CharlieZulu

Close enough. The complete answer is the police service who has jurisdiction over the area where the search is taking place. In most of Ontario, this would be the OPP Emergency Response Team. But in the case of regions or municipalities, it is the local police. Coast Guard do not have jurisdiction.. However, they, as well as Armed Forces, assist when called upon. Those SARtechs we have are awesome dudes. You couldn't pay me enough to jump out of a helo into the black sea at night with 20 foot waves, but they do it and they do it well. Strong. Proud. Brave. Read about our SAR Tech guys. Chris

ChatZilla.....You sure that's what it stands for, Andy?

Let's see now.... tarn: In Newfoundland, something that happens to your pants when you catch them on barbed wire while geocaching. roche moutonee: I believe this is an obscure rare French sheep's cheese. I believe the correct spelling is "moutonée". till: Term used to denote anticipating the next cahing event as in: "I cain't hardly wait till GHAGAFAP V"

TOMTEC is right. For a GEO satellite, the on-orbit life is simply a matter of how much fuel is left in the tanks for stationkeeping once the bird reaches it final orbit position. It is then a question of watching the "fuel gauge" for the next 15 years and de-orbiting the satellite (or parking it in a different plane) just before the tank runs dry. (Remember, for commercial satellites, they are up there to make money, so the longer the better.) The launch vehicle first throws the satellite into an elliptical orbit around the equator (called the Transfer Orbit), and then the ground controllers take over and fire the satellite's on-board kick motors to "circularize" the orbit. This "orbit insertion" process can take some time, and if the launch and insertion has all gone well, you will have 15 good years of service..... if all goes well! The fuel used is called Hydrazine, rhymes with magazine.

Staying with satellites..... Once launched, regardless of orbit dynamics, satellites must be managed and operated from the ground. All kinds of monitoring and telemtery goes on, and just about every parameter you can think of is measured and recorded. (You would expect this to be the case, when you have a $100M asset zipping around up there.) Satellites are designed for a given on-orbit life, typically measured in years. The Anik F2 bird mentioned above has a predicted on-orbit life of 15 years. Q: what is the limiting factor to a satellite's on-orbit life?

Just as a matter of interest, the Telesat Canada's ANIK F2 satellite (built by Boeing) launch weight was about 13,000 lbs, I think the largest comsat ever built. And of course it was launched into GEO orbit, whereas the GPS birds are in MEO. Let me think about a new question! Chris

Sorry, the Company I work for is in the satellite biz, and everything is in kg. So, I'll guess 2000 lbs BOL (Beginning Of Life) Chris

With or without fuel? The ones built by Boeing (Block II-F) or the ones built by Lockheed Martin (Block II-R)? Anyways, I will guess about 2,000kg (launch weight, with fuel) Chris

Holy cow. I had not heard about this tragedy at all until I got an emal this morning from C-A. Like many others, I also ran into to Tony a couple of times on the trail...always a great guy to chat with and swap stories. His passion for caching was addictive and he was truly one of the GTA's most inventive and creative cachers. I think I learned something from Tony each time we spoke. His organization of the Quark's event cache this June was really memorable. I think he was a Scouter, too. Really sad. I hope Sue is going to be alright. Chris

Well, .........we're geting pretty close, so I'll give it to ya.... the article was titled "Extra-Terrestrial Relays — Can Rocket Stations Give Worldwide Radio Coverage?", and it was published in Wireless World in October 1945. "Rocket Stations"... I love it !! Here is an interesting reference Over to geek-e, and sorry to have dragged this out.. PS I must admit I was not aware of the Potocnik work! This is the fun of this Geopub Quiz... you might learn something!

Scientific American? Nope. Another hint... it was a British publication, and the year was 1945.

Well, I'll give a little hint.... the idea was not published in a book or novel.

AV is correct, but it's a two part question! He is still kicking around and lives in Sri Lanka. Among other little things, he wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Nope.

Whew! pAnik.... get it everyone?? OK, here comes a 2-parter: Staying on the satellite theme, then... large communications satellites operate in geostationary orbit. As the name implies, these satellites appear to be stationary when observed from a point on the earth, even though our planet is spinning pretty quickly. The advantages are fairly obvious.... a satellite can be designed to provide service to a specific region, signals can be sent up from a simple terminal which does not require tracking and so on. (ever seen those satellite trucks at sports events, etc?) A pretty famous guy came up with this concept... long before satellites or launch vehicles were even invented. Anyone know who this is? In what publication did he publish this seemingly crazy idea?

last guess.... 51 and 48?? Should I "pAnik"??

33 and 37?

35 and 47? BTW, my Company provided almost all the antennas on the Iridium satellites.... it was quite an exciting project from a technical point of view, but a financial and marketing disaster!

Yep, the new system will be called Galileo, and the first test bird is called Galileo In Orbit Verification Experiment-A. Surrey Satellite is a smallsat builder in the U.K., but you can bet yer boots the big guns like AlacatelAlenia and EADS-Astrium will be manufacturing the large spacecraft. Over to you, Dano!

Wow, my 1st time ! Easy one: The Europeans are progressing towards building their own GPS system, and have the first test satellite on orbit already. What is this satellite called? And who built it? (you'll be surprised, since it's not one of the big Aerospace Companies)

13?

I guess maybe part of the mystique for some is that the meaning may only be recognizable to a few who are "in the know". I have Amateur (HAM) Radio plates on my cars, and for the most part, I'm sure only other fellow Hams pick up any meaning from them. The general public has no clue what VE2CZ might mean. I tend to keep my caching addiction quiet, and I don't mind if what's on my plate is obscure to others! FOUND IT FIND IT LOOKING CANTFIND NOSIGNAL LOG IT LOGGEDIT

Where I live, we are allowed 8 characters on our Vanity Plates. The good ones are already taken (GEOCACHE, CACHER, etc) but I am looking for other ideas besides TNLN, FTF, DNF, etc. Ideas, anyone?

Castor is a beaver, I believe.

Directional stability? (WAG)