UM-Bot Posted January 8, 2018 #1 Share Posted January 8, 2018 Code-named Zuma, the secretive satellite was launched in to orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday night. http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/314701/spacex-launches-mystery-government-satellite 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a vampire wears my boxers Posted January 8, 2018 #2 Share Posted January 8, 2018 (edited) A friend of the wife's who served in Iraq and Afghanistan messaged me last night. Asked if I had access to the mainstream media channels. Then said that he heard from a retired Colonel that the U.S. was at non nuclear defcon 1 , and that the payload on Zuma was an orbital weapons system. Told me all this not 5 minutes after I first read about the launch. Edited January 8, 2018 by a vampire wears my boxers missing text Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pallidin Posted January 8, 2018 #3 Share Posted January 8, 2018 (edited) As some of our friends "across the pond" might say... Jolly good show! Edited January 8, 2018 by pallidin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted January 8, 2018 #4 Share Posted January 8, 2018 53 minutes ago, a vampire wears my boxers said: and that the payload on Zuma was an orbital weapons system. Highly unlikely. The USA would be in violation of several treaties if it was to deploy such a system. Besides this launch was announced months ago, and, in fact, has been delayed by two months by a series of problems with the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paperdyer Posted January 8, 2018 #5 Share Posted January 8, 2018 1 hour ago, Waspie_Dwarf said: Highly unlikely. The USA would be in violation of several treaties if it was to deploy such a system. Besides this launch was announced months ago, and, in fact, has been delayed by two months by a series of problems with the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. To add, if your wife's friend was caught relaying this type of info, if it was factual, the friend would be arrested so fast their head would spin. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.United_Nations Posted January 8, 2018 #6 Share Posted January 8, 2018 3 hours ago, a vampire wears my boxers said: A friend of the wife's who served in Iraq and Afghanistan messaged me last night. Asked if I had access to the mainstream media channels. Then said that he heard from a retired Colonel that the U.S. was at non nuclear defcon 1 , and that the payload on Zuma was an orbital weapons system. Told me all this not 5 minutes after I first read about the launch. Why not just vist space x and ask them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanchez710 Posted January 8, 2018 #7 Share Posted January 8, 2018 Zuma is also one of the Paw Patrol. He is the Sea Rescue pup. Coincidence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nzo Posted January 9, 2018 #8 Share Posted January 9, 2018 10 hours ago, a vampire wears my boxers said: A friend of the wife's who served in Iraq and Afghanistan messaged me last night. Asked if I had access to the mainstream media channels. Then said that he heard from a retired Colonel that the U.S. was at non nuclear defcon 1 , and that the payload on Zuma was an orbital weapons system. Told me all this not 5 minutes after I first read about the launch. Well if what you say is true, it could not come at a more appropriate time if NK is deciding to test how far their ICBMs will go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted January 9, 2018 #9 Share Posted January 9, 2018 (edited) 3 hours ago, Nzo said: Well if what you say is true, it could not come at a more appropriate time if NK is deciding to test how far their ICBMs will go. I was going to ask you how you think it is possible for a single satellite in low Earth orbit to provide any protection from a North Korean ICBM (or anyone else's for that matter). I was going to ask that but as strong rumours suggest that it is highly likely that Zuma failed to reach orbit any answer you gave would be rather irrelevant anyway. Edited January 9, 2018 by Waspie_Dwarf typo. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bison Posted January 9, 2018 #10 Share Posted January 9, 2018 (edited) Space X has stated that it's rocket performed nominally, and apparently has the data to back this up. Grumman Aerospace, which built the satellite, has been notably silent about the possibility that its part of the mission failed. Edited January 9, 2018 by bison improved word choice 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bison Posted January 9, 2018 #11 Share Posted January 9, 2018 (edited) A U.S. Administration official, and two sources who had been briefed on the matter have confirmed that the Zuma satellite failed to separate from the rocket's upper stage, and did not reach a stable orbit. Please see link, below, for more details: http://www.money.cnn.com/2018/01/09/technology/spacex-zuma-spacecraft-lost/index.html Edited January 9, 2018 by bison corrected spelling, punctuation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a vampire wears my boxers Posted January 10, 2018 #12 Share Posted January 10, 2018 On 1/8/2018 at 11:28 AM, Mr.United_Nations said: Why not just vist space x and ask them? pffft, everyone knows nobody would get past the Reptilian secretary in the lobby/precious fluid extractor...geez c'mon maaaaan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a vampire wears my boxers Posted January 10, 2018 #13 Share Posted January 10, 2018 On 1/8/2018 at 10:23 AM, paperdyer said: To add, if your wife's friend was caught relaying this type of info, if it was factual, the