SPACE IN MINIATURE

Intelsat VIII: a manned, Earth orbiting communications satellite.

Personal Message: Kimball J 047-34-2521 to Kimbal J.A. ea- 4711437-1 via Relay Station Zebra

Hi Janet; hope you and the children are well. Nothing new to report here - the duty on this station is boring, what with it being almost fully automated> I still do not understand the reluctance of the government to have these stations un-manned - maybe it's typical government paranoia. They don't understand computers, so they don't trust them. I hope that will change soon. There are rumors floating around that we may be sending a deep space exploration team to one of the moons of Jupiter and they are sayingthe ship will be fully automated, with a HAL-9000 at its core. Interesting, if true. With my computer and electronics background, I'll enjoy interacting with it.I've heard that I may be up for an early transfer - with me and Irene Martinson on this station, we are both due for a rotation anyway. Well, gotta go - time for a maintenance check (ya, right). Take care. All my love to you all. Your loving husband, Jack

ABOUT THE MODEL

The model was made from various found parts (a pencil holder and parts from a bug box) as well as plastruct tubing and rod. The idea for the model came from the book, "The Lost Worlds of 2001", by Arthur C. Clark.

Image: Side view

Image: Oblique view

Image: Close look at antennae

Image: Antennae

Image: Under construction