I was in Ohio visiting my grandparents in june of 2004 when the last Venus transit occurred. The transit was already in progress as the sun rose. It was clear and warm. I setup and video camera and vcr to record the transit occasionally removing the video camera to get still shots with my digital camera. I used a 80mm refractor (orion short tube80) with a mylar white light solar filter and an orange color filter on the 25mm eyepiece. I remember waking up every 30 mins for a few hours before the transit afraid i had over slept. Good thing I was in Ohio as it was cloudy in GA!
The filter I used last time was a 80mm mylar white light filter. This time I am using a 10 inch glass white light filter which is machine-polished and triple-coated with nickel-chromium stainless steel. The new filter is much better and does give an orangish tint to the sun.
The next Venus transit will be on June 5th at 5:04pm and will still be in progress when the sun sets. This event will not happen again until December 2117. Chances are no one who sees this one will be alive to see the next one!
Here is a tutorial I recorded to show how to use heavens-above to see the International space Station and flares. Make sure you switch to 720p resolution to see the text better!
We first tried to see a Shuttle Launch in 2005. It was the return to flight launch of Discovery STS-114 but it was delayed and we missed it. Then in 2006 we tried to see Atlantis STS-115 but that was scrubbed due to tropical storm Ernesto so no luck there!
We gave it a rest for a couple of years and on May 21, 2008, Misty and I drove down to see our first shuttle launch from Titusville’s Space View Park. It was STS-124 and it was the Shuttle Discovery. I wrote an entry about it on my website and ended that entry with:
“What an exciting event. The drive, the heat, the sunburns, and the wait it was all worth it. I would do it all again in an instant.”
And we have, 6 instants to be precise. It started innocently (if not crazily) enough. I got the idea in my head to try to see each of the remaining shuttles launch. I had just seen Discovery go up, so all that was left was to see Atlantis and Endeavour launch. Endeavour STS-126 launched that November and it was a night launch so that was a bonus, then Atlantis STS-125 launched the following May. Not too bad, one year, goal complete!
Then we got the Shuttle retirement plans and I got a crazy Idea to try to see each shuttle’s final launch, and I somehow convinced Misty to agree to it! After a failed attempt to see Discovery STS-119 go up, it got scrubbed 30mins after we arrived in Florida and would not launch for a few days, we decided to not try again until the last launches.
Fast forward to May 2010 and we went down to see Atlantis STS-132 launch. This was supposed to be Atlantis’ last launch so we checked it off the list and said “two more to go”. It was a nail biter too as there was a ball bearing found on the pad and it almost scrubbed the launch. But it went up and was a beautiful launch. A few weeks later NASA announced plans to Fly Atlantis again as the last Shuttle Launch.
Then we drove down to see Discovery’s last launch in February of 2011. I had spent a week in September down in Florida for the rollout of Discovery to the pad on 9/20/2011, and Nasa Family day the following weekend. I was bummed because I had to travel for work and would miss the planned launch on November 1st. However, due to issue with the external tank it was continuously scrubbed and eventually moved to Feb 2011. We were able to drive down again and this time we were in front of the VAB to see it launch after almost being scrubbed by a computer error in range control (two more seconds and it would not have gone up!). WHEW!
Discovery behind us we once again had two more to see. Endeavour was planned to launch on April 29th 2011, and after I drove down (arriving at 4am the morning before the 5pm launch) we got what sleep we could, woke and got to the busses and half way to the launch viewing area it was scrubbed due to problems with heaters for the auxiliary power units. We headed home after we found out it would be a few days and after a week or so the launch was moved to May 16. We headed down once again to see Endeavour’s final launch from the Saturn V VIP viewing area and she launched on time on May 16. It was cloudy and she disappeared into the cloud deck 30 seconds after launch, but it was still a sight to see!
That leaves only one more. Atlantis STS-135 is currently scheduled for Launch on July 8+. We do plan to go see her go up and wish her crew GODSPEED.
So what tips do I have for anyone heading down for the final shuttle launch?
Plan ahead and know where you will be viewing it from. If you are not able to get on site at Kennedy Space center then Titusville’s Space View Park is the best offsite viewing area and there is no charge to go or park. Regardless of where you are viewing from get there as early as possible, people campout at the offsite areas and the parks fill up early. Also be prepared to deal with heavy traffic after the launch. Decide to either be stuck in traffic for hours (YES HOURS) or stay put and chill until the traffic dies down. For Discovery’s STS-133 Launch we heard it took 6 hours to get from Titusville to Orlando after the launch. For Atlantis’ STS-132 Launch it took us 3 Hours to get back to where we caught the bus (a 30 min drive) and 2 hours to get to where we were staying from there (a 15 min drive).
