Re: [amsat-bb] KEO

[Franklin Antonio <antonio@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 11:35 AM 9/14/2002, Peter Guelzow wrote:
>Amazing how much money they were able to get together for such
>a passive satellite..

I agree, but I would say it more strongly.  KEO is the stupidest project 
I've heard about in a great many years.

Obviously a child of the "art" community.  Their theory is that in 50,000 
years, the satellite will reenter, INTACT, and humans will be able to read 
the CDs.  They present no scientific (engineering) basis for the notion 
that their satellite will reenter intact, but of course even if it does, 
the most likely scenario is that it will fall into an ocean, and be 
lost.  If it falls on land, will the GLASS CDs be intact?  Seems more 
likely that they will be melted, vaporized, or shattered.  What utter 
nonsense.

For a break from the hum drum, read some of the drivel on the www.keo.org 
web site, such as ...

Why does KEO have wings?

   Purely for symbolic reasons is KEO adorned with two big wings. This 
image will appeal to the human imagination as a mythical figure of a bird 
that is the messenger of the people of the 21st century.

If KEO is a passive satellite, how can it flutter its wings?

   To allow its wings to flutter, KEO uses a leading-edge technology "shape 
memory alloys". These are metallic alloys that are able to assume different 
shapes according to different temperature ranges and revert to their 
original shapes each time they are brought back under their original 
temperature.
In this case, the difference in temperature between shadow and sunlight is 
exploited, so that during its orbit around Earth, KEO will spread its wings 
when it is touched by the sun's rays and fold them when it re-enters the 
Earth's shadow. Therefore, no form of energy is needed to make KEO's wings 
function.

Warning:  YOu will not find any technical data on their web site.

There is a fair chance that the whole thing is a scam.  Anybody see audited 
financial reports?  I don't.

----
Via the amsat-bb mailing list at AMSAT.ORG courtesy of AMSAT-NA.
To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe amsat-bb" to Majordomo@amsat.org