: “is this even legal?” did not just come up today. They started with the question “what is legal to do with balloons” and went from there.

And it is not like they launched and bam got shot down immediately. That very balloon has already circumnavigated the planet multiple times.

Imagine if you live on a desert planet and the first time you hear the concept of “swimming” through some horror story where someone drowns. Because of the context you would be appaled and would think only crazy daredevils would try such a thing. Maybe you would be of the opinion that anyone who provides facilities for swimming surely must go to prison prompt. On the other hand if you grown up in a coastal or river-side community and spent many days with your friends swimming on beaches then you know that while drowning is a danger, most people return safely from a swim.

Re:Hobby Club’s Missing Balloon Feared Shot Down by USAF by jollyllama on Thursday February 16, 2023 @04:51PM (#34826946)
Yeah, if I were the guy who launched it, I wouldn't say anything.