Google Sightseeing takes you on tour of the world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. Each weekday your guides James and Alex present new weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.

The editors: James & Alex

Colorado Balloon Things

Thursday, 2nd June 2005 by Alex

Doug described these things in Colorado as ‘deep space satellites’. Can anyone confirm what they are? (Please, please don’t say ‘weather balloons’…) ;-)

Colorado Balloons

Update: Turns out that these are actually two parabolic dish antennas belonging to the Deep Space Exploration Society located in the Table Mountain Antenna Fields Site.

Thanks to everyone is the comments for clearing that up :-)

12 Responses to 'Colorado Balloon Things'

  1. 1. pooms says:

    They are the two parabolic dish antennas of the Deep Space Exploration Society. Lots of photo’s on their web site:
    http://www.deep-space.info/index.shtml

  2. 2. JoXn Costello says:

    They’re smack inside the “Table Mountain Antenna Fields Site” according to Google Maps. So I’d guess they’re … antennas!

  3. 3. David says:

    Satellites are, of course, things in orbit. These are a little close to the ground to be in orbit.

  4. 4. Ravaaron says:

    pooms is right…heh theyre about 5 minutes away from my house

    Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth

  5. 5. Timhogs says:

    Is there a posting of the Very Large Array antenna farm (I believe it’s in New Mexico) on the site?

  6. 6. Chris says:

    Last time I looked, the images of the VLA area were too low resolution to see the site.

    But if you like big radio telescopes, you can see the dish at Arecibo in Puerto Rico here: Placemark: Arecibo, PR / Google Earth

  7. 7. Rob Marshall says:

    [nice ground view of the two dishes][1]

    [1]: http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/home/programs/tm_quiet_zone/1966/chap3.html

  8. 8. Tim says:

    Timhogs: I found the Very Large Array. Doesn’t look like much.

    Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth

  9. 9. Corey Vilhauer says:

    Weather balloons. ;)

  10. 10. Kell says:

    There appears to be another parabolic dish antenna on the page, ‘Griffith Observatory, L.A.’ within this site. Just to the right of the observatory.

  11. 11. Richard Barber says:

    Those are called radio telescopes. They give a 3D reading of deep space quasars and junk.

  12. 12. Jim Thompson says:

    Closer view: http://terraserver.microsoft.com/usgsentry.aspx?T=4&S=8&Z=13&X=9606&Y=88884&W=2.

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