October 4 and all that

Today is a momentous day. I was just a four month old baby at the time, but my cradle was rocked, I can tell you. You see, today is the 50th anniversary of the day the space race started. Some might cynically say it was at the expense of the human race. Maybe, but when the USSR (remember them - they did a world tour in the 1960's) launched the world's first artificial satellite - Sputnik - we entered into a new era of telecommunications which eventually evolved into a vast global network that now enables us to receive live television pictures from virtually anywhere in the world. Without satellites there would be no GPS, no iridium satellite mobile telephony and no whole host of other things we have since discovered we 'can't do without'. Google Earth is a classic example of satellite imagery in action.

I have dedicated an entire page of my eLearning @ Plymouth website to satellite communications if you care to take a look. I spent a considerable time in the 90's working on a project where we regularly used live digital satellite television to deliver distance education to a large reception area covering most of Western Europe. We still have a satellite research centre at the University of Plymouth. You could say that satellites have played a big part in my life.

October 4th is momentous for me for another reason. Today is my 21st wedding anniversary. I'm off now to buy some flowers....