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Spy Satellites: Difference between revisions
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== [[Fan Fiction]] ==
* In ''[[Aeon Entelechy Evangelion]]'' the military has a few satellites that were not shot down by the Migou. Unfortunately for them, the effectiveness of these satellites is low because of the Migou orbital superiority.
* ''[[Neon Exodus Evangelion]]'' has, in the final chapter, all the spy satellites controlled by X-COM, since they sent up Raiden interceptors to destroy any satellites SEELE had. They're pretty much only used for searching for the
== [[Film]] ==
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** Of course, like everything else the Men in Black use, from their guns to their cars, the satellites in question are undoubtedly made with advanced alien technology, so it's sort of justified.
* Soundwave in ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen]]'' takes this to the natural extreme, using a satellite as his alt mode. He can even hijack other spy satellites through a process that looks suspiciously like tentacle rape.
* Used in ''[[
== [[Literature]] ==
* Several of [[Philip Jose Farmer|Philip José Farmer's]] novels include spy satellites. In the ''Dayworld'' series they are a weapon of a future <s>police state</s> sharing caring one-world government. Interestingly, even though the articles were written in the 70's/ early 80's Farmer has the satellites hooked up to gait-analysing computers. It adds to the paranoid atmosphere: once the characters become fugitives they have to wear widebrim hats and spend every moment on the street walking in a deliberately different pattern.
* As mentioned in the film section above,
** At one point, a satellite gets a photo of a woman in a low-cut dress, as viewed from above. One of the analysts [[Discussed Trope|estimates]] that she had to be a C-Cup or bigger, because the limited resolution of the satellites meant that they wouldn't be able to see her cleavage if she were any smaller.
** Spy satellites show up in other [[Tom Clancy|Ryanverse]] stories, but usually in a realistic fashion: with still photos, known trajectories, and otherwise limited ability. When spy satellites are ''not'' appropriate (for example, in ''Without Remorse'', part of which involves the Vietnam War), drones and UAVs are used. ''The Bear and The Dragon'' actually focuses on how Dark Star UAVs (essentially stealthy Predator drones) dramatically shift the balance of power in war, allowing the undertrained, undermanned, ''very'' poorly equipped Russian army to defeat the otherwise overwhelmingly superior Chinese invaders.
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* ''[[24|Twenty Four]]'' has had this one several times. In its first use George Mason asked for thirty-second intervals. The footage shown were blatantly more like a picture every five seconds.
* ''[[Alias (TV series)|Alias]]'' constantly relies on this to feed intel to its super-agents as they work in the field. Many of the show's plot points hinge on this trope.
* Used often in the sixth season of ''[[Power Rangers]]'', though all PR seasons have used it to some extent whenever the Rangers are watching a monster attacking the [[City of Adventure]]. Unless it's specifically a tech-based season though, this is generally [[Magitek]] instead of full out
* ''[[NCIS]]'' in "Eye Spy".
* ''[[Jericho]]'''s track record with satellites is... schizophrenic. On the one hand, you get reasonable-looking still photos from satellites. On the other, you get Hawkins' satellite feeds... which appear to be filmed right at ground level.
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* Parodied in ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'': Riff hooks a military GPS signal to track his own position so he could navigate to [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Muffin The Vampire Baker's]] hometown, where he thinks [[Our Vampires Are Different|Sam]] is (un-)living. [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=990528 All it shows is a (front-on) picture of him with the legend "You Are Here".]
** Later averted in the storyline [http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=070205 Aylee], where a plan takes advantage of the gaps in satellite coverage.
*
* In ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' it goes all the way through the scale from "nanny-cams" - VLA clouds of nanobots - that are fairly common, if expensive, there are nanites vacuum-capable at least for a while, to... VDA ("Very Dangerous Array") built upon a large number of torpedoes deployed to make good use of their individually inferior sensors and thanks to [[Subspace Ansible|hypernodes]] feeding their data to the warship's AI without lightspeed lag.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
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** What is really notable is their ''entire military'' had a protocol for that. The US military seems to limit that to its testing and development installations; not so much emphasis is put on hiding formations of soldiers doing PT.
* There is a way of increasing satellite resolution to near-fictional levels that has been suggested as at least having been experimented with: if you put two satellites in the same orbit, one just slightly trailing the other, and aim them at the same target, you can combine the images to get greater resolution by creating the equivalent of a virtual lens that is much bigger than the individual lens on an individual satellite.
** This is known as distributed optics, and actually has a much more useful application in the creation of enormous "virtual telescopes". A telescope's resolving power is limited by the size of its primary mirror (if using a reflecting telescope), and those in orbit can obviously be larger than those on the ground - however, past a certain point, it's impossible to lift them into orbit safely. The idea is to use many smaller mirrors spread out over a large area, which act as small parts of a larger mirror. It takes a lot longer to gather the light needed for an exposure, but it is at a MUCH higher resolution. With a large enough array, we could see extra-solar planets with as much detail as we can see Earth.
** The creatively named Very Large Array has already applied the technology to radio telescopes.
* We may not think much of it now, but those satellite and aerial pics you can look up on Google Earth? The image quality would've put many actual spy satellites during the Cold War to shame. Most of said images come from Keyhole, Inc., a CIA-funded company whose name is a direct reference to the Corona spy satellites, which were all designated with the name "Key Hole" followed by a number. Actual spying (on their owners) is prevented, though, because sensitive areas are blacked out or edited away in Google Earth images.
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Applied Phlebotinum]]
[[Category:Action Adventure Tropes]]
[[Category:Spy Satellites]]▼
[[Category:Alliterative Trope Titles]]
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