friend would be arrested so fast their head would spin. Is what i was thinking as well. I so wanted to call shenanigans, but he is a cool dude. Didn't want to cause any sort of rift. Wife and I are close to several folks that say some wacky stuff...so..ya know....bless their hearts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bison Posted January 10, 2018 #14 Share Posted January 10, 2018 There are now photos of spiraling rocket plumes, apparently from the SpaceX Zuma launch. The timing for the rocket to be passing over the area of Africa where the photos were taken reportedly matches. Please find a link to article with the photos, below: https://www.space.com/39338-spacex-zuma-rocket-sky-spiral-photos.html Northrup Grumman Aerospace is now citing the classified nature of the mission, in refusing to comment on reports that the Zuma satellite failed to reach orbit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted January 10, 2018 #15 Share Posted January 10, 2018 1 hour ago, bison said: There are now photos of spiraling rocket plumes, apparently from the SpaceX Zuma launch. That's perfectly normal. It's the upper stage venting fuel before re-entry and is not indicative of a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pallidin Posted January 11, 2018 #16 Share Posted January 11, 2018 Is the fate of Zuma, good or bad, something that NASA and the DoD would officially share with the public, given its classified status? Or will we hear nothing more... that it made it or burnt-up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted January 15, 2018 #17 Share Posted January 15, 2018 On 1/11/2018 at 9:55 PM, pallidin said: Is the fate of Zuma, good or bad, something that NASA and the DoD would officially share with the public, given its classified status? NASA definitely but not necessarily the DoD. On 1/11/2018 at 9:55 PM, pallidin said: Or will we hear nothing more... that it made it or burnt-up? If it is in orbit then the global network of amateur satellite trackers from around the world will find it. The fact that it has not been located a week after launch is making it look more and more likely that it did fail to go into orbit. SpaceX and Northrop Grumman (who manufactured the satellite) are both under contract to stay silent on anything to do with Zuma. As the government agency responsible for Zuma is keeping itself secret it seems unlikely that we will hear anything more about this satellite until at least some of the information is declassified. It is possible to guess at potential causes for the failure. As the rumours began very quickly that the satellite had burned up the most likely explanation would be that Zuma failed to separate from the Falcon 9 upper stage. SpaceX have categorically denied that the Falcon 9 failed to perform correctly in any way. Normally it would such a claim from SpaceX (if true of course) would exclude a failure of the payload to separate from the upper stage as this would be SpaceX's responsibility. However it is known that Northrop Grumman built a special payload adaptor to connect the satellite to the rocket and so it is possible that the failure was due to a Northrop Grumman failure not SpaceX. Another, less likely, possibility is that satellite did separate from the Falcon 9 but then suffered some sort of malfunction (possibly with a boost motor designed to propel it into a higher orbit). The final option is that Zuma is alive and well and that whichever organisation is responsible for it is smiling at the misinformation that surrounds it. If that is the case then those satellite spotters will see it sooner or later. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kartikg Posted January 16, 2018 #18 Share Posted January 16, 2018 any educated quess as to what was the satellite function? my guess is, it's a communications satellite for keeping in touch with operatives Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted January 16, 2018 #19 Share Posted January 16, 2018 8 hours ago, kartikg said: any educated quess as to what was the satellite function? my guess is, it's a communications satellite for keeping in touch with operatives A single satellite in LEO? Not a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gromdor Posted January 23, 2018 #20 Share Posted January 23, 2018 I guess the was a malfunction and the billion dollar secret satellite was lost: https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/01/spacex-gets-good-news-from-the-air-force-on-the-zuma-mission/ The are saying it wasn't SpaceX's fault but rather Northrop Grumman. Kinda sucks that a billion in tax payer dollars went kablooey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted April 10, 2018 #21 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Investigation into Zuma failure reportedly lays blame on Northrop Grumman Quote Government investigators have exonerated SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in the loss of a top secret space mission known as Zuma in January, blaming a malfunction in a component modified by Northrop Grumman that connected the launcher with its classified payload, according to the Wall Street Journal. Citing unnamed sources, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that two teams of government and industry investigators have concluded that a payload adapter — a structure used to attach a satellite to its rocket booster — failed to function correctly after an otherwise successful launch from Cape Canaveral on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Jan. 7. Read More: Spaceflight Now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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