Gazing at the night sky on a clear night used to mean seeing the moon, stars and an occasional planet.
Now it's likely though, that a good long look at the heavens will also reveal man-made satellites as they whiz around the planet doing everything from gathering weather information to bouncing back television signals.A group of more than 400 space scientists, engineers and aerospace industry professionals from around the world have gathered at Utah State University this week to discuss more possibilities for satellites.
Discussions include gathering information about the atmosphere, performing surveillance, allowing soldiers to observe battlefield conditions from a safe distance, and speeding telephone communications to mobile phones all over the world.
This is the fifth year USU and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics have co-sponsored the conference on small satellites. The increasing annual attendance reflects the rapidly growing, international interest in building and launching satellites that are smaller, usually cheaper and more responsive than their bulky counterparts.
Keynote speaker Michael Griffin, deputy director of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization who will soon move to NASA as associate administrator of space exploration, illustrated how quickly changes are made in the aerospace industry.
"In 1985, the smallest satellite we could build weighed a ton," Griffin said. "Now we have 300-, 400- and 500-pound satellites that can do everything a 10,000-pound satellite could do 10 years ago."
And since scale is often related to cost, Griffin said he believes missions that can be accomplished with small satellites ought to be.
Griffin added that NASA is facing harsh budget restraints next year and "given all there is to fund on the nation's table - the homeless, the gulf war, medical needs and savings and loan bailouts - it is vital to consider costs."