To be honest, I'm not surprised that they can control a billion dollar station with just a few laptops from hundreds of miles away from Mission Control. I remember during Hurricane Rita, mission control was given to the Russian space agency, and NASA was evacuated (look into Zone A and Zone B in Houston evac maps, I live in Zone B btw).
Hopefully the JSC isn't flattened, since the track is headed right up towards it.
From my evacuation site, KE5GDB
On Fri, Sep 12, 2008 at 3:10 AM, Nate Duehr nate@natetech.com wrote:
On Sep 11, 2008, at 11:07 PM, Clint Bradford wrote:
Well, it's happening right now. Eleven laptop computers in a nearby hotel are controlling the ISS, since NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston closed Thursday due to the approaching storm.
Working for a company that makes videoconferencing gear, and putting that out as a "disclaimer"... it made me think ... wow... not a whole lot of excuses for not using modern technology and closing down LOTS of "old fashioned" office buildings whenever possible, with more professionals working from home.
Less fuel/cars, less travel, lots of other benefits... and the kicker phrase to use to get people thinking differently...
"Hey, if you can control ISS from a hotel room..."
Lots of hams with complete "remote control" ham shacks, and clubs doing it too for the folks who can't have towers/antennas. I'd rather see those folks able to do what they like with their land they OWN, including towers if they want. So un-American to put up with Homeowner's Associations and forced contracts of behavior for your own LAND... but... it's cool that the technology along with broadband Internet, allows things to get done easily from "somewhere else", securely, safely, and it all works.
Of course, the geek in me wants to know HOW they're doing it. Wouldn't it be cool if there's a bunch of VNC or similar free tools doing the job? I doubt it, but hey... whatever. They're pulling it off.
Wonder how they're getting the comms back and forth too... is the voice comm person in the hotel room too?
Yeah, yeah, I know they have some folks staying in Mission Control... but it's still cool. And obviously "do-able" to "remote control" everything -- well mostly everything. (There's mention on SpaceFlightNow's article that the solar panel pointing, of all goofy things, isn't something they can do from the hotel room. Wonder why?)
-- Nate Duehr, WY0X nate@natetech.com
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