KenMankoff

Astronaut Postcard

I got a postcard from NASA. Presumably so did everyone who applied last time. I’ll apply again. Third times a charm? Statistically unlikely as the global governments (NASA, ESA, JAXA, Roscosmos, CSA) hire about 30 per decade. Not including the CNSA, I have no idea how many they hire. But, it is always fun to try, and I doubt they hire anyone who doesn’t apply…

Astronaut Postcard (1/2)

Astronaut Postcard (2/2)

Fridge

In which I record the temperature of my fridge and surrounding environment, and track events that take place involving the fridge, in order to answer the question,

Can I unplug my fridge at night without ruining my food?

Missing NYC

This Is SpaceBit

This is SpaceBit, formerly residing at http://SpaceBit.org

As I realize my online avatar involves more than just space and computers, I’ve gone with a more generic name of me a.k.a Ken Mankoff, so the site http://spacebit.org/ has been moved to http://kenmankoff.com/

In particular, the old domain name did not capture my now multi-year and PhD. level obsession with ice, Antarctica, and Pine Island Glacier.

Road Trip Photos

We have uploaded photos from our cross-country road trip.

Home v8.0

View from Home v.80, Santa Cruz, CA

K: NY > MA > VT > CO > AK > CH > NYC > Santa Cruz
H: London > NYC > London > Bangkok > London > Edinburgh > NYC > Santa Cruz

> next?

The Road Trip is Over

Our ~5000 mile road-trip (NYC to Santa Cruz, CA) is over. Some thoughts accumulated on the way:

18 wheelers really do have 18 wheels, but the quad-segmented Fedex trucks (cab + 3 trailers) have 26 wheels.

We managed to pass about 15 vehicles. That is what happens when you drive an old RV that gets wobbly over 60 mph.

A/C is over-rated. Roll your windows down. Feel the heat.

Utah is once again and still the most amazing state to visit if you want to live on Mars

The mid-west may be flat and full of fields, but it is beautiful. Especially Iowa.

AT&T has terrible signal west of the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. Verizon has excellent 3G coverage coast to coast except in some Utah canyons.

And of course photos… I’ll upload them soon to a new album.

Meta Sunset

Road Trip

We’re driving from New York City to Santa Cruz, CA. We’ve kitted out our camper with mobile wireless. The SSID is “GoGoCamperGo”. My wife has set up a live-stream of the drive and I’m broadcasting GPS stats. The camera and GPS will be on whenever we’re driving, and sometimes when we are parked. Updates may appear here and here.

You can access the road trip page here: http://kenmankoff.com/nyc2ca

Go Go Camper Go

Astronaut Rejection Part II of II

Yesterday I received my second astronaut rejection letter. The first was a few months ago from ESA and this one was from NASA. I am not surprised but still sad. The nine new astronauts (called AsCans as they are Astronaut Candidates until their first flight) selected by NASA are introduced here.

In related news, as of July 1st I am officially a PhD. student at the University of California, Santa Cruz.