At least there's *finally* a semi-decent explanation of how Inmarsat came up with those two arcs originally, and then narrowed down a final location. That's what has been bothering me most, of all the many strangenesses in this story.
Some recent articles. The last one is the tech explanation.
20140325
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2588109/How-got-After-Malaysia-Airlines-jet-said-crashed-Indian-Ocean-look-ended-far-course.htmlDoes the revelation that missing Malaysian jet crashed into the ocean prove its crew WERE overcome by smoke? News supports theory the plane ran out of fuel after flying 'unmanned' for hours
(Includes video and Inmarsat spokesman offering a few shreds of info on how the flight path located. 'Doppler'. )
video:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2588109/How-got-After-Malaysia-Airlines-jet-said-crashed-Indian-Ocean-look-ended-far-course.html#v-3386538487001Interesting screens in the 'control center walkthrough'.
20140325
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10719304/How-British-satellite-company-Inmarsat-tracked-down-MH370.htmlHow British satellite company Inmarsat tracked down MH370
The British company that provided vital information on MH370’s whereabouts explains its calculations
video:
http://player.ooyala.com/iframe.js#pbid=7dfd98005dba40baacc82277f292e522&ec=FyYzNkbDofp0-Lb9KtV9yjM3Nf_K2FMx Chris McLaughlin - Inmarsat senior vice president
20140324 (linked via JimStone)
http://www.rtlnieuws.nl/nieuws/binnenland/twee-f-16s-onderscheppen-vrachttoestelTwo F-16s intercepted freighter (google translated from Dutch)
From the Brabant Volkel airbase, two F-16s took off to intercept. A freighter
It turned out this was a cargo plane, a Boeing 777F LAN Cargo, which was en route to the airport. The unit flew from Miami in Dutch airspace and they could not connect to the device.
A spokesman for the Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security unit had previously requested permission for the flight. That is because of the nuclear security summit in The Hague is mandatory.
The jets have the cargo plane accompanied this had left. Dutch airspace The unit flew independently to the airport in Frankfurt, Germany.
20140326
http://presstv.com/detail/2014/03/25/355988/china-demands-data-on-missing-jet/China casts doubt on fate of Flight MH370
A Senior Chinese official has demanded Malaysia to turn over satellite data it used to conclude that a missing airliner has crashed in the Indian Ocean.
Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng told Malaysia’s ambassador to Beijing that China wanted to know exactly what led the Kuala Lumpur government to announce that the plane has plunged in the ocean.
“We demand the Malaysian side to make clear the specific basis on which they come to this judgement,” Xie said during an urgent meeting with Malaysian Ambassador Iskandar Sarudin in Beijing.
20140326
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/2014/03/25/mh370-last-incomplete-ping-from-jet-not-understood/MH370: Last incomplete ping from jet ‘not understood’. Includes link to explanation from Inmarsat (on Facebook? WTF?):
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=740971779281171&id=178566888854999&stream_ref=10This new revelation at this evening’s media briefing in Kuala Lumpur by Malaysia’s acting transport minister and minister of defence Hishammuddin Hussein is described in a detailed explanation added to the Ministry of Transport Facebook page.
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The doppler story seems reasonable. But looking at their chart of the doppler shift from each of the contacts with MH370, do you see something odd?
I have questions.
* Why are there 'predicted' points for the start of the flight (when it was flying as intended) and why don't they match with the measured data points?
* How many contacts were there in total? That number seemed to keep changing, but wasn't it 7 or 8 finally? In this chart there are 12 points (each a contact).
* We're told the system interrogated the plane at hourly intervals after contact was lost. And mostly during the final hours of flight the contacts were hourly. But why is the final interval between contacts an hour and a half?
* The vertical scale... Huh? All frequency offsets were positive? But in the initial part of the flight, the plane was getting closer to the satellite (positive doppler shift) but the later section of the flight was going away from the satellite. Definitely. So the shift should be negative. But not according to the chart. I can't see how to reconcile that. Unless... Is this a case of some low level flunky being ordered to fabricate a technical looking chart, and thinking "f*ck you, pointy headed boss." and deliberately including impossible errors, to let all thinking people know it's a lie?
Edit to add:
The satellite is geosynchronous, but doesn't have a perfect orbit. Online data says current apogee 35808.97Km, perigee 35762.22Km. Could the satellite have been in downwards drift the whole time of MH370's flight, hence the always positive doppler shift? But still, you'd think the doppler chart would show bias above and below the reference of the plane's doppler shift while parked on the runway.Can anyone think of a way the offsets could always be positive?
The original 'two arcs' chart as published by the Malaysian government is here:
http://everist.org/MH370/mh370_arcs_rubbish.htm (Needs an update, just linking for the chart.)
Supposedly the 'final position' is located at the intersection of the arc defined by the signal round trip delay (a circle centered on the satellite's ground lat,long) and a path consistent with the doppler shift.
But I'd *really* like to see both those factors for each of the successive contacts. Just to see for myself. Not that the whole dataset couldn't be entirely fake. Can certainly see the Chinese government's point in demanding the raw data.
Does anyone know a way to save a copy of videos from newspaper sites like this?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2588109/How-got-After-Malaysia-Airlines-jet-said-crashed-Indian-Ocean-look-ended-far-course.html#v-3386538487001Really want to keep a local copy of that video, and some others. YTD can't grab them.