Duck! (4/1/98)
Yeah, yeah, April Fools Day. Big frig. No changes here at NewsBreak. The news isn't any more or less fake. Now that that's out of the way, shall we proceed?The last of the Iridium satellites goes up today in Kazakhistan. According to a Wired News story, which has since been "corrected", Iridium is a series of 66 small satellites orbiting at 240 feet above "terra firma".
The implications, of course, are staggering. Not only will the satellites provide simple, fast, person to person communication worldwide, but their advanced guidance systems will be a model for years to come.
After all, operating at a height of 240 feet means the satellites must be able to dodge tall buildings, airplanes, large birds, balloonists, fireworks displays, model rockets, and the occasional kite.
Operating at 240 feet means the Iridium satellites can transmit and receive very low power signals, which is vital, since most of the satellites' energy will be devoted to radar, onboard electronics, and powerful reaction engines.
Motorola representatives, hoping to dissuade a public outcry, said that the Wired News statistic was merely a typo, but we all know better than to believe a multinational corporation, don't we? And notice how quickly Wired changed the text from "feet" to "miles"? I bet Motorola's a big advertiser.
