SSP 2006

The most common question I am asked when I travel is "how do you afford it?" And this is often asked, sardonically, "are you rich?" Simply: no. I don't have time to explain my whole "system" of getting around, but here is a quick look at a few principles.

I'm finishing up the editing of our team project report—32 people, 14 countries, one goal: finish a 150-page (max) report on a project to make earth observation system options more accessible to "decision makers," i.e., high-level public servants and business managers.

The sub-goal is perhaps to do it without developing a sincere disdain for each other.

[All of the links are Google Earth placemarks—that's what the .kmz file extensions are]

Starting at the Gare Centrale in Strasbourg at 12:19am, we arrived at the Gare de l'Est in Paris at roughly 7am. During the day, Dave and I traveled to:

Wooo, update: I have a ride to Barcelona with three other guys from ISU on 2 September. And there is a small amount of funding available if I present our ISU team project paper at the International Astronautical Congress in Valencia. Getting to Spain was a huge hurdle, and staying in Spain—without running out of money—during September was a second hurdle that immediately followed that one. Other issues remain such as where I'm going to stay in Barcelona and Valencia, but hey—things tend to turn out well in the end if you put enough sensible effort into preparation.

Now there are twelve planets, apparently, thanks to a draft resolution from the International Astronomical Union's General Assembly.

Check it out, Google Earth placemark: International Space University, Illkirch-Graffenstaden, France

i.e., where the "party" is from 8am to 8pm every day...

Also, our home: Foyer l'Etudiant Catholique, Strasbourg, France. Yes, it's called FEC—the Irish kids here love that name...

Just deleted a week's worth of entries while experimenting with the management interface... pictures coming back soon, maybe.

Full set of photos: Nürnberg - Plzen - Praha, August 2006

From elemadrid, an online tool to do what my feeble brain has forgotten to do: conjugate Spanish verbs.

While on an excursion to Luxembourg as part of the Policy & Law department of ISU, we visited the headquarters of SES Global, a huge communications satellite operator.

Full picture: Outside SES Global in Luxembourg