Breaking Defense reports, “The Space Force announced today that its software-centric program for managing, processing and disseminating space monitoring data, the Advanced Tracking and Launch Analysis System (ATLAS), has been accepted as ‘operational.’ The move paves the way for the service to finally rid itself of its dysfunctional 1980s-era computer system called the Space Defense Operations Center (SPADOC), which as been used to keep tabs on satellites, spacecraft and dangerous space junk even after nearly two decades of failed replacement efforts.”
Full Story (Breaking Defense)
Tag: monitoring
Pew Poll: Americans See Lunar, Mars Missions as Low Priorities for NASA
The Washington Post reports most Americans believe NASA’s top priority should be monitoring asteroids that could strike the Earth instead of returning astronauts to the Moon, according to a poll released Thursday. For respondents in the Pew Research Center survey, only 12 percent of “adults think returning astronauts to the surface of the moon should be NASA’s top priority.” A human landing on “Mars is even less popular: Only 11 percent said it should be the top priority.” By contrast, 60 percent “said monitoring asteroids should be the agency’s top priority; 50 percent said monitoring climate change should be NASA’s top priority.”
Full Story (Washington Post)