Really Rocket Science

File this one under "cool stuff." From the AP:

Adventurer Steve Fossett completed the longest nonstop flight in aviation history Saturday after journeying around the globe — and then some — in about 80 hours, but had to land early because of mechanical problems. Ground control said Fossett, 61, broke the airplane distance record of 24,987 miles while his lightweight experimental plane was flying over Shannon, Ireland. He then was force to land at Bournemouth International Airport, in southern England, instead of at a military air strip in nearby Kent because of generator problems. The millionaire adventurer broke the record during 3 1/2 days of flying despite losing about 750 pounds of fuel during takeoff from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida because of a leak. Weak winds over the Atlantic and severe turbulence over India — which, at one point, forced Fossett to strap on a parachute — prompted fears Fossett would have to ditch his record-breaking attempt in Newfoundland.

Fosset flew the Global Flyer, modelled after the Rutan-designed Voyager. More details of the flight can be found on Mission Control homepage.

Well, in space, and then in your car (not to mention everywhere else. No, the queen of all media isn’t donning a spacesuit, but thanks to a 3 year/$55 million deal with XM Satellite Radio she will soon be bouncing off the satellites and landing in your car (or at your desk, or wherever you listen to your satellite radio) with a new "Oprah & Friends" channel slated to debut in September.

Actually, it sounds like she’ll be there just often enough to keep the franchise.

"Oprah & Friends," which will debut in September, will rely more on the friends than on Oprah herself. Winfrey said yesterday in a teleconference from Chicago that she will have a half-hour "reality" show each week for 39 weeks — a recorded conversation with her confidante Gayle King.

The rest of the channel’s round-the-clock programming will be hosted by personalities who have become popular through appearances on Winfrey’s talk show, including fitness expert Bob Greene, self-help writer Marianne Williamson and designer Nate Berkus. The shows — which will focus on health, nutrition, self-improvement and current events — will originate from a new studio in Chicago.

So, if you’re a subscriber, you can share your commute with Oprah; occasionally, at least.

In today’s announcement on space tourism, U.S. DOT  Secretary Mineta is looking for feedback. Maybe Jeff Bezos will reveal more of his plans for space.

I think there was a typically-comprehensive piece in the New York Times, reprinted elsewhere, which got into who’s behind private space tourism.

If I keep returning to the idea of community wireless networks, it’s because I keep seeing stuff that reminds me of it. This morning, no fewer than three items showed up in my daily news/blog feeds, ranging from my back yard to the other side of the world. 

I’m more of a "sidewalk warrior" than a "road warrior," as I can work from anywhere I can get internet access. So, I’m often found wondering the metro-D.C. area, laptop in tow, looking for wireless access. This morning I found out via a local blog, that I can find wireless pretty close to home in Montgomery County, MD, where pretty much all the libraries have free wireless. Glad to hear it. Now I have a few more options besides the hotspots at Borders and Starbucks.

I’d only just finished catching up on local wireless news when I came across two more items from Engadget. The first  reported discussions between DirectTV and EchoStar about establishing a nationwide wireless high-speed internet service. Sure, they’re just talking about it right now, But reports are that Rupert Murdoch is poised to write a big check in support of the venture; the kind of money that moves discussion along and  makes stuff happen.

I couldn’t help thinking about my first post when I read the second Engadget piece, which revealed (via The Wireless Report) that Google is bringing wireless internet to Nigeria.

Nigeria’s Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala stated that Internet search technology company Google has selected Abuja as one of seven African cities to be fully connected with its wireless network.

The  project is one of several Google has planned for "select African nations." That is, aside from its plans for the west coast and the world.

The link to the space elevator illustration on this blog’s Latest News list (at left) in part fantasy, part reality. The reality is it will be built, deriving some prize money from NASA. The fantasy is it resembles an industrial plumbing system. What’s a space elevator really like? Who needs it?  This site has all the answers, including a movie presentation, which provides a more accurate depiction. The next competition will be in Mountain View, California, this summer. Read the rules. This is far out stuff.

