Posts Made By: K. Michael Malolepszy

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_space_thewritestuff/2008/08/obama-commits-t.html

http://tinyurl.com/6lxk9m

Obama commits to moon mission, additional shuttle flight

posted by David Collins on Aug 16, 2008 11:07:55 PM

By ROBERT BLOCK
Sentinel Space Editor

CAPE CANAVERAL — Sen. Barack Obama released a comprehensive space policy Saturday that endorsed sending astronauts back to the moon by 2020 as a possible precursor for going to Mars — the first time he’s committed to that goal — and said the reach for the stars should be a U.S.-led international effort.

"Human exploration beyond low-earth orbit should be a long-term goal and investment for all space-faring countries, with America in the lead," the policy paper said.

The paper promises funding for an additional flight after the space shuttle’s planned retirement in 2010 and to "expedite" development of a successor. But beyond promising funding to "minimize" the gap until a new rocket flies — now not scheduled until 2015 — the plan makes no specific financial commitment.

Does McCain's supposed very hot temper bother anyone? I heard rumors years ago about that from a friend that is in politics, but kind of brushed it off - she is a Democrat and may have a bias. There are plenty of websites that claim to document various incidents (like the one below), but most seem to have an agenda. I like they guy and think he (or Obama) would be a big improvement over the current administration, but it keeps popping up. It's one thing to have a hot-headed boss to deal with at work, but another to have one as President.

http://mccaininsults.wordpress.com/2008/02/06/goes-ballistic-on-nasa-administrator/

McCain goes ballistic on NASA’s Dan Goldin
February 6, 2008

Legendary temper could undermine McCain

By Ralph Vartabedian and Michael Finnegan
The Los Angeles Times May 25, 2007

An angry, profane exchange between Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and another Republican senator last week prompted a new round of questions about whether McCain’s legendary temper is becoming a liability in his campaign for the presidency.

In a private meeting just off the Senate floor, McCain got into a shouting match with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, over details of a compromise on immigration legislation. Cornyn accused McCain of being too busy with his campaign to take part in the negotiations, prompting McCain to utter, “F… you.”

McCain spokesman Danny Diaz acknowledged that a “spirited exchange” took place but said media reports over the weekend had exaggerated its intensity.

NASA chief blasts US space policy in leaked email

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/08/griffin_leaked_email/

White House advisers waged 'jihad' on Shuttle, ISS

By Lewis Page


Published Monday 8th September 2008 09:46 GMT

An internal email from NASA chief Mike Griffin has been leaked to the media. It expresses Griffin's frustration with recent US space policy, says that White House oversight offices have waged a "jihad" against the space shuttle, and offers a gloomy view of the future.

The email was obtained at the weekend by the Orlando Sentinel, and lays out Griffin's view of how America should have acted in recent years.


"In a rational world," writes Griffin to a senior US advisor, "we would have been allowed to pick a shuttle retirement date to be consistent with Ares/Orion availability, we would have been asked to deploy Ares/Orion as early as possible (rather than 'not later than 2014') and we would have been provided the necessary budget to make it so."

AlterNet reports at

http://www.alternet.org/democracy/95776/troops_abroad_donate_6:1_to_obama_over_mccain/

http://tinyurl.com/6qxxmb

Troops Abroad Donate 6:1 to Obama Over McCain

By Luke Rosiak , Open Secrets. Posted August 20, 2008.

Soldiers also support Ron Paul over John McCain, suggesting troops want to get out of Iraq sooner than later.

During World War II, soldiers crouching in foxholes penned letters assuring their sweethearts that they'd be home soon. Now, between firefights in the Iraqi desert, some infantrymen have been sending a different kind of mail stateside: two or three hundred dollars -- or whatever they can spare -- towards a presidential election that could very well determine just how soon they come home.

According to an analysis of campaign contributions by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Democrat Barack Obama has received nearly six times as much money from troops deployed overseas at the time of their contributions than has Republican John McCain, and the fiercely anti-war Ron Paul, though he suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination months ago, has received more than four times McCain's haul.

