[continued from previous message]   
      
   plasma, or electrically charged gas. For now, the system is not refuelable.   
   In the more distant future, however, the system could obtain its fuel from   
   existing space junk, by harvesting dead satellites for metal to use as   
   propellant. (ANS thanks CNN Science for the above information.)   
      
   + In the next few months, from its perch atop a mountain in Chile, the Vera   
   C. Rubin Observatory will begin surveying the cosmos with the largest   
   camera ever built. But the rising number of satellites in orbit can be a   
   problem for scientists because the satellites interfere with ground-based   
   astronomical observations, by creating bright streaks on images and   
   electromagnetic interference with radio telescopes. Until recently,   
   astronomers had no centralized reference for tracking satellites. Now, the   
   International Astronomical Union (IAU) has a virtual Centre for the   
   Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation   
   Interference (CPS), which serves as an information hub. One of the centre   
   ’s   
   tools, called SatChecker, draws on a public database of satellite orbits,   
   fed by information from observers and companies that track objects in   
   space. Astronomers can use SatChecker to confirm what satellite is passing   
   overhead during their observations. (ANS thanks Nature.com for the above   
   information.)   
      
      
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   73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!   
      
   This week’s ANS Editor, Mark Johns, KØJM   
   mjohns [at] amsat.org   
      
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   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)