
The Humanity Star - banku_brougham
http://thehumanitystar.com/
======
chasing
Neat, but if you're going to stand outside and night and look to the sky for
shining beacons that represent our fragile place in the universe, there are
already thousands upon thousands of options up there.

If I wanted to share that experience of awe with a child, I would talk about
the planets and stars. About man-made objects (and people) in space probing
the edges of our knowledge. About time and distance. Not about a large disco
ball.

------
montrose
Graffiti on the sky. Ironically, to serve as a "reminder to all on Earth about
our fragile place in the universe."

~~~
JoeDaDude
This is a colossal advertising stunt masquerading as a humanitarian gesture.
Remember when everyone got upset at the possibility of an orbiting Pepsi logo?

[1]
[https://books.google.com/books?id=1G5UzG2Z6A4C&pg=PA99&lpg=P...](https://books.google.com/books?id=1G5UzG2Z6A4C&pg=PA99&lpg=PA99&dq=pepsi+logo+in+orbit&source=bl&ots=hRhysORxHi&sig=od_g0s1WNc0rFipV7tu3v6ewZxM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjMhv-
pm_TYAhUHxoMKHXiGDYAQ6AEIYjAM#v=onepage&q=pepsi%20logo%20in%20orbit&f=false)

[2]
[http://www.unoosa.org/pdf/reports/ac105/AC105_777E.pdf](http://www.unoosa.org/pdf/reports/ac105/AC105_777E.pdf)

~~~
ttonkytonk
It's only a matter of time -or- Please shoot me when it happens

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52-6F-62
Hey that's pretty fun.

Thanks for posting this. I wonder if I could see it from the city. It's
supposed to be visible in 41 days for about 4 minutes. It would be nice if
they could have a _little_ bit more accurate timing, though.

~~~
ortusdux
After you enter your location, click the hamburger menu button in the top
right corner of the map. It gives the ETA time to the second, the duration,
and the angle from north.

Now if only there was an app that let you set a weather dependent alarm so I
don't wake up at 3 am to a cloudy sky.

~~~
blacksmith_tb
Hmm, for Portland OR it tells me cheerfully "You will not be able to see the
satellite within the next 2087 hours. Please check again later." I guess
that's only one third of the time until it de-orbits, so I may still get a
chance.

~~~
pavel_lishin
Same for New York. That seems ... incorrect to me, given that it's in a polar
orbit and completes an orbit every 90 minutes. It ought to be passing over me
fairly often, no?

~~~
Tepix
You can't see it during the day and you can't see it when it's in Earth's
shadow.

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ynniv
This would be better if it was bigger, and stayed in orbit longer, and ... had
people on it, and represented international cooperation of a species dreaming
of a future among the stars!

~~~
52-6F-62
Don't look now.....

 _" Trump administration plans to cut funding to International Space Station"_

[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-
politics...](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-
politics/trump-iss-funding-cut-nasa-international-space-station-a8178461.html)

:/

~~~
ynniv
It was funded through 2024 and Trump cut its funding to 2025? This guy has a
hard time accomplishing his goals.

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didymospl
Assuming Heavens Above [1] is right this satellite will have a maximum
magnitude of 4 which is really faint. There are over 500 brighter stars in the
night sky [2].

If this is supposed to be an ad for Rocket Lab(I suppose it is, after all we
already have ISS orbiting over us) they could do a lot better.

[1] [http://www.heavens-
above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=43168](http://www.heavens-
above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=43168) (set your location in the top right
corner)

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apparent_magnitude](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apparent_magnitude)

edit: spelling

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dforrestwilson
Iridium already provides this no?

[https://www.wikihow.com/Find-an-Iridium-Flare](https://www.wikihow.com/Find-
an-Iridium-Flare)

~~~
JshWright
For a little while longer... The new fleet doesn't flare. Once all the older
generation birds are retired, there will be no more Iridium flares.

~~~
TeMPOraL
That wins the "saddest news of this day" for me :(. I still remember waking up
at absurd hours to chase the flares when I was a teenager.

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pradn
On a similar note, the sun and the moon are the only two objects people across
time and space all were/are able to see. Not even the stars are a shared
experience.

~~~
tlb
I'm not sure what you mean. Venus, Mars, Jupiter, are Saturn visible from
anywhere on earth for some portion of the year.

~~~
pradn
You are right. I forgot about the visible planets. They didn't come to my mind
since I've rarely seen them since I've only lived in light-polluted cities all
my life.

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mLuby
Congrats to NZ and Rocket Lab for joining the elite club of orbit-capable
rocketeers. It's a huge achievement.

Surprised there's so much complaining about a test payload. Everyone's a
critic, so I'll be one too:

"FAQ: How long will it remain in orbit? The Humanity Star will orbit the Earth
for approximately nine months before its orbit starts to decay and it is
pulled back into the Earth’s gravity."

s/gravity/atmosphere

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allworknoplay
Whatever happened to carving your name into the moon?

~~~
TeMPOraL
That needs to wait until Falcon Heavy is in service.

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Avshalom
I mean I hate to break it to the guy but:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun) we've
already had one of these, for a while now.

