US launches giant, world-sucking octopus!

This is a bit amusing.

America Is Launching A Giant, World-Sucking Octopus Into Space

wrote:

One of the National Security Agency's partners is launching a spy satellite with a classified payload into space on Thursday night -- and its logo is an angry, globe-gripping octopus.
....
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which also oversees the NSA, tweeted pictures of the launch preparation. That spurred Christopher Soghoian, of the American Civil Liberties Union, to give the spooks some free advice: "You may want to downplay the massive dragnet spying thing right now. This logo isn't helping."

Sam!!!!!!

How you honey?

Sam... good catch
I'm glad you're back

NY Times

DAVID E. SANGER
December 12, 2013
Obama Panel Said to Urge N.S.A. Curbs

WASHINGTON — A presidential advisory committee charged with examining
the operations of the National Security Agency has concluded that a program to collect data
on every phone call made in the United States should continue,
though under broad new restraints that would be intended to increase privacy protections,
according to officials with knowledge of the report’s contents.
<snip>

But then, who is kidding who ?

Thanks, guys! When I came across Mr. Octo-pussy, I couldn't resist - "Perfect for the Cellar gang!" thinks I.

Lamplighter's graphic is great. I think I'll design a T-Shirt using it. ;)

At this point they give zero fucks about pretense. "Nothing is beyond our reach"

good to see you Sam!! merry christmas!

on a different note, I haven't done my own independent research on this topic yet, but it smacks of The Onion.

Seriously.

"Nothing is beyond our reach." ? a giant globe-encircling octopus? it strains belief. But I will keep my mind open as I read further. either way, it is ... amazing.

...but it smacks of The Onion...

V, FWIW I copied the logo Scientific American (via Google search for "NSA octopus")

BigV;885935 wrote:
but it smacks of The Onion.

Or Mad Magazine. Upgrade artwork in Mad Magazine and many will know it must be true.

Who do you think is a trusted source for Fox News?

Poor tw; still thinks Fox News is the Enemy.

BigV;885935 wrote:
good to see you Sam!! merry christmas!

on a different note, I haven't done my own independent research on this topic yet, but it smacks of The Onion.

Seriously.

"Nothing is beyond our reach." ? a giant globe-encircling octopus? it strains belief. But I will keep my mind open as I read further. either way, it is ... amazing.

Nice try, but no cigar-smoking octopus. Actual responses by Forbes Magazine are seldom quoted in The Onion:

wrote:
Forbes points out that other launches, including those by NASA and, most recently, SpaceX, are also well-covered on social media, but the fact the spy agency's launch contains a classified payload, probably carrying spy satellites, has many concerned. Following the Edward Snowden leaks, which include the numerous ways the National Security Agency has spied on individuals, privacy is a national concern and any perceived act of spying merits some scrutiny.

It also doesn't help that the NRO launch includes a mission patch with an octopus astride the globe and the slogan "Nothing is beyond our reach," says Forbes. As the author, Kashmir Hill, says, it's almost as if the NRO and the ODNI do not understand the public's sensitivity to any invasion of privacy or it is their dubious attempt at a joke. For many, it could be considered an act of trolling, with the NRO playing into the public perception of U.S. spy agencies. The presumed spy satellites could gather communications and data from around the world.

So, is it trolling or just another revelation that can be traced back to our friend, Mr. Snowden? :eek:

PS Merry Christmas back at you!

What if...

NSA management realizes, they can never monitor everything and everyone,
so failure with all this world wide digital surveillance is their ultimate destiny.

So for a $1,000 Personal Service contract and $25 worth of hardware store paints,
they get an student intern to create a logo and have it painted atop a NASA rocket.
All that is left is a world-wide press release about the launching.

That logo is soooo intimidating to terrorists, the terrorists all decide
to quit terrorizing and they all go back home.

Then, NSA takes credit each year for keeping America safe...

I think terrorists are the only ones who don't fear the NSA.

NROL-39 is probably a radar imaging satellite for military reconnaissance. Part of a constellation of four to replace the aging Lacrosse satellites.

TW, here's one description I found...

