Cold War’s best-kept secret, robot dog vs drone, asteroid or Tesla Roadster?

In a twist, the space community briefly thought they’d discovered an unusual object zipping through space. But the reality turned out to be far more terrestrial.

In 2018, Elon Musk’s SpaceX tried a bold experiment by launching his cherry-red Tesla Roadster into orbit aboard the first flight of the Falcon Heavy rocket.

The car with a mannequin named “Starman” at the wheel was sent on an audacious journey through the solar system. Delve deeper into our Must-Read.

🔥Today’s job of the day as featured on jobs.interestingengineering.com:

> Senior IT Network Engineer
> Software Engineer - DevOps Engineer

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MUST-READ

🚘 Mystery asteroid revealed: It’s Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster cruising through space

As per Astronomy magazine, an amateur astronomer in Turkey spotted an asteroid moving through space at the start of January. After careful observation, the astronomer submitted the findings to the Minor Planet Center (MPC) at Cambridge’s Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

The asteroid passed within 150,000 miles (240,000 km) of Earth. Initially, it was listed as a near-Earth object and dubbed 2018 CN41 on January 2 by MPC. However, doubts soon arose. ​​Astronomer Jonathan McDowell began to suspect the object might not be an asteroid.

After some investigation, he realized the object’s trajectory perfectly matched that of the Falcon Heavy‘s upper stage, which mounted Musk’s Tesla Roadster. The MPC quickly issued a retraction. 2018 CN41 wasn’t an asteroid; it was the same Falcon Heavy upper stage carrying Musk’s Tesla Roadster.

🛰️ Cold War’s best-kept secret: Spy satellite that stayed hidden for 30 years

Throughout the Cold War’s iciest decades, the top-secret Parcae project, shrouded in secrecy for over 30 years, provided the U.S. with unmatched capabilities in electronic eavesdropping. This covert operation was essential in upholding the principle of mutual assured destruction (MAD) and preventing geopolitical tensions from escalating into nuclear warfare.

Despite existing efforts like the ELINT (electronic intelligence) satellite program Poppy, which could detect and locate Soviet radar emissions, the U.S. intelligence community struggled with slow data processing that could take weeks to interpret. In 1971, extensive naval drills exposed further vulnerabilities in the U.S.’s satellite intelligence systems, necessitating robust and rapid response mechanisms.

This was when Parcae was conceived. The most advanced orbiting electronic intelligence system to date, it was poised to fill this critical void in U.S. global maritime surveillance.

🔥 Viral: Robot dog battles drone in fireworks fight, sparking future warfare concerns

A robotic dog fighting an aerial drone is the future of warfare that one would expect in science fiction.

But a video depicting this real-life scene has gone viral on social media sites in China and brought up discussions about a future where machines engage in warfare and what it would take to become the ultimate victor.

The clip circulated on social media does not mention the location of the shot but shows the drone with fireworks fitted onto its landing gear. The dog also has a fireworks firing mechanism mounted on its back, and the two are dueling each other while dodging shots fired.  

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