On Transparency
The idea came to me when I was standing under the shower thinking about today's launch of the NROL15 reconnaisance satellite of the United States. The United Launch Alliance, whose Delta IV rocket was to place the satellite into its designated orbit showed a webcast till the first stage seperation. This was in response to the operator's request.
Quite soon, though, an army of volunteers will track down the satellite and make its two line elements public. Two line elements are all that's needed to know where the satellite is in space. The Government agency that owns and runs this satellite knows about the work that these volunteers are doing. They do not publicly agree or deny the accuracy of these elements.
This is a new kind of transparency. A transparency in the operation of publicly visible services of the Government. If the Government were to hide such data the citizen can easily observe and collect such data. Science and technology have made that possible. The philosophy and the ethics of this new kind of transparency is still under debate. It is here that we as citizens must engage in this debate.