Get a hotel early and maybe look in Jacksonville or Daytona for rooms. Be prepared to be there a few days past the launch in case it gets scrubbed. Have a backup plan (beach, Disney parks, etc; to alleviate the frustration in case of a scrub). The first launch we went to we stayed in Jacksonville. You will pay a premium to stay in Titusville and the surrounding areas and they have weird cancellation policies (which you might have to do). We left the launch viewing area in Titusville and headed north on US-1 (everyone else was heading west to I95) for a few miles and then turned west to I95. We had little or no traffic getting to dinner in Daytona before heading to our room in Jacksonville. Avoid staying in Orlando if you can, there are only two good roads (528 and 50) that lead to Orlando and one is a toll road (528).
Take plenty of food, drinks, sunscreen, chairs, umbrellas, etc; with you. You may be sitting a long time and you may not have shade nearby, it could rain, etc. Also nearby businesses may run out of provisions or raise prices. Stay hydrated and take it easy. Also games or other forms of entertainment are nice to pass the time (movies on IPAD!).
Even though I will not follow my own advice here I suggest you just watch the launch. Most of the launches I have seen through my cameras lens and each time I wished that I had just watched the launch and enjoyed it. The next Launch I may set my remote up to just snap shots of Atlantis leaving the pad so I can just watch the last one go up. We will see.
It will all be over in two and a half minutes after ignition so get ready beforehand. Two minutes before launch have your camera on and all set to take the shots you want. Take a few test shots and see how they turn out, and leave it on and set. That last minute goes by fast and it is not the time to be messing with stuff. Also manually focus your camera if you can, nothing would be worse than auto focus deciding to focus on a bird in the foreground instead of the shuttle and if you are rapid firing the camera it will take shots faster. Also do not use any filters (UV or Polarizing, etc) that extra layer of flat glass can reflect stuff into your pictures (two shuttle plumes for instance).
Stay up to date of Launch news at SpaceFlightnow.com, use twitter and Facebook to follow NASA tweets (@NASA#NASATweetup#STS135, etc) and feeds to keep up with launch changes. Setup Google alerts to catch interesting articles on the launches, NASA, Shuttles.
Trying to view a launch can be one of the most tiresome, frustrating, heart stopping, exciting and amazing things you can do and seeing the last one will just add to that. What a bittersweet moment it will be. Hope to see you down there!
After a couple of days playing with the Blackberry Playbook tablet I think I can say RIM missed the mark with this one. It does have some charm for business purposes, but it almost useless as a consumer tablet which is sad as it does have beefier hardware that the iPad 2.
First things first right out of the box you have to connect to Wi-fi, create an online blackberry ID account, and then sit through a 40+ min software update. Really RIM, an update already on a one day old tablet? Once all that is done you are all set to play with your new toy. But there is not much to play with.
Videos play nice and the screen is sharp and sound is great. Photos look awesome on the screen. Music plays and the sound is good. The Brower is nice and seems more like a desktop browser and even flash videos play however a few sites like weather.com did open in their mobile versions limiting functionality.
The App world (RIM’s App Store) is serious lacking in any good useful apps. This may change as more come out, but after hearing the pain the developers have to go through to create apps for RIM I think quality useful apps are a ways off. There are not even Facebook, Twitter, or Gmail apps available yet, you have to access those through the browser. Also the App World search feature is horrible.
The Touch screen has some cool swiping features that will display menus; switch running apps, show status bar, etc if it actually detects your finger on the screen which is about half the time. There is no option to adjust the sensitivity of the touch screen. This is the most frustrating part of the Playbooks usability. Sometimes it seems you have to push on the screen extra hard to get it to notice tapping and subtle swipes are usually not picked up by the device. Hopefully a future update can resolve these issues.
There is no native mail, contact, or calendar on the Playbook yet (suppose to be in a future update) and you have to connect the device to your existing Blackberry (if you have one) using the Blackberry Bridge app which AT&T is reluctant to allow on its devices (you can still download is from other sites though). There is good and bad with this. The Good thing is that it allows you to share your existing Blackberry data plan while your devices are connected through Bluetooth. This is how Mail, Contact, and Calendar are displayed on the playbook. It sync with your Blackberry and bring these items over, only new mail though not your entire message list (already read mail). Once the connection is broken all that data is gone from the playbook that is the bad thing.
Also for some strange reason if you are emailed a Microsoft Office document you can open and view the document but you are unable to edit, save or email it even though you can open the Docs to Go apps and create, save and email new documents. This is a huge issue for the supposedly business friendly tablet as in my organization this would be the main business need. The one saving grace is the ability to view PowerPoint slide presentation on the go.
Battery Life seems to be good even with Wi-fi and Bluetooth on and playing movies I have gone 8 plus hours on a single charge. The cameras both front (3MP) and back (5MP) are of high quality but suffer from the usual lighting issues with Blackberry camera. There is no flash on the playbook as there is on the handhelds. It is also capable of HD video and HDMI output to a TV or Projector (have to buy the cable separately).
One plus is the ability to transfer any files to and from the device via Wi-Fi or directly connect to PC as a USB flash drive! This works well and does not rely on bloated software such as iTunes to transfer media. I have not yet played with sync media with the Blackberry Desktop software yet.
