Uploaded March 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
"Orbital Police" is A Duke Rethinking Diplomacy Space Diplomacy Lab Webinar featuring Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysicist, Dr. Jonathan McDowell.
“My car is currently orbiting Mars” -@Elon Musk
“Well, no. It's orbiting the Sun, and occasionally passes the orbit of Mars. Not
the same thing.” -@planet4589 (Dr. Jonathan McDowell)
“Who died and made you the orbital police?” -Alonso@TGT OAR
“Johannes Kepler” -@planet4589 (Dr. Jonathan McDowell)
As a 10 year old child in Britain, McDowell became fascinated by a community of Ham radio operators sharing open source radio intercepts of Russian satellites. As a teenager, he joined The British Interplanetary Society, the world’s oldest independent space advocacy body, beginning a lifelong passion for independent, community based knowledge sharing on outer space issues and potential development.
Dr. McDowell still takes time out of his busy schedule to share his observations of all the bright little blinking objects traversing the night sky with anyone who is interested. “I have become the fact checker for outer space”, Dr. McDowell jokes during a Duke University Rethinking Diplomacy Space Diplomacy Lab webinar December 16, 2022.
In 1989, he began keeping a no-frills, cross referenced catalog of geosynchronous satellites and their current locations, a database of international rocket launches, and an up to date account of activities at the International Space Station. Every other week, he publishes “Jonathan’s Space Report”, a newsletter which, because of its precise attention to detail and political independence, has become the journal of record on space industrialization, and a valued resource for academics, journalists, and policy makers alike.
This webinar was hosted by Dr. Benjamin L. Schmitt and Dr. Giovanni Zanalda, Co-chairs of the Space Diplomacy Lab of Duke University's Rethinking Diplomacy Program, and made possible by a grant from the Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation Endowment Fund. Learn more about the Space Diplomacy Lab: https://sites.duke.edu/spacediplomacylab/
"Orbital Police" is A Duke Rethinking Diplomacy Space Diplomacy Lab Webinar featuring Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysicist, Dr. Jonathan McDowell.
“My car is currently orbiting Mars” -@Elon Musk
“Well, no. It's orbiting the Sun, and occasionally passes the orbit of Mars. Not
the same thing.” -@planet4589 (Dr. Jonathan McDowell)
“Who died and made you the orbital police?” -Alonso@TGT OAR
“Johannes Kepler” -@planet4589 (Dr. Jonathan McDowell)
As a 10 year old child in Britain, McDowell became fascinated by a community of Ham radio operators sharing open source radio intercepts of Russian satellites. As a teenager, he joined The British Interplanetary Society, the world’s oldest independent space advocacy body, beginning a lifelong passion for independent, community based knowledge sharing on outer space issues and potential development.
Dr. McDowell still takes time out of his busy schedule to share his observations of all the bright little blinking objects traversing the night sky with anyone who is interested. “I have become the fact checker for outer space”, Dr. McDowell jokes during a Duke University Rethinking Diplomacy Space Diplomacy Lab webinar December 16, 2022.
In 1989, he began keeping a no-frills, cross referenced catalog of geosynchronous satellites and their current locations, a database of international rocket launches, and an up to date account of activities at the International Space Station. Every other week, he publishes “Jonathan’s Space Report”, a newsletter which, because of its precise attention to detail and political independence, has become the journal of record on space industrialization, and a valued resource for academics, journalists, and policy makers alike.
This webinar was hosted by Dr. Benjamin L. Schmitt and Dr. Giovanni Zanalda, Co-chairs of the Space Diplomacy Lab of Duke University's Rethinking Diplomacy Program, and made possible by a grant from the Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation Endowment Fund. Learn more about the Space Diplomacy Lab: https://sites.duke.edu/spacediplomacylab/