~~~
zentiggr
Pretty sure I would like the sun to not start flashing like a disco ball...

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Angostura
This makes me irrationally cross for some reason. A bit more pollution of the
already awesome (if you can see it) night sky.

Let's paint smily faces on the side of Everest next.

~~~
kawfey
At least it'll burn up on reentry in 9 months. Still, its a little bit grin-
inducing to watch the big, useless disco ball in space streak by.

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jdonaldson
This is such a shallow and narcissistic gesture.

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pronoiac
I think the tracking server is flaking out under load.

I got "You will not be able to see the satellite within the next 2087 hours.
Please check again later." for multiple places - San Francisco, Toronto, and
St. Louis.

Upon retrying San Francisco: "The Humanity Star has the highest chance of
visibility in in [sic] 39 days. It will last about 3 minutes."

~~~
kawfey
Try N2YO[1] or Heaven's Above.[2]

You can track it yourself using the TLE, and a program like gPredict[3].

[1][http://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=43166](http://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=43166)

[2][http://www.heavens-
above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=43168&la...](http://www.heavens-
above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=43168&lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspecified&alt=0&tz=UCT)

[3][http://gpredict.oz9aec.net/](http://gpredict.oz9aec.net/)

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gooseus
I've been toying with a conceptual project that would propose to build a
large-ish structure (monolith) on the moon which would serve multiple long
term goals.

1\. Be large enough and positioned strategically to cast a shadow or project
an image onto the surface of the moon large enough to be seen with the eye (or
minimal telescopic aid). The image would be a clear indication to any
intelligent beings that another intelligent being had placed it there
intentionally and, with enough resolution, communicate wavelength and
modulation information for #2.

2\. Be a solar-powered radio transceiver sending signals to earth on the
specified wavelength which repeatedly communicate information about the
monolith and additional frequencies to send codes and receive more data to
access deeper, denser information. These additional frequencies and codes
would be used to unlock designs for rockets, telemetry, etc. necessary for
intelligent and resourceful beings to travel from earth to the monolith
location on the moon.

3\. On the outside of the monolith would be carved further information on how
to access the deepest storage of the monolith and decode the digital
information within.

4\. The inside of the monolith would contain the densest data storage
containing the sum total of human knowledge, as well as cryogenically frozen
embryos and genetic information for various species of Earth from our time
period (including us, of course) and data on how they could possibly be
unfrozen, replicated and/or brought back to life.

Assuming what I've outlined is possible, this project would leverage our best
shared satellite (the moon) to create a shared experience (the monolith
projection) and also serve as a time capsule that could outlive us should any
of the many existential threats posing our species come to pass before we
establish ourselves in space. Call it the ultimate hedge.

Given the stability of the moons surface, nothing short of a close impact
would disturb this monument to humanity and our shared knowledge. And should
our surviving descendants, a future evolved intelligent species, or a visitor
from another star come to find Earth, they would also potentially find our
legacy, and give us the faintest chance at being restored.

Anyone think I have a chance at raising a few 10s of billion with on
kickstarter? Or else got a personal line to Elon?

PS - Yes, 2001 was an inspiration and I have definitely been envisioning the
1:4:9 design when thinking about this.

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nsxwolf
I can't tell if this is a real thing already in orbit or a Kickstarter.

~~~
vpribish
it's in orbit

------
jerf
Semi-relevant Vsauce video:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8I25H3bnNw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8I25H3bnNw)
The Moon as a disco ball.

------
rosser
"Orbiting the Earth every 90 minutes and visible from anywhere on the globe…"

"You will not be able to see the satellite within the next 2087 hours. Please
check again later."

~~~
SaintGhurka
I got the same results for a bunch of random places. Los Angeles, Paris
France, Moscow and "Texas".

Sydney Australia and Tel Aviv Israel gave me a time to view it - but it's
weeks away.

~~~
rosser
Maybe that's as far out as they can or will predict its visibility? 2088 hours
is 87 days, even.

------
bgun
Coming soon, the "RippleStar", and soon afterward the bright orange "5 Hour
Energy Star", to promote the shared human desire for a long-lasting, sugar-
free revitalizing experience!

------
Taniwha
It claims to have 65 mirrored faces ... which polyhedral solid has 65 faces?

~~~
gus_massa
An irregular one ... look at the logo, and there is a photo at the bottom of
the page.

(60 would have been much better
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentakis_dodecahedron](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentakis_dodecahedron)
:( )

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caiocaiocaio
We already have a star, called the sun.

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moate
This was a worthwhile usage of time, money, and energy!

~~~
snrplfth
It was a test payload on an experimental vehicle.

