An Introduction
SIDNEYMILLER@delphi.com
Mon, 01 Jan 1996 20:37:57 -0500 (EST)
After reading so many informative messages here, I thought
the senders might enjoy knowing who is reading them and what
happens to the information. My name is Sid Miller and I have
been a satellite spotter for two years.
At forty years old, I'm just two years older than Sputnik
and the Space Age. I still remember the long-ago night that my
parents took me outside to watch a satellite go by. Too bad I
don't remember the year, but it was sometime between 1960 and
1963. I grew up reading LIFE and NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC articles
about the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space missions.
And then, about four or five years ago, I read in the news-
paper about how the space shuttle could be seen at certain hours
before dawn and after dusk. It took me a few years, but finally
I found Alan Bose's pamphlet on satellite spotting. I read it,
dialled up a few bulletin boards, downloaded some TLEs and some
programs, ran them, drove outside of town, parked in a sorghum
field, and watched #14820, the booster for Cosmos 1544, sail
overhead, followed by UARS and the HST. The date was 18 January
1993, and I was hooked.
Naked-eye targets are my favorites. Using averted vision to
pick up the fainter objects gives me quite a thrill.
After using ORBITEL and ELEMAN to sort my TLEs and VIEWSAT
to make predictions, I've been able to show satellites and boost
ers to many young people here in San Angelo. Most of the time,
they're interested, and I know they've made some memories that
will last a lifetime. But being young, they have more pressing
interests that keep them from diving deeper into this hobby.
In addition to satellites, I enjoy star-gazing in general
and am reading as many books as possible about meteorites, the
next space-related field about which I want to know everything.
My co-workers know about my addiction and sometimes will
crack a joke about it, but I'm one of the first people they ask
for satellite- or space-related information. We're shift work-
ers, either coming to work before sunrise or else leaving work
after sunset, so clouds and moon permitting, the chances are
great for a good show.
So for all you out there who work to provide us with TLEs,
programs, or related data, keep working! I appreciate your
efforts and wish you many years of success.
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| Sid Miller | sidneymiller@delphi.com | NH6TB |
| P. O. Box 89103 |
| San Angelo, Texas 76908 | USA |
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