Astronomy’s Unsung Hero is a Plain Ol’ Aluminum Ball

[@oxylepy2]

Sometimes your spherical chicken in a vacuum just needs to actually be a spherical object in a near vacuum

[@stephen1r2]

Or spherical cow en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical_cow

[@Torby4096]

Consider a spherical cow of uniform density.

[@backwashjoe7864]

@@Torby4096is it frictionless?

[@Torby4096]

@@backwashjoe7864 Did I forget that important attri🤔

[@martinboyle9163]

Sometimes you get answers to questions you never knew you had asked... When I worked in television, we always had to move our dish to a different satellite for the overnight feed when we went off the air. We always had to sync with LCS-1 before switching to the new satellite feed. I was 0 days old today when I learned what in the hell LCS-1 really was. Thanks for the lesson! :)

[@Jasonronsteinberger]

Aint that the truth, I didn't even see this in mu notifications, just seen it while browsing, and yep, sure enough, had I thought to ask, or knew of its existance, I def would have looked into this!

[@TheRealSkeletor]

You were just born today?

[@IHateUniqueUsernames]

It's one of those things that makes a lot of sense when you learn about it, and understand it is a most critical thing necessary for other things; but usually don't bother to do so because it's overshadowed by those other things it supports and enables.

[@LuisCasstle]

Well all you had to do was ask 🤷🏻‍♂️ At one job they kept saying this acronym and anytime I asked what it meant no one seemed to know, I'm like how are you training me if you don't even know what those letters stand for? I looked it up on Google and found out what it was and everything made more sense.

[@ikebeckman1074]

You have a remarkable lexicon and work experience for being mere hours old

[@donaldwert7137]

Somehow, even thought they are different elements, I chuckled when Hank at 0:43 said the aluminum ball was exactly what it said on the tin.

[@Keallei]

I giggled lol. Tin foil aluminum foil. Wonder if sleuth Hank joke

[@runandarnell8514]

Huh, now that you mention it none of our tins are tin anymore. Our sewing tins, our tin cans, our tins of soup or cookies, our tin foil etc. All aluminium but we call it tin

[@antonsimmons8519]

Sometimes, the minutiae are more fascinating than a lot of the big stories. This, for me, is such a case.

[@ktx49]

Yes this was a great video

[@stax6092]

You go little old Aluminum Ball.

[@bhami]

Fascinating. I was familiar with the two Echo satellites launched in 1960, but not with LCS-1. The Echo satellites were 30m inflated spheres made of aluminized mylar, and were designed to test radio communication by reflection, and not for calibration. Both satellites re-entered in the late 1960s.

[@georgehugh3455]

Hank is the most entertaining of the SciShow presenters, hands-down. 😂

[@joshsnyder4868]

You'd think he'd just be mailing it in by now, but no, he still got it!

[@JJ-rm7jw]

I only watch them if they're hosted by Hank.

[@JJ-rm7jw]

@@joshsnyder4868 I've heard "phoning it in," but never "mailing it in" before. I'm guessing from the context that it has a similar/same meaning. Kinda cool, I think I'll use that one sometime. Thanks! 😊

[@joshsnyder4868]

@@JJ-rm7jw fair use. Also go ahead and borrow this one tomorrow, "FedEx Friday".

[@noneofurbusiness5223]

Yes, & very endearing!

[@albertoescamilla639]

Hank makes something common and mundane into something exciting. Great job.

[@DollyOmegaX]

You just don't get to hear about things like this and you'd never know they exist unless someone just tells you 🤷‍♀️ Thank you so very much!!! I love this!!!

[@schlettyb1]

Here at Space Fence, we use both LCS spheres and a couple other objects for radar calibration. We track from LEO all the way to GEO. At low orbit we can track extremely small objects! All thanks to MIT-Lincoln Labs

[@inkynebula]

now imagine you are another civilization finding this sphere floating in space and trying to understand its function, meaning, and purpose.

[@aldenconsolver3428]

Thank you, Hank, you guys keep covering really important science topics that do not get the coverage they should. At the same time you cover the flash stuff too as well as anybody (and better than all but specialists). I guess you guys are high-quality entertainment for the thinkers.

[@pyrogotz5076]

I've always wondered how they know if the instruments are reading information correctly. Cool to know we have something that they can test instruments on.

[@massimookissed1023]

ESA have an Earth observation satellite called Aeolus that measures wind speeds in our atmosphere. They have some ground based equipment too to make sure that what the satellite is measuring from space is actually the same as the conditions measured from the surface.