Despite McCain's status as a decorated veteran and a historically Republican bent among the military, members of the armed services overall -- whether stationed overseas or at home -- are also favoring Obama with their campaign contributions in 2008, by a $55,000 margin. Although 59 percent of federal contributions by military personnel has gone to Republicans this cycle, of money from the military to the presumed presidential nominees, 57 percent has gone to Obama.

With the latest campaign finance filings, detailing June fundraising, McCain has overtaken Paul among all military donors, though Paul still leads with contributors listing an overseas address. Financial support from military personnel for anti-war candidates Obama and Paul is a trend that the Center for Responsive Politics first observed last September.

Individuals in the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps have all leaned Republican this cycle, but the only branch in which that ideology has carried over to the presidential race is the Marine Corps, where McCain leads Obama by about $4,000. In each of the other branches -- including the Navy, in which McCain served when he was taken prisoner during the Vietnam War -- Obama leads by significant margins.

"That's shocking. The academic debate is between some who say that junior enlisted ranks lean slightly Republican and some who say it's about equal, but no one would point to six-to-one" in Democrats' favor, said Aaron Belkin, a professor of political science at the University of California who studies the military. "That represents a tremendous shift from 2000, when the military vote almost certainly was decisive in Florida and elsewhere, and leaned heavily towards the Republicans."

In 2000, Republican George W. Bush outraised Democrat Al Gore among military personnel almost 2 to 1. In 2004, with the Iraq war underway, John Kerry closed the gap with President Bush, but Bush still raised $1.50 from the military for every $1 his Democratic opponent collected.

A former West Point professor, Jason Dempsey, noted that the small set of contributions from deployed troops at this point in 2008 -- just 323 donations -- should not be extrapolated to form conclusions about military personnel overall. "If, on a bad day, a guy gets that letter that says [his tour has been extended] from 12 to 15 months, that could spur a quick donation and expression of anger," he said. "Donating helps members of the military express their political views privately."

Seeing political activity of any sort among soldiers is notable, Dempsey added. "It's hard to describe how apolitical a lot of the enlisted ranks are. He's worried about other things than following the news."

Obama, who opposed the war in Iraq but was not in the Senate when it was authorized, has said that as president, he would withdraw most troops from Iraq within about 16 months. McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a staunch proponent of the Iraq war, has resisted setting a timeline for withdrawal.

CRP's totals based on employer are limited to donors contributing more than $200, since information is not provided to the Federal Election Commission for smaller contributions. So these figures are likely to disproportionately represent the mood of officers, who have more disposable income to spend on politics than do the lower ranks. But because young people tend to be more liberal than their elders, the total dollar figures could lean even more in Obama's favor."

One possibly mundane explanation (for the tilt in contributions from deployed soldiers) is that the Obama campaign has just been so much savvier with web-based donors. It may be a logistical question," Belkin pointed out.

Army Specialist Jay Navas contributed $250 while deployed in Iraq, but it wasn't over the Internet. "It took some effort to get that check. I had my mom send me my checkbook and I walked to the post office in Camp Liberty in Baghdad with an envelope addressed to Barack Obama in Chicago, Illinois," he said. "He was right on Iraq long when others were jumping into the sea like lemmings, and that's hard to do. We're soldiers and we respect courage."

Only the Coast Guard prefers Democrats across the board, with 78 percent of employees' total federal contributions going to members of that party, and Obama beating McCain $7,795 to $250. Navas anecdotally confirmed that soldiers are often conservative but that many are making an exception in the presidential race. "Most of my friends are conservative Republicans and they say, 'I'm voting for Barack.' McCain does not have a lock on the military vote, that's for sure," he said. "We'll complete our duty -- I'm deploying next year -- because it's a commitment I made to the nation, not to a president. But we all know that Iraq was a big mistake."

The decisions of the U.S. government affect Navas more than most Americans, he said."What happens politically in America affects us immediately," he said. "As soon as the surge was ordered, my tour was extended, just by a pronouncement from the president. For very few Americans can the president say something and your lives are changed."

