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Alan Boyle writes

A commercial satellite operator says it has captured a rare image of China's first aircraft carrier as it sailed through the Yellow Sea, after going through an exercise that's the 21st-century equivalent of finding a needle in a haystack.

DigitalGlobe said the aircraft carrier showed up on a cloud-filled picture snapped on Dec. 8 by its polar-orbiting QuickBird satellite from a height of 280 miles (450 kilometers). An analyst spotted the ship while checking the image on Tuesday, said Stephen Wood, the director of the company's analysis center.

"There is something that is always indispensable about having people involved," Wood told me. The ship was identified "using a combination of the satellite imagery plus open-source material on the Internet, and geography," he said, but "at the end of the day, it still comes down to a person."

Experts have been hoping for months to get a glimpse of the aircraft carrier at sea. The former Soviet Union started building the ship, originally known as the Varyag, but never finished it. After the Soviet breakup, the Varyag ended up in the hands of the Ukrainian government. The ship was auctioned off to the Chinese in 1998. Since then, the Varyag, which has reportedly been rechristened the Shi Lang, has been under refurbishment for sea service.

"This is a ship and a story that has had legs for many years," Wood said.

DigitalGlobe said this picture was taken during the carrier's second sea trial, approximately 62 miles (100 kilometers) south-southeast of the port of Dalian. Wood said the picture indicates that the ship is "moving at a decent rate of speed, which would be expected in the middle of the ocean." The U.S. military could no doubt glean more information about the Shi Lang's status, from QuickBird's pictures as well as from classified, higher-resolution imagery.

China says the Shi Lang will be used for research and training, and the project is thought to be part of the country's strategy to expand its presence as a naval power. The Chinese military is expected to build more copies of the ship in coming years. In fact, sources told Reuters in July that a second aircraft carrier was under construction.

"China's next moves have to be watched carefully, or there eventually could be a negative impact on maritime safety in Asia," Yoshihiko Yamada, a professor at Japan's Tokai University, told Reuters at the time.

QuickBird's view of the Shi Lang serves as today's offering from the Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar, which features an image of Earth from space every day from now until Christmas.

hank scorpio wrote:

CID1990 wrote:If it becomes necessary for that ship to sink, it will do so quickly.

Wedgebuster wrote: What name of this airclaft crarior?

Ivytalk wrote:Remember The Battle of Midway!

CitadelGrad wrote:

CID1990 wrote:If it becomes necessary for that ship to sink, it will do so quickly.

Unfortunately, the same can be said of our carriers. Those damn things are nothing but missile magnets.

Wedgebuster wrote:

hank scorpio wrote:

That looks like one of my "floaty poopies"

What name of this airclaft crarior?

CID1990 wrote:Actually, the satellite pics I am eagerly anticipating are the ones of the fireballs that will be coming from the a$$ of that thing the minute the Chinese start trying to actually figure out how to do carrier deck operations.

We have almost 100 years on them in that field. Nobody else comes close, even the Russian weren't truly able to figure it out.

CAA Flagship wrote:

Ivytalk wrote:Remember The Battle of Midway!

Japan lost 4 carriers that day. A colossal blunder on their part. Code breaking, good planning, and some luck lead the US to victory in the most pivitol battle of the war in the Pacific.

BlueHen86 wrote:

CAA Flagship wrote: Japan lost 4 carriers that day. A colossal blunder on their part. Code breaking, good planning, and some luck lead the US to victory in the most pivitol battle of the war in the Pacific.

One of the lucky things was the contribution of the USS Naulitus. The Nautilus encountered 4 Japanese ships, a battleship, a crusier and 2 destroyers. One of the destroyers played cat and mouse wit the Nautilus for 2 hours, eventually giving up and then making way to the rest of the main Japanese fleet. The destroyer was spotted and tracked by US air craft and led the US planes right to 2 Japanese aircraft carriers (the Soryu and Kaga). The US planes sank both carriers.

If the Japanese destroyer hadn't spent 2 hours trying to sink the Nautilus the US planes might not have found the two carriers.

CAA Flagship wrote:

Ivytalk wrote:Remember The Battle of Midway!

Japan lost 4 carriers that day. A colossal blunder on their part. Code breaking, good planning, and some luck lead the US to victory in the most pivitol battle of the war in the Pacific.

CID1990 wrote:Actually, the satellite pics I am eagerly anticipating are the ones of the fireballs that will be coming from the a$$ of that thing the minute the Chinese start trying to actually figure out how to do carrier deck operations.

We have almost 100 years on them in that field. Nobody else comes close, even the Russian weren't truly able to figure it out.

mrklean wrote:Will they serve Gen. Tuz's Chicken or Lemon Chicken with Rice??