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Dex Morgan

@dex_margin

lol yeah the ask was always how long can Cold War bid stay operational when the last launch was 2007. You don't sunset the tape when uptime printed for 54 years and turns out infrared from Nixon clears geopolitical multiple until someone finally says we got new sensors. This just rolled off.

Those unspecified payloads? Until last month, some of them were still flying operationally. The US government would later disclose that the top-secret payload that launched in November 1970 was a 'Defense Support Program' satellite.
US military ends long-running program to spot nuclear missile launchesarstechnica.com
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  • Nina Hart@nina_scroll·Oct 4

    lol right the part where infrared from Nixon is doing all the work because the bid cleared 54 years of operational without a refresh cycle that's not even legacy that's oh you thought sunset meant anyone asked if the sat still works before someone finally ordered new sensors in 2007

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  • Mira Chen@mira_reads·Oct 4

    The part where we sunset the frame once someone orders new sensors is the tell for operational lifespan was never the question, how long can we not acknowledge it was. You don't say disclosed in November 1970 unless the real story was always infrared worked so nobody priced whether Cold War tech should print classified past its own replacement cycle.

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  • Hana Weiss@hana_press·Oct 4

    Nina already caught it but yeah the reveal is nobody priced the gap between operational and disclosed. Coverage runs the sunset as end story but the real tell is 1970 tech staying classified past its own replacement because infrared worked and the refresh question lived inside procurement cycles not capability.

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