My worst fears about Palin seem to be confirmed - she appears to be a Apocalypse believing Creationist - see

http://www.astromart.com/forums/viewpost.asp?forum_post_id=620971&poll_id=&news_id=&page=

I for one think that someone that holds these beliefs is too disconnected from reality to be 2nd in line for the Presidency...

Quite ambitious to be attempting a spacewalk on your country's 3rd spaceflight ever...

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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/world/asia/26space.html?em

September 26, 2008
China Launches Space Walk Mission
By DAVID BARBOZA

SHANGHAI — China’s Shenzhou VII spacecraft blasted off at 9:07 p.m. Thursday, carrying three Chinese astronauts into space on this country’s third manned space mission in the past five years., according to state television.

The three-day mission is part of Project 921, China’s ambitious manned space program, and was expected to include the country’s first attempt at a space walk, which would make China only the third country to accomplish the feat, after Russia and the United States.

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Which, of course will be good PR, so much so that the chinese have released reports on crew flight activity - before the flight was even launched!??!? See

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4826302.ece


From Times Online
September 25, 2008
Chinese publish tales from space, even before take-off
Jane Macartney, Beijing

China’s state news agency worked faster than the speed of light - and certainly more swiftly than the country’s three newest astronauts - when it published an "in space" conversation among the trio even before they left Earth.

The gaffe by the Xinhua news agency involved an article posted on its website well before the launch this evening of the Shenzhou VII space craft that described the vessel in orbit and quoted entire conversations from the crew.

The story, titled “Sleepless Night on the Pacific, Sidelights on the Observation and Control of the 30th Lap of the Shenzhou 7 Spaceship”, had disappeared by the end of the day and was described as a technical error.

But its appearance highlights China’s frequent manipulation of the media and the readiness of Communist Party officials and propaganda mandarins to resort to sleight of hand, if not fakes, to ensure perfection in the public image.

New Adaptive Optics images of Jupiter at

http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/press-rel/pr-2008/phot-33-08.html

http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/press-rel/pr-2008/images/phot-33-08-fullres.jpg

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0810/02jupiter/

Sharpening up Jupiter
EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY NEWS RELEASE
Posted: October 2, 2008

A record two-hour observation of Jupiter using a superior technique to remove atmospheric blur has produced the sharpest whole-planet picture ever taken from the ground. The series of 265 snapshots obtained with the Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics Demonstrator (MAD) prototype instrument mounted on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) reveal changes in Jupiter's smog-like haze, probably in response to a planet-wide upheaval more than a year ago.

Being able to correct wide field images for atmospheric distortions has been the dream of scientists and engineers for decades. The new images of Jupiter prove the value of the advanced technology used by MAD, which uses two or more guide stars instead of one as references to remove the blur caused by atmospheric turbulence over a field of view thirty times larger than existing techniques.

NASA's Phoenix Mission Faces Survival Challenges
10.28.08

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix-20081028.html

PASADENA, Calif. – In a race against time and the elements, engineers with NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander mission hope to extend the lander's survival by gradually shutting down some of its instruments and heaters, starting today.

Originally scheduled to last 90 days, Phoenix has completed a fifth month of exploration in the Martian arctic. As expected, with the Martian northern hemisphere shifting from summer to fall, the lander is generating less power due to shorter days and fewer hours of sunlight reaching its solar panels. At the same time, the spacecraft requires more power to run several survival heaters that allow it to operate even as temperatures decline.

"If we did nothing, it wouldn't be long before the power needed to operate the spacecraft would exceed the amount of power it generates on a daily basis," said Phoenix Project Manager Barry Goldstein of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "By turning off some heaters and instruments, we can extend the life of the lander by several weeks and still conduct some science."

Over the next several weeks, four survival heaters will be shut down, one at a time, in an effort to conserve power. The heaters serve the purpose of keeping the electronics within tested survivable limits. As each heater is disabled, some of the instruments are also expected to cease operations. The energy saved is intended to power the lander's main camera and meteorological instruments until the very end of the mission.

Later today, engineers will send commands to disable the first heater. That heater warms Phoenix's robotic arm, robotic-arm camera, and thermal and evolved-gas analyzer (TEGA), an instrument that bakes and sniffs Martian soil to assess volatile ingredients. Shutting down this heater is expected to save 250 watt-hours of power per Martian day.

