I would like to deviate from astronomy for just a moment concerning satellites.
I read the Dan Brown novel "The Lost Symbol" where he breifly discussed a certain type of satellite that is not operated by NASA, but the CIA. It has to do with human heat signatures. Now this technology is well known with law enforcement when a fleeling suspect's heat signature clearly appears in a forrest, and they can clearly be identified and tracked.
But this satellite could identify not only where a person is, but where they have been! Yes, a persons heat signature is like a foot print, in a manner of speaking.
This brings up an interesting implication:
If a missing person is reported, can this sattelite simply be pointed at the last known location of this person? If so, the satellite can just follow the movement of the heat signature to where he or she is right now! Thus, the person is not missing anymore!
Now, Dan Brown is a fiction writer. And he has included things that are related to astrophysics like antimatter as a hypothetical weapon.
Now with the aforementioned use for these sattelites, there is only a breif window of time to find a missing person because that heat signature will decintagrate quickly. So this is not a viable way to find mission people.
Again, Dan Brown is a fiction writer, so these sattelites could simply be a product of his imagination, because he has a very good imagination. Because that is why his books and subsequent films are very popular.
However, are sattelites like this possible? I suppose someone on this forum who is an expert in thermal dynamics or with everything that heat has to do with physics can shed some light on this as it pertains to the facts.
I read the Dan Brown novel "The Lost Symbol" where he breifly discussed a certain type of satellite that is not operated by NASA, but the CIA. It has to do with human heat signatures. Now this technology is well known with law enforcement when a fleeling suspect's heat signature clearly appears in a forrest, and they can clearly be identified and tracked.
But this satellite could identify not only where a person is, but where they have been! Yes, a persons heat signature is like a foot print, in a manner of speaking.
This brings up an interesting implication:
If a missing person is reported, can this sattelite simply be pointed at the last known location of this person? If so, the satellite can just follow the movement of the heat signature to where he or she is right now! Thus, the person is not missing anymore!
Now, Dan Brown is a fiction writer. And he has included things that are related to astrophysics like antimatter as a hypothetical weapon.
Now with the aforementioned use for these sattelites, there is only a breif window of time to find a missing person because that heat signature will decintagrate quickly. So this is not a viable way to find mission people.
Again, Dan Brown is a fiction writer, so these sattelites could simply be a product of his imagination, because he has a very good imagination. Because that is why his books and subsequent films are very popular.
However, are sattelites like this possible? I suppose someone on this forum who is an expert in thermal dynamics or with everything that heat has to do with physics can shed some light on this as it pertains to the facts.
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