Too bad youse guys missed Tom Corbett and Capt. Vidio.

 

OK, I will admit my ignorance and probably embarrass myself for a lack of aircraft systems knowledge but I have to ask this question:

The search for the Malaysian jet is now going on in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The news media says that is based on "satellite data" and they keep showing some huge "arcs" that are supposedly based on satellites and they talk about the 7 hours of data that kept coming in after the ACARS and transponder were turned off or quit transmitting, etc. etc.

What system are they talking about? What emitter is there on a 777 besides ACARS, transponder and the radios? They seem to be implying that engine data continues to be transmitted and I know the new generation Boeings all sing like a bird the entire flight, but I always thought that data was transmitted through ACARS? I know ACARS can send via VHF, HF or SATCOM but its all still ACARS, which was supposedly turned off. Is there another system that I'm not aware of?

 

Well, my baby just came in and told me she wants to go to Auburn. She was accepted to SMU, Baylor, Vanderbilt, Miami of Ohio, and Bama. At least she'll be close to home. Tip of the hat to you FTB, I'm going to have to get used to saying War Eagle now that my money is going there.

 

State school. Your wallet can breathe a sigh of relief.
Auburn will take a lot of your money, that's for sure.
Vandy would have taken all of it. And then some.

 

She wants to go into pre-med. I thought Baylor or Vandy. Just spent 22k a year on Woodward in College Park. Sigh, long sigh, oh well at least the drive to the airport was short. My wife laughed and said it's just MRS school anyway. Now I know how Timbo feels.

 

 

Okay,Dog W.! Tom, Astro, and I forget the other guy.... The Space Cadets.

 

Space Giants! Goldar, Silvar and Gam, and loogoo men that turned into purple apple sauce when shot. They were transformers before transformers were cool. Plus it laid the foundation for a later deep and meaningful appreciation for Amine for some reason.

What? Silvar was hot.

Don't judge me.

 

The sat antennas and transceivers were likely powered up and despite a lack of commands to transmit data, they still ping the satellites and the satellites ping back. Essentially it's a "hey I am here." The satellite records the asimuth from which the satellite received it's last ping from the aircraft. Of the two satellite systems I know of , Inmarsat and Iridium, one is geosynchronous and the other in orbit. It really makes no difference as the jet is always moving along from one to the next anyways. The ping ensures the connection is maintained from one satellite to the next. That's the .02 version.

 

Thanks. That makes sense.
I was not aware that SATCOM was continuously pinging even when not in use.