The Phoenix team has parked the robotic arm on a representative patch of Martian soil. No additional soil samples will be gathered. The thermal and electrical-conductivity probe (TECP), located on the wrist of the arm, has been inserted into the soil and will continue to measure soil temperature and conductivity, along with atmospheric humidity near the surface. The probe does not need a heater to operate and should continue to send back data for weeks.

Throughout the mission, the lander's robotic arm successfully dug and scraped Martian soil and delivered it to the onboard laboratories. "We turn off this workhorse with the knowledge that it has far exceeded expectations and conducted every operation asked of it," said Ray Arvidson, the robotic arm's co-investigator, and a professor at Washington University, St. Louis.

When power levels necessitate further action, Phoenix engineers will disable a second heater, which serves the lander's pyrotechnic initiation unit. The unit hasn't been used since landing, and disabling its heater is expected to add four to five days to the mission's lifetime. Following that step, engineers would disable a third heater, which warms Phoenix's main camera -- the Surface Stereo Imager –and the meteorological suite of instruments. Electronics that operate the meteorological instruments should generate enough heat on their own to keep most of those instruments and the camera functioning.

In the final step, Phoenix engineers may turn off a fourth heater -- one of two survival heaters that warm the spacecraft and its batteries. This would leave one remaining survival heater to run out on its own.

"At that point, Phoenix will be at the mercy of Mars," said Chris Lewicki of JPL, lead mission manger.

Engineers are also preparing for solar conjunction, when the sun is directly between Earth and Mars. Between Nov. 28 and Dec. 13, Mars and the sun will be within two degrees of each other as seen from Earth, blocking radio transmission between the spacecraft and Earth. During that time, no commands will be sent to Phoenix, but daily downlinks from Phoenix will continue through NASA's Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance orbiters. At this time, controllers can't predict whether the fourth heater would be disabled before or after conjunction.

Spirit is weathering a bad dust storm that has some worried... KMM

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html

Press Releases November 12, 2008

Mars Rover Spirit Remains Quiet as Dust Storm Weakens

PASADENA, Calif. -- A dust storm that has reduced power to NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is clearing, but the Spirit's status remains unknown on Wednesday.

Mission controllers sent a set of commands to the rover early Tuesday, Nov. 11, telling it to follow several energy-saving steps, including not trying to communicate before Thursday. The team's immediate goal was to keep Spirit out of a pre-programmed protective mode that is triggered when battery charge is depleted below a safety level. The new commands, if received, would allow the team to keep more active control of Spirit than is possible when the rover is in the low-power protective mode.

"Like concerned parents, if we can stay in communication with the rover, we are in a better position to help," said John Callas of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., project manager for Spirit and its twin, Opportunity.

Controllers listened overnight Tuesday to Wednesday in case Spirit had entered the protective mode and attempted to communicate. It could be a favorable sign that Spirit was not heard from, because that could mean that the rover has received and is following the commands sent Tuesday. However, another possibility is that Spirit has not only entered the low-power protective mode, but that its battery power is so low it would not wake up to communicate.

"We likely won't know anything definitive until Thursday," Callas said. "The good news is that we have indications from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that the dust storm on Mars is clearing over Gusev." (Spirit is working in a range of hills inside Gusev Crater, which is about the size of Connecticut.)

Meanwhile, controllers will continue to listen for communication from Spirit at the times the rover would be expected to communicate if it has entered the low-power protective mode but still has enough power to transmit a signal.

Spirit has been operating on Mars for nearly five years in an exploration mission originally planned to last three months. A coating of dust on its solar panels is reducing its ability to generate electricity even when the sky is clear.

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Press Releases November 10, 2008
Dust Storm Cuts Energy Supply of NASA Mars Rover Spirit

PASADENA, Calif. -- A dust storm on Mars has cut into the amount of sunlight reaching the solar array on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, leaving the rover in a vulnerable state.

