HEXAGON back in the news

I found this story on a site called QUARTZ. HEXAGON back in the news. Read it then we’ll discuss.

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An experimental satellite that launched in 1974 disappeared from ground-based sensors in the 1990s, only to be found again this week. Some defunct satellites or debris can often go missing for years, presenting hazards within an increasingly crowded Earth orbit. But, how exactly do objects disappear in space?

The Infra-Red Calibration Balloon (S73-7) satellite was part of the United States Air Force’s Space Test Program. After launching on April 10, 1974, a large reconnaissance satellite, called KH-9 Hexagon, ejected the 26-inch-wide (66-centimeter-wide) satellite, boosting it to a 500 mile (800 kilometers) circular orbit.

The story even adds a much-seen drawing of HEXAGON. Adds credibilty???

The tiny satellite was supposed to inflate in orbit and serve as a calibration target for remote sensing equipment. Its deployment, however, failed, and it became another piece of space junk. When looking over the satellite’s archival data, Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, found that it had gone missing once before, with radars tracking it in the 1970s before it disappeared, and then again in the 1990s before it disappeared once more.

McDowell said the S73-7 satellite has been rediscovered after being untracked for 25 years. New TLEs for object 7244 started appearing on Apr 25. He boasts: Congrats to whichever @18thSDS analyst made the identification.

Well, let’s see. KH-9 didn’t fly at 500 miles up. The missions were centred around 80-100 miles up…and any diversion would be dumb and a waste of expendables for this ho-hum “mission.” Archival tracking data could verify. Apogee was way less than that….and how could it propel a package 26-inches wide without a propulsion/guidance system? With a balloon inside? Hmmm.

This HEXAGON mission had NORAD ID # 7244. International designation 1974-020-B. A huge chance of confusion with 27,000 pices of debris bigger than 4” still in orbit.

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So what are your comments?? You think this is a true occurance??