All Dressed Up With Nowhere To Go

On February 3, the ISS (that’s the International Space Station for you uninitiates) will jettison a spacesuit satellite, or SuitSat. It will be empty, of course, but it will be transmitting a short broadcast consisting of a greeting (repeated in 5 languages), code words to decipher, and then basic information such as telemetry. At the end it will broadcast “a Slow Scan TV picture”. What this picture is has not been revealed. “Students will get a certificate commemorating their reception. Those that receive the picture or copy the special words will get a special endorsement on their certificate.” This is freaking awesome and it goes without saying that my project for the next couple of weeks will be to build a radio capable of receiving the signal and finding a way to receive the picture if possible.

I also found out that the crew on the ISS will make contact with ham radioists! It’s a random chance (due to their work schedule), but apparently they love doing it. That will be a secondary goal. Anyway, here’s a link to an article talking about all of this: SuitSat Radio Article

I would encourage you to try this or at least read up on it (William might be particularly interested). This is Sigma, signing off.

I think I resent being represented as a roll of toilet paper. I’m not THAT bad of a person or writer. At least, I didn’t think I was.

Just a crazy-cat-antics update.  Minerva, my older cat, is apparently high on crack.  Or at least catnip (neither of which do I know how she got into).  She was just tearing it up, running around in the kitchen and laundry room, bolting in and out of the front room, et cetera for about two minutes.  This is usually reserved for when she is chasing a ball, only there was no ball.  She comes trotting into the front room again, heads directly to the front wall where there lies a ball.  “All right, now for some real action”, I thought.  She raises her paw and in a playful, but non-energetic manner, bats the ball.  Once.  Turning around, satisfied, she walks off in a very collected manner to lie down in the center of the room and look at me.  “Meow?”

Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.  ~George Eliot

There is something about the presence of a cat… that seems to take the bite out of being alone.  ~Louis J. Camuti

If there were to be a universal sound depicting peace, I would surely vote for the purr.  ~Barbara L. Diamond

In my lap, curled up into a ball of fuzz, lies Janus sleeping as peacefully as though he were guarded by Heaven’s legions.  Earlier this evening, Minerva graced me with the same experience, though she was a significantly larger ball of fuzz.  The feeling of peace that comes when another creature, be it animal or human, chooses to come to you to share a peaceful moment goes beyond the power of mere words to describe.  Sure for one to come so that you may go out and play and laugh is great, but when they come specifically to you to rest, to be vulnerable without fear, that’s when you know they truly care for and trust you.

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