
Sounds from Scientific, Meteorological and Commercial Satellites 1962-1966 - benbreen
http://www.dd1us.de/spacesounds%204b.html
======
ParvusPonte
You can hear them today! [http://www.rtl-sdr.com/receiving-dead-satellites-
rtl-sdr/](http://www.rtl-sdr.com/receiving-dead-satellites-rtl-sdr/)

tldr: satellites are retired by using up their fuel reserves in order to get
them to burn out in atmosphere or "park" in a higher orbit. Some satellites
have timers built in in case their receivers fail and do this automatically.

Essentially, when something goes wrong satellites stay in stable orbits as
space junk, their batteries decay and become conductive so the sun starts
powering directly when conditions are met, at this point we can catch
telemetry from these space-age relics. Beyond cool.

------
matthewmcg
Wow, after listening to these I have a lot more respect for the cheesy "beeps
and boops" sound effects used in so many 1960s and 1970s movies to connote
satellite stuff. Turns out they really did sound like that!

