Re: Is this "Kooky?"

Spike Jones (spike66@ibm.net)
Tue, 02 Mar 1999 19:16:06 -0800

Randall Randall wrote:

> >> Hackers Reportedly Seize British Military Satellite
> >> LONDON (Reuters) - Hackers have seized control of one of Britain's

> >That means the hackers took over the attitude control system and
> >the orbit adjust system? I think not. spike
>
> Eh? Surely the military computers on the ground can do this, no?
> If not, why not, and if so, why is it unbelievable that (given that they
> cracked the system) they'd not be able to use them?

because military satellites (and any other satellites for that matter) are so complicated to control, even assuming a standing army of dedicated professionals, jillions of dollars worth of specialized computer hardware and software, reams of documentation, not to mention specialized codes to prevent exactly that sort of thing. After having been part of that process, I would sooner believe a group of miscreants erected a tall skyscraper without anyone noticing as kidnapping a satellite. spike