Satellites

[rainprince]

What is the function of satellites?

[brachiopod]

They are just lumps or rock trapped in orbit around a larger body. eg the moon around the Earth.
They have no 'function' as such.

Artificial satellites however, are man-made objects placed into orbit round the Earth. they have many functions, including communications, surveillance, environmental monitoring, (terrestrial, atmospheric and oceanic), gravitational measuring etc etc.

[Skids]

Artificial satellites are put there so that people see them twinkling at night, and sometimes watch them track across the sky, and think that they are UFOs.

[Skids]

Oh, and so you can go onto Google Earth and look at satellite photos to find the best military bases to place an incendiary device.

[brachiopod]

Satellite are also used by GCHQ for monitoring telecommunications, such as terrorist related text messages, subversive telphone calls, and posts to popular 'question and answer' websites stating intention to place incendiary devices in military bases.

;o)

[paljor]

The gravitational pull of the Moon gives this planet its sea tides. This same pull also counteracts a severe wobble that the Earth has as it spins on its axis. Without the moon to steady the Earth, we would experience rapidly changing and very violent climate swings which would render most of the planet uninhabitable to most of the species alive today.