|
This is an archive collection of entries from my main personal blog, My Mundane Mid-Life.
|
|
This collection of entries is from January 31, 2003.
Friday, January 31, 2003
SoxFest 2003Carol got off work early, came and picked me up so I could leave early and on an ugly, wet Friday we drove downtown to the Hyatt Regency Chicago to attend SoxFest 2003.
read more of this entry »
We got there a half hour early and made our way to the event. We were in line, about 30 people from the front of the line, when we realized what had happened - there were people in front of us that had been waiting since 7am to get to the Opening Ceremony at 5pm. We were 30 people behind the cutoff to get into the ballroom. Now we had to wait for that entire event to be over and the ballroom to be cleared before they would let the rest of us go in. Now I know why the line was so long last year! We had been standing in line for almost half an hour one a gentleman walked up to me. He was Teddy Greenstein, the White Sox beat reporter for the Chicago Tribune. He came over to get my reaction to an announcement that was just made in the ballroom - Comiskey Park will be no more - it will be called U.S. Cellular Field, thanks to a 23-year naming rights deal that will pay the club for $68 million over 20 years. Oh, crap... NOOOooooo!!! Anyway, I give him a few quotes and then he moved on down the line. Damn. I'm more of a purist, I guess. U.S. Cellular Field? Like that company will be around for the 23 years of the agreement. Well, at about 5:50, we finally get inside. I check my coat and we hang around the front of the ballroom area waiting for our friend Janie, and Jeff and his sister Doreen. After about 10 minutes, Jeff & Do show up, but no Janie - she's home sick. Bummer. We just sort of wander around - checking out some All Star merchandise, and walk the show floor and actually doing some shopping. We get something to drink and we meet-up with some of Jeff's relatives. We kill a little more time and go to the only session that we are always interested in: the panel discussion with management. There were some great acquisitions this year, like Bartolo Colon and Billy Koch. There were a few things that came out in that meeting, one that I was actually hoping to hear. In a discussion on how sometimes you try to make player movements and they don't work, GM Kenny Williams said that the Todd Ritchie trade was a mistake that blew up in his face. Somehow, I needed to hear that. There was an awful lot of talk about the players still waiting to come up. One name never came up anywhere in the discussion, or anywhere else for that matter - Frank Thomas. Everyone is so focused on how good the other players are, it seems like Frank is just another player (they way it should be, in my opinion). We left SoxFest, had a quick dinner at Houlihan's in Illinois Center and made our way home. It was a long friggin' night. « hide the extended part of this entry
posted at 11:50 PM | Link | White Sox § |
Does this mean I can PING Columbia?OK Space Geeks out there - the current shuttle mission (STS-107) is running an experiment called OMNI (Operating Missions as a Node on the Internet). Yep, the shuttle has an IP address! It's on an an embedded PC that has a 233 MHz processor, 128 MB of RAM and a solid-state 144 MB hard drive running Red Hat Linux. Cool.
read more of this entry »
Low Power Transceiver
One of the FREESTAR experiments, the Low Power Transceiver (LPT) experiment is a low-power, lightweight software programmable transceiver prototype technology demonstration that is being developed by NASA as a low-cost S-band spacecraft navigation and communication device.
The LPT prototype receives Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite signals for spacecraft navigation support and provides both forward and return, low-rate data communications links to the Merritt Island (MILA) and Dryden Flight Research Facility (DFRC) ground stations and to the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). The experiment is designed to demonstrate the system’s ability to do simultaneous communications and navigation, as well as multi-mode communications and reconfiguration. LPT is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and sponsored by NASA/HQ Code M.
The LPT experiment consists of one thermally conductive box containing the electronics stack, three S-band antennas and one L-band antenna. The LPT payload uses general Orbiter services, including power control, command, and telemetry provided through the HHC avionics. On-orbit, the LPT payload will be primarily operated via direct communications between LPT and ground stations (MILA, WLPS, or DFRC) and/or TDRSS, with backup command and telemetry capability provided via the hitchhiker avionics and remote Payload Operations Control Center. During operations, LPT will utilize high Sband frequencies for communications.