[@pyrogotz5076]

@@massimookissed1023 ah! I thought weather stations just observed their areas with ground based equipment. Though I do know that they have a super computer in wyoming. That the information from weather collected by satellites goes to! I think it's to observe weather patterns and calculate weather into the future.

[@massimookissed1023]

@@pyrogotz5076 commercial aircraft also gather weather data for places that model the atmosphere and try to predict weather. They can collect temperature and pressure readings, maybe humidity too, and possibly windspeed (measured at the plane vs plane's speed from GPS). All those flights can gather data from locations that ground-based monitoring stations can't access.

[@ax14pz107]

@@pyrogotz5076 the vast majority of global climate data is from satellites. The earth is huge and there's still tons of remote areas that don't have good, reliable weather stations.

[@pyrogotz5076]

@@ax14pz107 ah that makes sense!

[@galliumgames3962]

The real Space Balls

[@etcetera662]

Hank, we all know that you are the best that humanity has to offer.

[@kerzwhile]

I had Zero idea this existed! 🤔 Very cool!! 😀

[@curtiswfranks]

Thank you LCS-1! We love and appreciate you!

[@chekote]

That’s so cool. Not boring or mundane at all! I love simple elegant solutions 👏🏻

[@midnitepostman]

Wish you discussed how they got it into orbit and why the orbit has remained relatively stable for decades

[@santos.l.halper1999]

titan rocket, geocentric orbit...... you're welcome

[@greensteve9307]

Too far out to have any drag from the atmosphere.

[@jursamaj]

@@greensteve9307 As Hank said in the video, it *does* get some drag. It's just little enough that it's expected to stay up for about 1000 years.

[@safaiaryu12]

Oh. This makes so much sense but I never would have thought of it. How interesting!

[@pyrogotz5076]

Wow... this seems super important and I have never heard of it till now!

[@jursamaj]

Many important things are like that.

[@tatotato85]

Thank you shinning space ball, thank you sciShow

[@normbale2757]

An aluminum pole can add a nice touch to the room during the holiday season.

[@MrZippy052]

Especially during the airing of grievances

[@dhiegov]

what a lovely video! ty for the research on such a useful little hollow aluminum ball :D

[@nooneyouknow9399]

I’ve tracked LCS-1 (1361) and LCS-4 (5398) numerous times in my radar career. There are several different calibration satellites available. AJISAI (16908) is a mirror ball with laser reflectors.

[@charlesmrader]

It might be worth noting that later, Lincoln Laboratory built and launched a series of active communications satellites into orbit. The LES (Lincoln Experimental Satellite) series were far more reliable than almost any others built by for-profit defense contractors. The last in the series, LES 8 and LES-9 were launched into synchronous altitude* in 1976 and in the almost sixty years since then, they never failed. *Synchronous altitude but not geosynchronous. An observer on earth sees each of these satellites moving in a figure eight pattern repeating daily.

[@AntarcticAssasin]

This whole video read so much like a Pin-of-the-Month announce ment to me lol. I was waiting the whole time to see what the pin design was, I was really expecting to buy it

[@bbbenj]

I didn't know this ball, thanks for the news.

[@tristanbay]

April Fools' prank idea: discretely swap LCS-1 and LCS-4 and send them along each other's trajectories. Scientists will be confused when they look for one LCS and find that it has the light reflection pattern of the other

[@davidt3563]

Such an awesomely simple solution. Genius.

[@davetoms1]

"They're only flashy in the literal sense" 😂 🤣 so true

[@kailashbtw9103]

Hecking knew it was Hank with a title like that!

[@TWX1138]

Imagine if a nearly perfectly round hollow metal sphere, perhaps mildly damaged by collisions, fell into our solar system. The paranoia that it would create would be extreme even if it essentially was merely a calibration sphere that got lost to its original purpose.

[@TheWareek]

I have had a similar thought myself as an idea for a science fiction book or movie. What if something entered our solar system from outer space but it was totally mundane, i.e. a spanner or a sheet of metal.

[@52flyingbicycles]

That’s no moon… it’s a calibration sphere!

[@lordgarion514]

It wouldn't be a case of what it is, but what it means. Considering the time it would take it to get here. It would mean they were probably at roughly a comparable level to us, when we launched ours, tens of thousands of years ago. What their technology could be today, could be godlike to us.

[@52flyingbicycles]

@@lordgarion514 careful: there is no guarantee that technology and economies can grow forever. A civilization millions of years older than ours may be perfectly conceivable in its technological superiority over us.

