Astronomers Worldwide Troubled by New ‘Cell Phone Towers in Space’
Eric Mack, CNET, Nov 28, 2022
A sprawling new satellite built to connect directly with mobile phones on the surface is brighter than most of the stars in the night sky, according to astronomers who are calling it a threat to their work and humanity’s view of the universe.
Philip Diamond, who directs the Square Kilometer Array Observatory in South Africa and Australia, worries that orbiting cell towers aren’t subject to the same “quiet zone” restrictions that protect radio astronomers from interference by terrestrial cellular networks.
“Astronomers build radio telescopes as far away as possible from human activity, looking for places on the planet where there is limited or no cell phone coverage,” Diamond said in a statement. “New satellites such as BlueWalker 3 have the potential to worsen this situation and compromise our ability to do science if not properly mitigated.”
Read more at Astronomers Worldwide Troubled by New ‘Cell Phone Towers in Space’ by Eric Mack, CNET, Nov 28, 2022