I don’t know what to say about this, also spotted at Satellite2006, except that it’s exceptionally cool. Design-wise, it reminded me of an iPod right away.  Gigasat seems to have absorbed some design sensibility from the iPod phenomenon. Their sleek driveway antennas won’t fit on in your pocket, but the right one might look good on your SUV.

Sea Launch is lifting the 9,553 lb EchoStar X satellite into a high perigee geosynchronous transfer orbit today– and you can watch the launch live online.

3:35 pm PST marks the opening of the 49-minute launch window. Check out Sea Launch’s live webcam at any time.

Being a relative “newbie” to the space/satellite beat, I was surprised to see something I actually recognized as I continued my sojourn across the exhibit floor at Satellite2006. As a denizen of D.C., living and working downtown for about 10 years, I’m often alerted to breaking scandals by spotting satellite news vans parked outside of various buildings on my way to or from work. That was my cue to check the news once I arrived at my destination, to see who’d just been indicted, etc.

So, it was pretty cool to turn a corner and saw the Frontline news truck parked on the exhibit hall floor, even tho’ there wasn’t an actual indictment. (At least not at the conference. We are in D.C., after all.) I know enough to recognize a satellite dish when I see one, but it wasn’t until I talked to the Frontline rep. that I learned there’s also microwave involved. I admit, I did peek inside to see if there was a microwave in there. But apparently it’s that long skinny pole across from the dish, and the rep explained that it’s used mostly for short haul uplinks to station antennas, which explains why I see poles up and the dishes down on the news vans I spot as I wander around D.C.

There wasn’t anything actually in the van at Satellite2006. I guess the buyers put in the guts. But I still bet that at least some of the vans I see have microwaves inside. After all, news crews gotta eat too.

I’m not exactly what anyone would call a “car guy.” As long as it has four wheels, a radio, and A/C (a necessity in the South), I don’t need to know much more. But when I saw a car at the Sattelite2006 exhibit hall, I figured it must have something to do with satellite radio. Besides, if it involves any sort of gadgetry, that’s enough to get my attention as long as I don’t have to look under the hood.

This particular car was sitting at the RaySat booth, and the woman there was nice enough to take minute off from her setup supervising to give me permission to snap a picture and ask a question. (Just one question. She was kind of busy.) It wasn’t until I read the literature I grabbed when I walked away that I was a bit off in my satellite radio assumption. I needed to aim higher.

The car pictured above, according to the RayStat rep. I chatted with briefly, is going to get outfitted with a product called StealthRay, a “low-profile antenna” (i.e. so flat it looks like a roof-mounted spaceship) designed to bring high-speed internet to moving vehicles (among other things). Like I said, I’m not a “car guy,” but RaySat also has a product that brings high-speed internet to trains. If they could get something like that working on the D.C. subway system, I’d be forever grateful. And I wouldn’t even blame them when inevitably miss my stop while surfing the web.

I spent most of Monday afternoon hanging out at the Sattelite2006 conference. Actually, I spent most of it wandering around the exhibit hall while setup was in full swing. Even that was an education for me, a guy whose knowledge of satellites doesn’t extend much beyond the satellite TV dish outside my house. As I wandered around, dodging forklifts and ducking around big wooden crates, I saw a few things that caught my eye. 

The banner statement at the Internet Solutions booth — Communications Convergence from Africa for Africa — caught my eye. In fact, it stopped me in my tracks because it reminded me of my previous post about wireless networking in the developing world. OK, it’s vaguely related, but close enough to make me take a closer look. Based on their news page, it looks like they’ve been busy in Ghana most recently, and mostly with corporate work. There wasn’t anyone at the IS booth when I stopped by, but I look forward to coming back tomorrow and learning more about their work to “enable people and businesses to share information and interact with one another – anywhere, at any time, over any protocol.”