H+ Magazine
By: Peter Rothman
Published: December 9, 2013

NROL-39 Nothing is Beyond Our Reach

Formally known as*ELaNa II / GEMSAT the unclassified auxiliary mission also included a variety of NASA student designed CubeSats.
<snip>
NROL-39 *carried the Government Experimental Multi-Satellite (GEMSat) payload into orbit in a specially designed Aft Bulkhead Carrier, part of the Atlas V Centaur upper stage. [COLOR="DarkRed"]The GEMSat payload contains 12 CubeSats, or “nanosatellites.”[/COLOR]

The CubeSats perform a variety of unique scientific experiments and demonstrate high-technology operational concepts. Sponsored by the NRO’s Mission Integration Directorate and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Launch Support Program, these CubeSats were developed by a number of laboratories, universities, and government entities across the United States.

The NRO-sponsored CubeSats included:
• Two developed by Aerospace Corporation, called AeroCube-5 (AC-5),*will demonstrate new technologies for pointing and tracking between two*identical CubeSats. AC-5 will also record launch environment data such*as pressure, temperature, and vibration; and will demonstrate a deorbit*device.
• One developed by the Air Force Institute of Technology, ALICE, will test*the performance of an advanced carbon nanotube array, which has great*potential for smaller, lighter, and more energy-efficient satellite propulsion.
• Four developed by the United States Army — one called SNaP,*two SMDC-One, and one TacSat-IV — will demonstrate nanosatellite*communication capabilities.
•
The NASA-sponsored CubeSats, part of NASA’s Educational Launch of*Nanosatellites (ELaNa) mission, included:
• Two developed by Montana State University Space Science and*Engineering Laboratory and funded by the National Science Foundation,*called FIREBIRD, a space weather mission that will seek to resolve*questions pertaining to microbursts in the Van Allen radiation belts.
• One developed by California Polytechnic State University, IPEX, will*validate direct broadcast, autonomous science, and product delivery*technologies supporting advancement of the Intelligent Payload Module*for the proposed Hyperspectral Infrared Imager earth science decadal*survey mission.
• One developed by University of Michigan, called MCubed-2,*will demonstrate an advanced on-board data processing system.
• One developed by Medgar Evers College, City University of New York,*CUNYSAT-1, will monitor satellite spin, battery, and solar panel*efficiencies.

But then, all that gobbledegook may just be to intimidate the terrorists. ;)

Lamplighter;886004 wrote:
TW, here's one description I found...

A year ago, a new Japanese satellite called FitSat was launched by hand from the ISS. It was one of the first Cube Sats.

This new satellite technology (10 by 10 by 10 centimeter cubes) permits students to launch space experiments. Launch costs are as low as $1000 or $2000 per cube. However all costs might be $30,000. Meaning cake sales can now finance space science. Telemetry and radio hardware is often based in consumer electronics; some Audrino based.

One recent UK bird was STRaND-1 using a standard consumer smartphone (Google Nexus One). Using Android apps to perform experiments.

Atlas payload was modified to deploy a cluster of CubeSats for anyone with a reasonable experiment and willing to pay for the launch. More interesting to the DoD are tiny satellites that cannot be tracked like the current array of larger DoD satellites. Lacrosse and other military birds can be observed and tracked even with a naked eye.

These CubeSats are simply using what would otherwise be wasted energy by the launch vehicle.

Sounds like so much space junk. More stuff to avoid.

tw;885965 wrote:
Who do you think is a trusted source for Fox News?

Urbane Guerrilla;885969 wrote:
Poor tw; still thinks Fox News is the Enemy.

Fuck FoxNews and every other news outlet on television/cable.

Just read me the damn news, I'll decide for myself what to think about it.

glatt;886024 wrote:
Sounds like so much space junk. More stuff to avoid.

ISS really is not in space. To maintain orbit, it must repeatedly boost itself up. Therefore FitSat launched in a similar orbit was gone by the next year - sucked down to earth by drag created by the atmosphere.

CubSats launched in LEO orbits would also fall and burn up months later. NROL-39 launch vehicle somehow would release CubSats in a lower orbit. Then continue on to deploy the military bird.

CubSats should not remain as orbital garbage. But large numbers of booster rockets (even from 10 and 20 years ago) still remain in orbit.

A recent international treaty now requires satellites to destructively return to earth at end of life. This treaty was inspired by a Chinese test that destroyed their own satellite intentionally creating a large orbiting debris field.