in a titanium alloy structure. Iridium was chosen because it's the second densest element on Earth.And that means that there are a lot of nuclei packed in a small space, which increases the odds that the protons will hit something.
So it's obviously a satellite, but do you know what sort of satellite? Iridium ? Iridium . Oh, very, very good.OK, that is in iridium satellite paid for by Motorola to tune of about $2.6 billion.
a compact Ye Old you know compact ipack plug the photo in we had some software to shrink it down because the bandwidth iridium said it wouldn't work um HP compact said it wouldn't work uh motor made the phone said it'll only work with
Because that project was only doing one thing. And Iridium was doing many things. And what it was is a system of autonomous action satellites that would function as cell phone towers in the sky.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. The Iridium satellite is a three-sided satellite, like a triangular cylinder.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. So Iridium was the first realization of packet switch to connect together with circuit switch.
Because Motorala, by the way, had invented the brick, the original DynaTAC back in the '70s. But the Iridium phone, it looked kind of like a World War II walkie talkie with a giant antenna on it. And it was even worse than a brick.
Well, they went bankrupt too was the answer? So why did Iridium survive? Because this one guy here, this retired businessman who was playing golf in Palm Beach, had no previous experience with satellites or outer space,
had no money of his own to buy it, and his single-minded persistence resulted in the deal of the century really that saved the Iridium System. So in order to write this book, when people won't talk to you, what do you do?
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. Secret Chinese launch complexes-- Iridium was the first commercial space launch in China.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. It's on the Iridium frequency.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. You don't take Iridium phones with you because they think it would be an unfair advantage.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. And the giant iridium flares are a phenomenon that has caught the imagination of people around the world.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. The framing for the Iridium System, for the user links, is 90 millisecond frame.
What went on? And it's sandstorms and all this cataclysmic stuff. In the iridium layer, it's pretty easy to spot it. But to think that we're going to an event like that right now, because this is comfortable-- we're all having lunch.
Welcome So we're here for an author's talk, as usual. This is for "Eccentric Orbits-- The Iridium Story" written by John Bloom to my left. To my right, we have actually two distinguished guests as well with us, Dan Colussy and Ray Leopold, both very distinguished in their fields.
the staple officially removed by the person at the front of the room, which if you did that every time you had a staple, you would be there for seven years. So there were 24 boxes of Iridium documents. And each box has a dozen or so bulky folders.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. The Air Force agreement-- all Iridium satellites have to be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. If they know anything about the Iridium phone, they know it from the movies.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. Probably the most famous scene with an Iridium phone is Bradley Cooper in "American Sniper." He executes the longest kill shot in history.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. And he picks up his Iridium phone, and extends the antenna, and says, I'm ready to come home, baby.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. And they don't take Iridium phones.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. There's an app called Iridium Flare.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. When we created the architecture of the Iridium System, we made the constellation of satellites.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. communication security beyond what the Iridium System has in and of itself.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. What's the country code of the Iridium ?
it wiped out all the large dinosaurs. It was left with an iridium layer. There's not dinosaurs above that iridium layer.
It was left with an iridium layer. There's not dinosaurs above that iridium layer. But there's a dinosaurs below it.
And that means that there are a lot of nuclei packed in a small space, which increases the odds that the protons will hit something. But when one of these protons hits an iridium nucleus, it doesn't bounce off like you'd expect in most collisions. It is going so fast and has so much energy that it penetrates the nucleus, where it collides directly with one of the neutrons or protons.
It's too slow for that. He goes to all the other co-owners of Iridium , 28 companies around the world. They're apoplectic with rage because they feel like Motorola sold them this bill of goods.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. There's feedback here. Iridium was the first commercial space launch in China.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. allocate frequency, Iridium made a picket fence solution so that they could share that spectrum.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. Brad Pitt fights zombies and saves the world with an Iridium phone In "World War Z."
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. So most people remember that scene as there Iridium moment.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. There have been traditions now grown up around the Iridium phone.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. I said, those are iridium giant flares.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. OK, the Iridium System is actually the first commercial use of both a packet switch network and a circuit switch network integrated together.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. you get a certain amount of security just from the basic Iridium System.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. Yeah, and Iridium was the first non-country to get it's own country code.
They're probably not going to be-- they'll be looking at the computers in the garbage dump. And they're going to see-- it will be like an iridium layer-- you know, when the comet hit the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, it wiped out all the large dinosaurs.
So we know that there was a catastrophic event. When future generations look back at our plume of the iridium layer, they're going to see our garbage. And I think that if we don't do a great job at trying to mitigate this problem, we're not going to looking to say how great our computers are,
Iridium ? Iridium . Oh, very, very good.OK, that is in iridium satellite paid for by Motorola to tune of about $2.6 billion. And Wired celebrated it by calling that product Edsels in the sky, and it was one of the factors that led to part of
the rest on top so sort of pov cameras which are you can use like this we're sending stuff back from the boat through we've got two things we've got an iridium satellite connection which basically sends compressed video through a satellite connection and then we've got something called a b which is a global area broadband satellite which is challenging to use on the boat it's not designed for boat use
Because now he's 85 years old, and he's running three companies. So it's not so big a deal that he did the Iridium thing when he was 69. But stand up, Dan.
So that record got shattered pretty fast. But if you ask a Wall Street guy what he remembers about Iridium , he'll tell you, oh, a huge flame out. Another thing where Motorola screwed up so bad.
So I go off for awhile. And I talk to people, people associated with Iridium , people associate with Motorola. And I ask all the obvious questions.
So I filed a Freedom of Information Act request. And the result is that they turned up 18,000 pages of documents dealing with Iridium at the William Jefferson Clinton library in Little Rock, Arkansas. Then they wouldn't give those documents to me.
He comes to the aid of a group of African-American investors, all friends of Jesse Jackson, who have noticed the way Dan Colussy is being treated, and don't like it, and think that Iridium can be used for communications in remote African villages, which is an idea that resonates deeply within the Clinton Administration. Because they were always looking for ways to help Africa.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. In fact, all you have to do Google iridium giant flare.
Nazi rocket scientists play a big part in this story. I've got to tell you, these same Iridium astronomers who hate us using a 20 centimeter wavelength band, where they wanted to listen without looking