[@lordgarion514]

@@52flyingbicycles Which is EXACTLY why I said *could be* and not *would be*. 👍

[@bmanpura]

"It's own kind of party" It's kinda like the audio tech's party. Everyone's up and in front cheers for the heroes on the stage. Backstage have their own party.

[@riverstyx7251]

Space disco ball sounds insanely cool though. The earth and moon are always having a party!

[@bontrom8]

Best comment lol.

[@cpottervlog8122]

I wonder how many people saw one of those in a telescope and thought it was a ufo

[@bazpearce9993]

Zero. Way to small at that size and distance.

[@andrewroark9060]

Probably nobody. For reference, it appears about the same size as Pluto from Earth, which is quite difficult to spot. It would be nearly impossible to spot unless you knew where to look, or had an extremely powerful telescope.

[@iamdigory]

To be fair, if they couldn't identify it, it was

[@MaxElkin]

@@iamdigory Is something in orbit flying?

[@Miss_Darko]

@@MaxElkin No, it's falling with style.

[@TheRealPaulMarshall]

@1:59 - Wouldn't an aluminium cube with comparably smooth surfaces actually have a larger radar cross-section and "look bigger" when seen face-on rather than from a corner what with deflecting the radar rather than reflecting it back to the source?

[@massimookissed1023]

Probably. Kind of like if the moon was covered in mirrors to make a giant disco ball, we'd barely see it. Just an occasional beam passing over us.

[@chrischlebek6845]

Tysm for this I was looking everywhere for a good description of this thing and you nailed it!

[@dominikbeitat4450]

Almost as impressive as the inanimate carbon rod that saved the very lives of the Spcae Shuttle mission crewed by Race Banyon, Buzz Aldrin and Homer Simpson!

[@mulgerbill]

Why am I only hearing about this legendary ex beercans now? So many tiny little barely formed questions floating around the skull just got lightbulbed! Thanks Hank😎

[@SupraSav]

Imagine getting hit by a wrench moving 7 km/s. The words 'red mist' comes to mind.

[@riverbender9898]

Love simple and successful! Thank You.

[@illillliiliiilililililiili5630]

This was a good one!

[@AdVapidKudos]

The Aluminum Sphere is a hero among the ranks of Inanimate Carbon Rod.

[@irishwristwatch2487]

A no-go gauge 60 years old and still going. Manufacturing managers are salivating watching this video

[@Cudddlefish]

2:40 It looks like the guy in the photo is having a meeting with the spheres, explaining to them why they don’t get to go to space.

[@WetDoggo]

I am curious to see how it's surface held up to all those years of micro meteorites

[@jamesdriscoll_tmp1515]

There is an ongoing experiment that is dozens of square panels, made of different materials and exposed to leo. I wonder how it's getting on?

[@Eyerleth]

Calibration sphere, eh? Garrus Vakarian approves.

[@pauho]

I am unreasonably happy to know that the aluminium ball is still in orbit.

[@WatchesTrainsAndRockets]

LCS = Little Cute Sphere?

[@Zulmofo]

Large cute sphere?

[@milesprower8]

Why is this not the pin of the month?

[@jehmarxx]

Now that I think about it, even if an asteroid or something passes by Earth and doesn't collide, it will probably bring down a lot of the space debris.

[@foureight84]

I give LCS-1 5 stars!

[@aSpyIntheHaus]

I for one would like to thank our lofty shiny ball

[@LiamRappaport]

Imagine a civilization's first visit to their moon where they find a large perfectly round ball of aluminum that has no message or function.

[@Macieks300]

for a minute I thought that was the Sputnik - first spacecraft in history and it also looks like a ball

[@janetf23]

Oooh, shiny✨

[@Jurka90087]

You should have mentioned that the LCS-2 and LCS-3 were not successfully deployed and that is why there are two balls numbered one and four.

[@asysjr]

That disco ball was here to always reminder us of the 70's

[@Lew114]

I love details like this.

[@Flesh_Wizard]

Finally, Spaceballs

[@littlebellaballoo]

It's so poetic to me that what is arguably the least interesting of humankinds space tech is one of the most important. Whenever you are feeling small or unappreciated remember that an unimpressive space marble has been and continues to be one of the most important tools for space exploration since it first began 💕💕.

[@jonadams8841]

When I was at JPL,we needed to precisely calibrate a radar we’d built. We had a local firm make a 12” aluminum sphere and took the whole kit and caboodle out to Goldstone in the Mojave desert, hoisted it with a tethered balloon, and proceeded to do exactly that. Fun!