The Playbook is smaller than other tablets and weighs only .9 lbs which is heavier that I would have though given it is half the size of the 1.33 lbs iPad2. It can be held easily in one hand and even placed in the inside pocket of a sports coat.
Despite its small size it still functions nicely as a tablet, however RIM still needs to put some work into this device for it to be competitive.
I have come to the conclusion that unexpected phone calls are kinda rude (with exceptions below).
At any given point if no one is calling then no one wants to talk to you, otherwise you would be on the phone with them, so if neither of you are on the phones then neither of you want to talk to the other person and everyone is happy. If both of you happen to want to talk to each other at thesame time then you would call at the same time and go to each other’s voicemail. And when only one of you wants to talk to the other then that the happy time is messed up.
All this can be resolved through quick text messages/email
Frank: I want to call you
Bernice: I would like that
Frank: When can I call?
Bernice: Now is fine
Frank calls.
Bam, Done, everyone wins! Or
Frank: I want to call you
Bernice: kinda busy
Frank: When can I call?
Bernice: how about after 8pm
Frank: talk to you then
Bam, Done, everyone wins! OR
Frank: I want to call you
Bernice:
Frank (a little later): can I call you?
Bernice:
Frank gets the hint and goes to stalk another girl from the bar.
Bam, Done, everyone wins! well maybe not frank but he was probably an ass anyway.
No matter how you slice it it comes down to someone interrupting whatever you are doing. If you call me between 8 and 6 you are interrupting my work, between 6 and 10 my down time, between 10 and 6 my sleep, and 6 to 8 me trying to wake up.
Notable exceptions to this of course would be your spouse cause they are always more important than what you are doing , work calls during your job (although if they can be pre-scheduled all the better), pre-scheduled calls, and emergencies.
Otherwise text messages or emails should be enough to either schedule a time to call, or quickly discuss whatever the purpose of the call was. Either way it avoids the enviable dropped call / trying to get off the phone dances.
I think I have come up with the proper etiquette:
1. Don’t call! Unless it is an emergency, a pre-arranged call, or it’s your spouse.
2. Send a text or email instead usually it is enough to discuss whatever the purpose of the call was or to schedule a call.
3. If the call drops it is the original caller that should try to call back. Person that was called probably just hung up on purpose, anyway
4. Do not leave a voicemail. It should be unnecessary if you follow the first two rules, anyway I can see if I have a missed call and call you back (if I want to).
5. Don’t answer calls from unknown/hidden numbers. If you are not in my phone’s contacts then you are not important enough to interrupt my time again follow the first 2 rules.
We drove down once again to see a Shuttle launch. Just had to see the lady off one last time.
On May 13th we once again drove down to Florida to visit Misty’s Mom and see a shuttle launch. We arrived around midnight on Friday morning and got settled in. Friday was launch day, we met up around 9:30 with Chris Hetlage for Breakfast and then met the bus to the Banana Creek VIP viewing area near the Saturun V center at Kennedy Space Center. We found a spot right up on the fence and setup our camera’s and waited for the countdown to resume. The weather was beautiful and not too hot. Despite a ball bearing possibly delaying the launch the shuttle launched on time and it was beautiful as always. You can see pics in the link above. Traffic was horrible getting back, the 30 min bus ride took 3.5 hours! The next day we visited with Sandy. Sunday was the long track home. We got home around 6pm and unpacked. We plan to head down for the final two launches later this year.
On May 9th we once again drove down to Florida to visit Misty’s Mom and see a shuttle launch. We arrived in titusville around 3pm on Saturday and got settled in. We tried to drive to a park Sandy found that had great views of the launch pad, but it had already been closed in prep for the launch. Sunday was mothers day and Amber and misty spent the morning looking at houses with Sandy and in the afternoon we all went to MGM studios. Monday was launch day, we met up around 11:30 and took the bus to the Banana Creek VIP viewing area near the Saturun V center at Kennedy Space Center. We found a spot and setupour camera’s ansd waited for the countdown to resume. The weather was a little cloudy and hot. As the launch time approched is got windy, which felt good but could delay the launch. Despite the wind the shuttle launched on time and it was beautiful as always. I was excited to use my new zoom lens Misty got for me and see how the pics came out. You can see them in the link above. The next day we headed home after visiting with Sandy and going back to the park to get shots of Endevour on launch pad 39a. On the way we have a chance encounter with a Bald eagle and got some pics of him as well. Then the long track home. We got home around 8pm and unpacked and Amber headed to her house. The next morning Trey and I flew to Houston to visit the Space Center there and take a backstage tour of the NASA facilities there. We toured the Apollo era Mission Control Center, The neutral boency Center, and the vehcile mock-up lab. Worth every bit of the tour price! We actually got to sit at the Mission control stations and push buttons! Very neat! On friday we flew home and ended our trip. It was an exciteing and exhausting trip!