The LPT TDRSS (and GN) forward link (uplink) frequency is 2106.40625 MHz and their TDRSS (and GN) return link (downlink) frequency is 2287.5 MHz (utilizing Left-handed Circular Polarization to work with the TDRSS MA system). Two standard switch panel switches will be utilized to prohibit inadvertent operation of the antenna. An additional inhibit will be provided through the HH avionics power relay to the LPT.
LPT
History/ Background
The paradigm of spacecraft design is changing throughout the space industry. Designs are requiring smaller, cheaper, and more capable systems. A key technology component that will enable these types of designs is a small, highly integrated, reprogrammable, multipurpose communications and navigation payload that can withstand the radiation environments encountered over a variety of orbits.
LPT Experiment Description
The Low Power Transceiver (LPT) is a compact, flexible device that can be configured to perform custom communications and navigation functions in terrestrial, airborne, and space applications. The LPT is a collection of interchangeable hardware modules that form a software programmable platform for a variety of communication and navigation applications. The LPT can simultaneously process multiple radio frequencies (RF bands) in the transmittance or retrieval direction, and simultaneously process multiple data channels within each RF band; further, its modular architecture provides a flexible arrangement of signal processing resources. This technology thrust strives to return the maximum possible scientific information from instruments on board a spacecraft to the customer/principal investigator on Earth. GSFC engineers are working rapidly to prototype and demonstrate applicable Internet technologies and methodologies and to infuse them into flight missions where they will significantly reduce development costs and greatly increase mission flexibility. Furthermore, they expect these technologies to enable entirely new, distributed, system and mission models in the future.
LPT Physical Description
• One thermally conductive box containing the LPT electronics stack.
• The LPT experiment will be mounted on two HH Single Bay Pallets, one of which is shared with SOLCON-3, on top of the HH MPESS.
• LPT has been integrated with a commercial processor board functioning as the flight computer, along with an three S-Band Receive Antenna, and one L-Band Antenna or Low Gain Transmit Antenna, all mounted to the top of the HH Multi-purpose Equipment Support Structure (MPESS) via a HH Single Bay Pallet (SBP).
• The flight computer will use GPS-Enhanced Orbit Navigation System (GEONS) software to process the Global Positing System (GPS) data.
• The flight computer will run the Linux operating system, and use Mobile IP over all of the RF links.
• The LPT TDRSS (and GN) forward link frequency is 2106.40625 MHz and the TDRSS (and GN) return link frequency is 2287.5 MHz.
• Two Standard Switch Panel (SSP) switches will be incorporated to prohibit inadvertent Radio Frequency (RF) transmission from the antenna. « hide the extended part of this entry
posted at 11:31 AM | Link | Space § |
Friday 5 - Potpourri
Time for another Friday Five...
1. As a child, who was your favorite superhero/heroine? Why? Easy - Batman. Superman had the whole flying thing and strength an other cool powers, but Batman was just a normal guy (well, OK, Bruce Wayne really wasn't all that normal I guess... how about "average" guy?... OK, how about "average millionaire"?) He had the coolest stuff! The whole Bat Cave thing, the Batmobile, and God knows what in his Bat Utility Belt. I just thought that was cool.
2. What was one thing you always wanted as a child but never got? Umm, well, I wanted to go into space and of course that didn't happen. I can't recall wanting something and being devastated by not getting it.
3. What's the furthest from home you've been? Hawaii - Senior class trip 1975. Big Island, Maui, and Oahu.
4. What's one thing you've always wanted to learn but haven't yet? I want to be able to speak a foreign language fluently. I stumbled through a few years of Spanish in high school and that's about it. I've wanted to learn Russian and Japanese.
5. What are your plans for the weekend? Going over to Barry & Buffy's tomorrow night, going to my Mom's on Sunday, but tonight - it's SoxFest 2003 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago!
posted at 06:58 AM | Link | Friday Five | 1 comment § |
|
That's it for the entries in this particular Archive of my blog. If you want, you can look through other entries by selecting the links in the right-hand column of this page under either Archives by Month or Archives by Category, or you can search the site for specific keywords by using the Search page.
|
|
|
|
|
|