Message posted by Polemodel on July 13, 2009 at 13:48:36 PST:

Just thinkin' out loud...
What about the new tower is Not speculation? We know its dimensions, roughly 155ft (or 180?) tall x 30ft on each side. We know it's been installed near the RCS ranges, but other than proximity, there's no obvious connection to them. We know, I think it's safe to say, that it rotates.
Anything else?
It certainly could be some sort of nav-aid, landing system, etc, but with the accuracy of a mature technology like GPS, what would this new system contribute?
Placing the tower near the RCS ranges certainly makes one suspect a connection, but it might be simply that that's the end of the base where measurement apparatus of whatever sort is situated.
It looks like a strong enough structure; as Joerg commented elsewhere, a triangular truss would be the best solution for something that needs to be rigid and also able to rotate. Trying to decipher the fuzzy lines, I count either 12 or 13 'stories' or levels. And there's something stretched lengthwise across the middle of (at least one of) the sides.
It doesn't look much like some new version of the things that have been proposed: RCS target support, LTA mooring mast. But then again, if it represents some amazing secret innovation, one shouldn't expect the 'new' to look just like the 'old'.
I'm stuck. still leaning toward some kind of sensor array, but what part(s) of the spectrum? Active or passive or both? What kinds of signatures would it be used to measure? Is it connected to any of the electronic sites around the base that went up around the same time?

In Reply to: Re: Triangular Tower posted by werD on July 13, 2009 at 7:57:01 PST:

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