I was born and raised in Wacousta, Michigan, went to Michigan Technological University, and worked in Wisconsin until 1995, when I moved back to Michigan a mile from my old home.

 

 


Me, in a lighter moment...(Oct 2004)
After completing the Ripon Triathlon (Aug 2007)

 

 

 

 

 I live in Wacousta with my wife Pam in a house on a dirt road (well, they have LOTS of dirt roads in Michigan...)
October 2004

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  I have two wonderful children: Lindsey (24) and Rob (22).Lindsey graduated from college in December 2005, Rob in May 2008.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rob and girlfriend Kris (May 2008)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Lindsey and boyfriend Jason (December 2007)

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

  My brother and sisters: Sam, me, Sandy, and Jane. (May 2002)

 

 

 

 

A couple of corporate giants that I've worked for:

  • GE sold my group to IBM
  • IBM sold us out before we could be vested. Kept lesser skilled workers...
  • found work at Carl Zeiss Meditec
 What working for IBM was like...
Zeiss workloads due to vacations..
A Zeiss moment...
Zeiss HR
HQ seemed to think that we had a big enough workforce....never mind we were overworked and underpaid.

Some cool links:

Summary of Galileo accomplishments Sent to fiery death 21 Sept 2003

Cassini entered Saturn orbit 1 July 2004
Huygens enters Titan's atmosphere and touches down 14 January 2005
  

 Other links to NASA and ESA projects:

Pioneers 10 and 11.. Pioneer 10, launched in 1972, final transmissions received January 2003 and is over 7.6 billion miles from Earth. Pioneer 11, launched in 1973, final transmission received September 1995.

Voyager.. Launched in 1977. Currently both are operating and on interstellar missions. Voyager 1 passed100AU from the sun (Aug 2006). Voyager 2 is over 72AU from the sun.

Hubble Space TelescopeOperating since 1990. Doomed if the Space Shuttle doesn't fly soon in order to service the HST.

Stardust.. Launched Feb 99. Mission to comet Wild 2 (Jan 2004), to collect and return comet material to Earth in Jan 2006. Successful collection on Jan 3, 2004.  Returned to Earth but crashed-landed on 8 Sept 2004.  Spacecraft is alive and has a new mission (NExT) to fly to Comet Tempel 1 in 2011.

Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous.. (completed with soft landing on the asteroid 14 Feb 2001)

Mars Odyssey, Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Express(2003),  Mars Exploration Rovers  Rovers "Spirit" and "Opportunity" continue to transmit images. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reached Mars orbit March 2006. MGS fell silent 11/06 and is presumed lost.  Mars Phoenix launched Aug 2007 landed in the north polar region of Mars 25 May 2008.

CONTOUR, a mission to 2 comets: Launched July 2002. Massive failure August 2002.

Europa Orbiter.. Cancelled by President Bush

Project Prometheus/Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter.. Nuclear-electric mission to Jupiter's Galilean moons around 2015.

Messenger.. mission to Mercury. Launched August 3, 2004. Gravity assists at Earth (7/05) and Venus (10/06, 6/07) and Mercury flybys (1/08, 10/08, and 9/09) before March 2011 orbit insertion.

Pluto New Horizons Launched 19 January 2006.  2007 Jupiter gravity assist, 2015 rendezvous (flyby) with Pluto.

Ulysses Launched in 1990, in polar orbit around the sun since 1994

Genesis launched Aug 2001, arrived at L1 Nov 2001 to collect solar wind particles. Returned to Earth Sept 9, 2004.

Rosetta Launched 2 March 2004 to flyby two asteroids--Steins (9/2008) and Lutetia (7/2010)--and orbit and land on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (in 11/2014). The complicated flight path includes 3 Earth gravity assists (3/05, 11/05, and 11/07) and Mars gravity assist in 2/07.

Deep Impact --look inside a comet (Mission completed 4 July 2005 with impactor collision with Comet Tempel 1).  New mission (EPOXI) will fly by Comet Hartley 2 on 11 Oct 2010

DAWN Ceres and Vesta asteroid orbiters using solar electric propulsion.  Launched Sept 2007, Mars flyby (March 2009).  Vesta (9/11-4/12), and Ceres (2/15-7/15) rendevous.

Venus Express ESA's mission to Venus launched Nov 2005 and will arrive April 2006.

Kepler orbiting telescope to detect extra-solar terrestrial planets (Oct 2008 launch)

Link to photo comparison of 4 Galilean satellites. Very nice!

Views of the planets and moons of our solar system

 

To put it in perspective, Lansing State Journal columnist John Schneider put it this way Sunday March 15,1998:

"...[we are] human ants clinging to a dirt ball orbiting a fireball, surrounded by infinite blackness and other loose chunks of debris. And not really knowing why."

last modified 19 August 2007