Skynet-1A Moved
looorg writes:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpwrr58801yo
Somebody moved UK's oldest satellite, and no-one knows who or why
Launched in 1969, just a few months after humans first set foot on the Moon, Skynet-1A was put high above Africa's east coast to relay communications for British forces.
Almost certainly, it was commanded to fire its thrusters in the mid-1970s to take it westwards. The question is who that was and with what authority and purpose?
"It's still relevant because whoever did move Skynet-1A did us few favours," says space consultant Dr Stuart Eves.
[...] "It's now in what we call a 'gravity well' at 105 degrees West longitude, wandering backwards and forwards like a marble at the bottom of a bowl. And unfortunately this brings it close to other satellite traffic on a regular basis.
"Because it's dead, the risk is it might bump into something, and because it's 'our' satellite we're still responsible for it," he explains.
If it didn't become sentient and moved it self, years before the Terminator movie and Skynet became a thing, then someone else did ... or you know Aliens (possibly not of the movie franchise variety -- I really hope those are not real).
Something something the value of proper documentation?
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