Satellites

I began interest in astronomy and space in later grade school. In 8th grade I took an "Adult Education Course in Astronomy along with my mother (who was my "ticket" to be allowed to take an adult ed course. I remember spotting the Echo balloon satellite in 1960 as the 100' mylar balloon passive communucation reflector lofted across the night sky. In junior high school I built my own reflector telescope with the help of my father to explore the near and far reaches of space that my 4.25" mirror and barlow lens could find.

From HAM the space chimp to STS-131 missions (and ones to follow) I have tracked or tried to track most of the space missions. One night on the way to a night class in college I remember hearing on WJR-AM Detroit the unfolding of Apollo 13's episode.

Thankfully, my daughter @janellewilson has taken my interest further and now teachers middle school earth and space science in Georgia and has attended the JSC tweetup earlier in 2010, and her second for STS-132 at KSC.

After having seen just the International Space Station along with the ISS and the space shuttle docked to it, I had yet to see the ISS trailed by any of the three remaining space shuttles. After 6 unsuccessful attempts either due to weather or personal situations, I was getting worried I'd never get to see it, and for mission STS-129, my first information told me the next ISS pass was after space shuttle Atlantis landed.

Talk about disappointment! I thought I'd never get to see it with only 5 shuttle flights left. Then, a true miracle. On this Thanksgiving in the United States, I must say I am thankful for Twitter and luck. While bored out of my mind at a family get-together, I went onto Twitter on my iPod Touch, and saw a mention from @twisst, which notifies a person when the ISS will be near, and it said 5:05pm EST. I nearly threw my iPod in the air out of excitement. I might get to see them pass!

As it became 5:00, I gathered a few of my family members who were interested in seeing the two spacecraft pass overhead. I open the door, and my jaw drops. No, I didn't see the ISS or Atlantis, but I did see lots of clouds.

My name is Alexandru Csete, also known as OZ9AEC. I am a physicist from the University of Aarhus and I work as an all round nerd at Rovsing A/S usually in projects within the European space industry. Some of the interesting projects that I have been involved in include the prototype of the Automated Transfer Vehicle, called Jules Verne, and the Gaia scientific mission.

I have been the proud holder of a CEPT Cat. 1 amateur radio certificate since 1991. My primary interests today are satellite comms, building and modifying equipment and developing free software for Unix-like operating systems. Since Jan 2008 I have also been involved in the Google Lunar X PRIZE by contributing to Team FREDNET.

Well hi there! OK, I guess I'll start with the boring stuff, I'm Tom, 17,
student studying Aerospace Engineering, and in the UK (for now...) Joining
Twitter was a novelty really, however the amount it has convinced me that I
want to be part of the Aerospace field is stunning - it has definitely
influenced my decision of Unicersity choice, the amazing people I have
discovered on here, none more so than @flyingjenny , the mastermind behind
this genius group. I shall endeavour (nice subtle joke...) to keep you
updated on my perspective (for what it's worth) of all things NASA.