Tough old birds
A satellite well past its prime should get replaced this week. It is but one of many
ON EARTH it is a fact of public life that politicians love to trumpet new infrastructure but take much less interest in maintaining what already exists. The same rule, it appears, applies in outer space. Many satellites launched for important purposes such as monitoring solar weather (bad solar storms can damage electrical equipment on Earth), tracking the climate and just helping people navigate are limping along in need of replacement.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline "Tough old birds"
From the February 14th 2015 edition
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