NASA has come up with a new pointing system named WASP (Wallops Arc Second Pointer) which gets planetary scientists closer to their target worlds. The Wallops Arc Second Pointer (WASP) payload suspended from a crane during a test deployment The Wallops Arc Second Pointer (WASP) payload suspended from a crane during a test …

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Monday 10th February 2014 13:20 GMT Kingston Black

Accurate, stablised pointing thingy...

Perhaps Lester should investigate giving LOHAN (and the flying truss) a good Walloping.

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Monday 10th February 2014 13:52 GMT Anonymous Coward

"the ability to find and track an object that is the diameter of a dime from two miles away"

Well that insertion of metallic RFID strips into our Dollar Bills was so 1990's.

Nice of the NSA to declassify something for the advancement of humankind.

;), but still AC. Just in case.

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Monday 10th February 2014 15:20 GMT Rustident Spaceniak

So what size is a 30-storey balloon in standard fishing rods?

Or in Lon don double decker buses, for that matter?

And certainly, we need a far-fetched, pseudo-figurative measure for "above 95% of the atmosphere". Suggestions welcome.

Oh, and OK, I know fishing rods come in all sorts of sizes.

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1. Monday 10th February 2014 15:46 GMT Uffish
  
  Re: So what size is a 30-storey balloon in standard fishing rods?
  
  18.18, 'cos as any fule kno a rod, pole or perch is 35.92 linguine, or if you need common or garden measures 1/4 of a surveyor's chain. (The Reg online standards converter + 10' for one storey).
  
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  1. Monday 10th February 2014 15:58 GMT Rustident Spaceniak
    
    Re: So what size is a 30-storey balloon in standard fishing rods?
    
    Brilliant, you're right! A well deserved upvote.
    
    And there was me thinking NASA's balloons were all of a quarter furlong high.
    
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2. Monday 10th February 2014 18:12 GMT Vociferous
  
  Re: So what size is a 30-storey balloon in standard fishing rods?
  
  > And certainly, we need a far-fetched, pseudo-figurative measure for "above 95% of the atmosphere".
  
  Well, if you imagine that the Earth is a ping-pong ball, then "above 95% of the atmosphere" would be from the thickness of a tissue paper from the ping-pong ball, to the end of the observable universe.
  
  If we interprete "above 95% of the atmosphere" as an altitude instead of an interval, then it's approximately where Kate Winslet and Leo DiCaprio would be if you balanced 446 000 Titanic on top of each other, bow to stern.
  
  I love wolframalpha.
  
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Monday 10th February 2014 16:32 GMT Stevie

Bah!

Must be some balloon to lift that hucking fuge crane.

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Monday 10th February 2014 18:05 GMT Mark 85

How long will it stay up?

And what happens when it comes down? Will do a complete earth orbit so it can come down near the launch site? Failsafe parachute? Enquiring minds and all that.

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Monday 10th February 2014 19:34 GMT John Smith 19

Staggering.

Look at a protractor.

Look at the separation of degree marks.

Now imagine dividing that by 3600 and keeping a several 100Kg mass pointing in exactly that direction.

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1. Monday 10th February 2014 20:58 GMT Barbarian At the Gates
  
  Re: Staggering.
  
  Look at my glass.
  
  Look into filling it with beer.
  
  Now, imagine refilling it each time it becomes empty between now and pub close.
  
  Also staggering...
  
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2. Tuesday 11th February 2014 11:28 GMT imanidiot
  
  Re: Staggering.
  
  Meh, sounds like my dayjob...
  
  But it's still no less impressive. The most difficult bit is getting that sort of accuracy without being attached to anything. Newton's third law is a bit of a pain in the neck in these sort of situations.
  
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