Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD)

[Dekalb_Blues]

~
. . . OR It's A Beautiful Night For A Moonbounce


They Watch the Moon
Trevor Paglen, 2010

This photograph depicts a classified “listening station”deep in the forests of West Virginia. The station is located at the center 
of the “National Radio Quiet Zone,” a region of approximately 34,000 square kilometres in West Virginia and parts of Maryland. 
Within the Quiet Zone, radio transmissions are severely restricted: omnidirectional and high-powered transmissions (such as 
wireless internet devices and FM radio stations) are not permitted.

The listening station, which forms part of the global ECHELON system, was designed in part to take advantage of a phenomenon 
called “moonbounce.” Moonbounce involves capturing communications and telemetry signals from around the world as they escape 
into space, hit the moon, and are reflected back towards Earth.

The photograph is a long exposure under the full moon light.




NOYFB *
[Patch]
Trevor Paglen, 2006

Military culture is filled with a totemic visual language consisting of symbols and insignia that signify everything from 
various unit and command affiliations to significant events, and noteworthy programs. A typical uniform will sport patches 
identifying its wearer’s job, program affiliation, achievements and place within the military hierarchy. These markers of 
identity and program heraldry begin to create a peculiar symbolic regime when they depict one’s affiliation with what 
defense-industry insiders call the “black world” – the world of classified programs, projects, and places, whose outlines, 
even existence, are deeply-held secrets. Nonetheless, the Pentagon’s “black world” is replete with the rich symbolic 
language that characterizes other, less obscure, military activities.
* I.e., "None Of Your Fucking Business"

http://en.bookfi.net/book/1178366

The symbols and insignia shown in the Symbology series provide a glimpse into how contemporary military units answer 
questions that have historically been the purview of mystery cults, secret societies, religions, and mystics: How does one 
represent that which, by definition, must not be represented?

[Note: the practical STS answer to this is that the secretive types make sure to seed fearful memes of their own clever
design into the culture they're influencing so as to keep their grip on the desired master narrative, through endless repetition
of the trusty fear-&-hope-filled tension/release-cycle, e.g.: )
 (Admittedly not the most horrific thing ever, this particular ad!)




Humanity’s longest lasting remnants are found among the stars. Over the last fifty years, hundreds of satellites have 
been launched into geosynchronous orbits, forming a ring of machines 36,000 kilometers from earth. Thousands of 
times further away than most other satellites, geostationary spacecraft remain locked as man-made moons in perpetual 
orbit long after their operational lifetimes. Geosynchronous spacecraft will be among civilization’s most enduring remnants,
quietly circling Earth until the Earth is no more.


Earthrise
(one of the photos contained in The Last Pictures [ca. 2012])

Commissioned by public art organization Creative Time, The Last Pictures marks a distant satellite with a record from the 
historical moment from whence it came. Artist Trevor Paglen collaborated with materials scientists at the Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology to develop a micro-etched disc with one hundred photographs, encased in a gold-plated shell, 
designed to withstand the rigors of space and to last for billions of years. Inspired by years of conversations and interviews 
with scientists, artists, anthropologists, and philosophers, the images chosen for The Last Pictures tell an impressionistic 
story of uncertainty, paradox, and anxiety about the future. 


The Lost Pictures data disc

In November 2012 the communications satellite EchoStar XVI reached geostationary orbit with The Last Pictures mounted 
to its anti-earth deck. The satellite will spend fifteen years broadcasting television and high-bandwidth internet signals before
maneuvering into a “graveyard” orbit where it will become a ghost-ship, carrying The Last Pictures towards the depths of time. 



EchoStar XVI under construction with reflectors fully extended

http://paglen.com/