Russian plane US satellite pic shows heat flash

originally posted by: Azureblue
a reply to: anxiouswens

Russian plane US satellite pic shows heat flash- wheres the pic?

I too have been waiting to see this pic ..

A general question though to anyone. Why would a US satellite be looking ... Actually I'll rephrase that. How does a satellite pick up the tiniest of heat flashes from a aircraft which would look minute from that far out in space. Also how is it possible that they detect a heat flash .. And no other satellites just a US one picked this up?

I'm confused I think I need an expert to point me in the right direction.

a reply to: ThePeaceMaker

SBIRS satellites are placed over areas where missile launches have the potential to occur. They are capable of detecting fairly small missiles being launched.

They're usually placed over Europe and Asia, and are in geosynchronous orbit. However, because of interests in the Middle East there is one there to watch for Scud or similar missiles being launched.

Don't hold your breath on seeing pictures. There was a video released recently that showed how it worked, and it used an extremely degraded simulation to demonstrate. SBIRS is an extremely closely guarded secret.

originally posted by: ThePeaceMaker

originally posted by: Azureblue
a reply to: anxiouswens

Russian plane US satellite pic shows heat flash- wheres the pic?

I too have been waiting to see this pic ..

A general question though to anyone. Why would a US satellite be looking ... Actually I'll rephrase that. How does a satellite pick up the tiniest of heat flashes from a aircraft which would look minute from that far out in space. Also how is it possible that they detect a heat flash .. And no other satellites just a US one picked this up?

I'm confused I think I need an expert to point me in the right direction.

Moreover, why was it looking in the right place at the right time? Just another coincidence a?

Also, if the satelight was that good it should also pick up the smoke/vapour trail from missile as it went form the ground and the plane. That would have also told us the GPS location it came from would it not?

a reply to: Azureblue

It's in geosynchronous orbit. It's always looking at the right area.