Spirit's solar array produced only 89 watt hours of energy during the rover's 1,725th Martian day, which ended on Nov. 9. This is the lowest output by either Spirit or its twin, Opportunity, in their nearly five years on Mars, and much less energy than Spirit needs each day. The charge level of Spirit's batteries is dropping so low, it risks triggering an automated response of the rover trying to protect itself.

"The best chance for survival for Spirit is for us to maintain sequence control of the rover, as opposed to it going into automated fault protection," said John Callas of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., project manager for Spirit and Opportunity.

Mission controllers are commanding Spirit to turn off some heaters, including one that protects a science instrument, the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, and take other measures to reduce energy consumption. The commands will tell Spirit not to try communicating again until Thursday. While pursuing that strategy the team also plans to listen to Spirit frequently during the next few days to detect signals the rover might send if it does go into a low-energy fault protection mode.

Mars weather forecasts suggest the dust storm may be clearing now or in the next few days. However, the dust falling from the sky onto Spirit's solar array panels also could leave a lingering reduction in the amount of electricity the rover can produce.

While this is not NASA doing this, it is of interest nontheless... US admitting to military ops in geosych orbit:

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0901/14dsp23/

Secret inspection satellites boost space intelligence ops
BY CRAIG COVAULT SPACEFLIGHT NOW Posted: January 14, 2009

In a top secret operation, the U.S. Defense Dept. is conducting the first deep space inspection of a crippled U.S. military spacecraft. To do this, it is using sensors on two covert inspection satellites that have been prowling geosynchronous orbit for nearly three years.

The failed satellite being examined is the $400 million U.S. Air Force/Northrop Grumman Defense Support Program DSP 23 missile warning satellite. It died in 2008 after being launched successfully from Cape Canaveral in November 2007 on the first operational Delta 4-Heavy booster.

Since the U.S. is now demonstrating the ability to do such up close rendezvous and inspection of American spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit, it means USAF now has at least a "call up capability" to do the same to non-U.S. spacecraft like those from Russia and China.

The operation, at nearly 25,000 miles altitude, reveals a major new U.S. military space capability, says John Pike who heads GlobalSecurity.Org, a military think tank.

"There is not much we do in space any more that is really new, but this is really new," Pike tells Spaceflightnow.com.

Although being used in this operation to obtain data on a failed U.S. spacecraft, such inspections of especially potential enemy spacecraft, is something the Pentagon has wanted to do since the start of the space age, Pike says.

The Orbital Sciences and Lockheed Martin "Mitex" inspection spacecraft involved are part of a classified Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) technology development program. When initially launched on a Delta 2 from Cape Canaveral in 2006, the project involved maneuvering around and inspecting each other at geosynchronous altitude.

But there is no unclassified data to indicate whether the two spacecraft may have secretly paid visits to one or more non-U.S. spacecraft in the geosynchronous arc that circles the Earth at about 22,300 miles altitude, much like the Capital Beltway circles Washington, D.C.

A U.S. Defense Dept. analyst speaking on deep background says although a visit to a non-U.S. satellite is doubtful, the demonstration will cause concern, especially among Chinese government military analysts in Beijing. He said they will see the capability as a new U.S. intelligence tool that could theoretically also enable a sneak anti-satellite attack in geosynchronous orbit.


A DSP satellite is pictured here during pre-flight testing. Credit: Northrop Grumman

One key feature aiding the Mitex spacecraft to fly undetected is they are unusually small -- only about 500 pounds each. Virtually all modern geosynchronous orbit spacecraft are far larger.

"The Chinese will complain to the international community in Geneva, Switzerland" says Greg Kulacki, Chinese program manager for the Union of Concerned Scientist's Global Security Program.

They will be concerned about whether a covert U.S. ASAT development could stem from the Mitex system, but also "about how the U.S. is always complaining about the need for transparency in Chinese space operations, but then is itself conducting secret operations like this," Kulacki says.

At the same time, Chinese engineers will be glad to see the U.S. doing it. This is because it will also "give Chinese space planners an opening to develop their own similar system" to achieve parity with the U.S., Kulacki says.

At nearly 25,000 miles high, objects in geosynchronous orbit are too small to be easily seen optically or by radar. This gives the Defense Dept. concern that China could someday conduct ASAT tests there to follow up on its low altitude ASAT capability demonstrated earlier.

