Sequester Shuts Down Space Surveillance SystemChris Carrington The system, which is a multi-station radar, tracks satellites, meteoroids and space debris that is heading our way. The radar stations are scattered across the southern USA and can detect objects some 25,000 miles away from the Earth. The tracking devices form a crucial part of our defenses against all types of space matter likely to cause damage to the planet. The Congressional sequester imposed automatic budget cuts meaning there just isnt the cash to run the service past October 1st. Its worrying in the extreme that the government thinks its reasonable to shut down such a critical part of our defense system. As more and more satellites are blasted into orbit from countries around the globe its not difficult to work out that more and more of them will eventually crash back to Earth. The way the system works is simple. Satellites are in known orbits, and when they pass over certain points a computer goes ping. If a ping arrives at the wrong time, the orbit has changed for some reason. Often this means that the satellite is damaged or at the end of its life and has (or soon will be) broken up, and/or started its decent back to the planet. The system can track the space junk as it orbits, as well as giving an indication of where the hit may occur. Obviously there are other ways to track space debris, and when its much farther away, but the space fence is just that: a fence. The inner layer that pinpoints exactly what an item is and where its going. Thanks to the irresponsibility of the government, from October 1st we can no longer rely on the warnings of incoming hazards the space fence would have provided. Read More Chris Carrington is a writer, researcher and lecturer with a background in science, technology and environmental studies. Chris is an editor for The Daily Sheeple, where this first appeared.Wake the flock up! linkwithin_text=Related Articles: 