Galaxy 15, the satellite that disobeyed commands and started heading toward other satellites much to the horror of those on the ground has been the source of a great deal of attention on the Internet in the past few weeks as the device continues to completely ignore input sent to it from the ground level. Still, those on the ground are attempting to reassure an interested public that there is nothing potentially dangerous about the device and the situation is under control.
News site aol news quoted Steve Good as saying, “We do know what we’re doing” in regard to the Syfy channel’s rogue satellite that has drifted off out of its standard orbit and is now on an unknown path around the Earth. Though the object is said to be nothing more than the first casualty of a solar storm over the summer, there are those who say they aren’t so sure. Everyone is weighing in with their own opinion on the matter.
After coming near Galaxy 14, the public waited with baited breath to see if the Galaxy 15 would disrupt or overpower the other satellite’s signal and disrupt communication on Earth, but as the orbiting devices passed by one another without incident confidence returned to many who had been awaiting a disaster that would be more fit in one of the science fiction programs Galaxy 15 had been transmitting than newspaper headlines.
Still others say there’s something fishy about the behavior of Galaxy 15. Some have even pointed out the Syfy channel’s penchant for less than traditional advertising with a quizzical irony. Still, this seems unlikely given the incredible amount of work that would have to go into a hoax of this scale.
The real story in this may be the coming storm that scientists have been warning about for years. Is it possible the next “big one” will be coming in the coming months? As the solar minimum comes to an end, several are expecting an upswing complete with powerful solar storms that could knock out satellite communication and even bring about an electromagnetic pulse that could disable electronics on Earth worldwide. Such an incident has happened before, but there was a difference. The sensitive electronic equipment we depend upon every day had not yet been invented. In fact, these incidents were largely ignored aside from the disruption of the reinforced telegraph system. In time it was repaired and the concept of a massive solar storm was ignored. But now as the new solar minimum comes to an end many are awaiting the next solar storm as having a very real global influence on the technology we depend on every day.
As for the Galaxy 15 satellite, will it be causing us more problems? Or will it become yet another dead satellite wandering the sky aimlessly until it is eventually intercepted or brought back down to Earth? There is a backup system on board that may cause it to come back to life and resume its activities normally, but it’s unknown if it will work or not.