stackyFACTS
Technology

Why dead satellites can suddenly start transmitting

HERE’S THE INTERESTING PART

High above the Earth, completely defunct spacecraft occasionally spring back to life decades after being entirely abandoned by modern scientists. These zombie satellites undergo bizarre battery chemical reactions triggered by direct solar radiation, causing them to sporadically transmit eerie, unreadable radio telemetry back down to terrified amateur astronomers.

Why dead satellites can suddenly start transmitting
STACKY / Technology
One discovery leads to another.

Keep exploring facts in this topic.

Technology →
STACKY FOR IPHONE

A bigger world.
One discovery
at a time.

Keep discovering with Stacky. Interesting facts in an app that is always within reach.

Download on the App Store
ONE MORE DISCOVERY?

Keep exploring

All in this topic →
Technology

AST SpaceMobile launched the gargantuan BlueWalker 3 satellite to beam broadband directly to unmodified iPhones in dead zones completely bypassing the need for terrestrial cell…

The dreaded 'No Service' indicator on your phone screen is about to be eradicated from existence. Historically, satellite phones required clunky, expensive…

Discover more
Starlink relays tractor data from dead zones to cloud
Technology

Starlink relays tractor data from dead zones to cloud

Tracking moisture sensors across thousands of acres of deep Amazonian rainforest or open ocean is a logistical nightmare with zero cell service. Low Earth…

Discover more
The Apollo 11 computer was weaker than a greeting card
Technology

The Apollo 11 computer was weaker than a greeting card

Humanity's greatest exploratory achievement was mathematically calculated by a machine dumber than a piece of singing cardboard. The Apollo Guidance Computer…

Discover more
Your memory-foam mattress began as pilot protection
Technology

Your memory-foam mattress began as pilot protection

Your incredibly comfortable mattress started out as a shock absorber. It was formulated in the 1960s to keep test pilots from being brutally pulverized during…

Discover more
How radar tracks tanks through clouds
Technology

How radar tracks tanks through clouds

Multi-million dollar optical satellites are completely blinded by a simple overcast day, but Synthetic Aperture Radar simply doesn't care about the weather.…

Discover more
Modern smart phone battery chargers frequently contain built-in microprocessors that possess significantly more raw computing power than the Apollo Guidance Computer used to navigate astronauts to the moon in 1969.
Technology

Modern smart phone battery chargers frequently contain built-in microprocessors that possess significantly more raw computing power than the Apollo Guidance Computer used to navigate astronauts to the moon in 1969.

Modern smart phone battery chargers frequently contain built-in microprocessors that possess significantly more raw computing power than the Apollo Guidance…

Discover more
StackyMore discoveries in the app
Download on the App Store