[@mortalspiral]

Honestly really cool :D

[@HexLabz]

Just have to be shiny and round to be important enough to go into space? Where do I apply?

[@dianahowell3423]

You might not have heard the 'aluminum' part. But I fulfill 2/3 requirements, too!

[@MissMarilynDarling]

Thats what that thing is I swore I saw a ball way out there with a telescope once but none of my peers knew what it was so thats cool thanks Hank :)

[@iplayRowblawks]

Meanwhile, it’s a Microwave’s worst nightmare.

[@baileyjerman5573]

Really depends how it be made

[@gamingclipz7309]

Actually it would be fine as the surface is completely smooth…. To get sparks you need ridges for it to jump to….

[@mwolkove]

@@gamingclipz7309 it won't be round after getting jammed into the microwave!

[@bryanp.1327]

Radar uses microwaves so it's not bad for them.

[@glenngriffon8032]

Microwaves are made of aluminium mate.

[@cbarnes2160]

"It's only flashy in the most literal sense. The world's most boring disco balls." I can't stop laughing at that...

[@AccidentalNinja]

I was wondering if it's still perfectly round, given all the stuff out there in space.

[@myrmatta1]

Finally! We have made Space Balls a reality!

[@anthonystahl8996]

tracking aluminum balls, everyone freaks out over a balloon.....

[@keiththorpe9571]

You don't always need multimillion dollar equipment...Sometimes, you just need really big balls!

[@Mizgrievoux]

Inanimate Carbon Rod!

[@dan_loup]

Better in space than flying around on it's own in some small city morgue

[@chesseski7271]

lol this showed up in my feed just as i put down one of them foil balls i spend like 2 days tinkering on

[@grativy]

I love plain aluminium ball.

[@LeoAngora]

How did they build a perfect metallic sphere?

[@josemarialaguinge]

More space videos let's go.

[@ethan-loves]

This episode has excellent writing

[@brad9189]

As a young boy, I dreamed of being a one-meter hollow aluminum sphere, sent into a circular orbit around the Earth. But tonight I say, we must move forward, not backward; upward, not forward; and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom!

[@tomschmidt381]

What a great science factoid. I had not heard of LCS before.

[@cadekachelmeier7251]

Who would win? - Plain ol' aluminum ball - Inanimate carbon rod

[@DissociatedWomenIncorporated]

I have a _bone_ to pick with you, Hank. Five years ago, you and John guest hosted Good Mythical Morning, and it was fantastic. But _when_ are you going to get Rhett and Link to guest host an episode of SciShow!?

[@AngryKittens]

Imagine if an alien civilization discovered this, long after we've all destroyed ourselves in the next few decades. They'd probably conclude it was a religious artifact.

[@tenchuu007]

Welp, time for my new tattoo.

[@heinstrungropeaccesssoluti376]

So this thought comes up. Does time dilation drastically change with the distance from the star with planets moving at different rates of speed and velocity and or oval orbits that slingshot around the sun. Would orbital mechanics limit the rate of time dilation keeping uniform velocities of stars and distance ?

[@sandbridgekid4121]

This video causes SciShow Space withdrawal symptoms.

[@benedixtify]

This is so cool!!

[@Dominatr15]

You can't fool me SciShow, I know that's actually the Traveler

[@nathanlund6919]

Measurements are integral to science, and calibration of measurement devices is integral to their efficacy. This gave me the same jolt as the Veritasium video about measuring very small things.

[@BritishBeachcomber]

The first (and only) British-built and launched satellite, Prospero, also known as the X-3, was launched in 1971. It is still up there. If only we had made it spherical...

[@Surkk2960]

Finally... Spaceballs...

[@UHFStation1]

How can object without propulsion get into a steady orbit without fine adjustments?

[@IvyHeller]

We love sci show in this house!

[@georgehugh3455]

How about using that LASER-propulsion to keep (modern) satellites from falling out of orbit by outfitting them with a "light-sail" or two?

[@boydr7160]

Yay Space Ball!!!!

[@eddietowers5595]

So wait, conspiracy theorists claim the “Black knight” object has been floating in orbit for 13,000-to this day (despite being debunked numerous times) but I’m just now learning of this aluminum sphere?

[@ganaraminukshuk0]

My first guess, based on the thumbnail, was that it was the kilogram ball. Looking back, I realize it's the wrong element.

[@NickdeVera]

so the scientists are pondering the orb, badum-tsh

[@erinmoore6463]

I Love this so much