More proof that we live in a Science Fictional world
Go read this article on Space.com:
The Astra 5A commercial telecommunications satellite suffered an apparently sudden "technical anomaly" that has put an end to its in-orbit service life, and the spacecraft will be moved immediately into a graveyard orbit . . . SES has transferred much of the Astra 5A traffic to an Astra spacecraft at 23.5 degrees east, and Payer said substitute capacity was being located within the SES fleet for the remaining customers on Astra 5A.
I love the 'matter of fact' treatment of what is, quite frankly, just another engineering and business issue. Yet if that article had appeared more than twenty years ago as a short bit in a Hard SF novel or an Analog short story it would have made for wonderful scene setting.
So, tip to you aspiring SF writers out there: Come up with the most fantastical thing you can think of and then work it over to make it seem mundane. End result? Good writing...
The Astra 5A commercial telecommunications satellite suffered an apparently sudden "technical anomaly" that has put an end to its in-orbit service life, and the spacecraft will be moved immediately into a graveyard orbit . . . SES has transferred much of the Astra 5A traffic to an Astra spacecraft at 23.5 degrees east, and Payer said substitute capacity was being located within the SES fleet for the remaining customers on Astra 5A.
I love the 'matter of fact' treatment of what is, quite frankly, just another engineering and business issue. Yet if that article had appeared more than twenty years ago as a short bit in a Hard SF novel or an Analog short story it would have made for wonderful scene setting.
So, tip to you aspiring SF writers out there: Come up with the most fantastical thing you can think of and then work it over to make it seem mundane. End result? Good writing...