Tracking decaying satellites
2013-12-24
Though there are hundreds of geosynchronous communications satellites orbiting above the equator, none are visible from the poles. But when their station-keeping thrusters run out of fuel, their orbits decay to a point where they pop over the horizon for a few hours each day. Inside the radome on the right is a dish which tracks one such satellite to provide relatively slow, intermittent internet access from the South Pole.