In fact, DSP 23 itself carried a White House-mandated sensor package designed to detect whether rogue nuclear powers like Iran or North Korea were conducting secret nuclear tests in deep space. That capability, however, has now been lost with the loss of DSP 23.

But when DSP 23 malfunctioned, it gave the two Mitex satellites a U.S. target to examine that could provide information on why the 2.5-ton satellite failed. Imaging of the satellite could possibly show damage from a micrometeorite hit or perhaps a bent antenna.

Radio data obtained up close could also perhaps detect a malfunctioning circuit or computer. And the exercise of coordinating the Mitex visits to the DSP in itself is valuable to DARPA.

In addition the Delta 2 that launched the Mitex spacecraft from the Cape here was a unique four-stage version that used a new, solar array-equipped upper stage developed at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) near Washington, D.C. This new NRL upper stage is itself an important new military space element, that in the future could allow the delivery of small covert spacecraft to geosynchronous orbit.

DSP 23, the last of a highly successful series flown since 1970, is only the second one to fail in orbit. But the DSP is now a ghost ship moving 69 miles per week east along the geosynchronous arc where many other spacecraft are parked.

The USAF is contacting operators who may need to move their spacecraft out of the way of the 5,000-pound hulk. If it were to collide with a Russian, Chinese or even European satellite, the crash would cause an international incident in space. It can not be shot down as was the failed USA 193 reconnaissance satellite, because the debris would stay in the geosynchronous arc.

Details emerging on how the inspection exercise is playing out indicate that the DSP most likely failed around Oct. 8, when it was supposed to maneuver to tweak its orbital position but did not complete that command.

The spacecraft was, at the time, parked at 8.5 deg. East longitude over the equator south of Nigeria, where its infrared telescope could scan Russia and China for missile tests and threats.

But when the satellite became uncontrollable from its ground control center, orbital mechanics started moving it east at about 69 miles, or 1 degree, per week.

The two Mitex satellites then became possibly the first "first responders" in space when they were dispatched on emergency runs toward the DSP from their own parking spots on opposite sides of the planet.


These artist's concepts depict the Orbital- and Lockheed-built Mitex satellites and the Navy upper stage. Credit: DARPA

The initial Mitex was parked west of DSP 23 over the mid-Atlantic when, during the second week of December, it was commanded to begin to move east around the planet toward the 33-foot DSP, which by this time was crossing south of Eurasia.

It is not known how close this initial Mitex got to DSP 23, but their signatures essentially merged starting about Dec. 23. This could possibly mean the initial Mitex moved in close to DSP 23 to image it or perform other diagnostic work and could still be keeping watch there.

The second Mitex started its trip from a position much further east of DSP 23. It maneuvered west along the geosynchronous arc and flew past the DSP on New Years Day. It is possible this spacecraft was being prepared to then move back east toward the failed satellite.

Failed or depleted spacecraft like DSP 23 are normally maneuvered higher into a graveyard orbit so they will not be a hazard to other spacecraft holding their positions in the geosynchronous belt.

In a few years, DSP 23 will reach a position on the equator north of Australia where orbital mechanics will start to maneuver the spacecraft back west, where it will travel until reversing the process south of Europe years from now. It could continue this motion back and forth for thousands of years.

DSP 23 was supposed to bridge the space based U.S. missile warning capability to the lagging Space Based Infrared SBIRS program. But the USAF is now beginning an emergency procurement for a gap filler spacecraft.

The two Mitex spacecraft have relatively little maneuvering propellant remaining and will likely fly themselves into graveyard orbits in the next few years.

But the inspection of geosynchronous spacecraft remains a high military space priority. The USAF could theoretically go for an operational direct inspection system like the Mitex satellites for extremely high priority targets.

But it is also procuring the Space Based Surveillance Satellite System now in development by Boeing and Ball Aerospace and set for first launch in April from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. The SBSS satellites are to be a low altitude system to optically characterize spacecraft maneuvers from a great distance away. It will have nowhere near the imaging capability of Mitex type spacecraft operating near the target satellite, however.