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OT-23 Probe Knows Friend Finder
Graag always wanted to explore strange new worlds so he started piloting orbital star shuttles to gain experience and hours and once he obtained his space pilots license he started working for the local space exploration company that specialized in surveying and documenting planets of new found systems. After a few years, Graag was able to save up and buy a used satellite repair tug. The Orbital Tug or OT-23 is a mass produced work shuttle designed for hauling, pulling and repair work. It is intended for mid to outer orbit work but Graag has retrofitted the OT for trans-system travel with improved thrusters and added a coveted probe nose for scanning planets on approach and while in orbit. Lately He has been contracting for various planetary governments in planetary exploration and his travels have taken him far. In order to avoid confrontation while scanning new worlds, Graag has painted his SHIP in soothing tones and jokingly calls it his “friend finder.”
Stilt Sandpiper
digiscoped through Leica APO Televid 82 mm spotting scope w/ D-Lux 4 camera and prototype digital adapter 4.
Corpus Christi, TX, May 2009
The Helios-A solar probe launched on Dec. 10, 1974 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
As it looped around the Sun in an orbit that took it from Earth's orbit (1 AU from the Sun) to about 0.3 AU from the Sun and back again, Helios-A studied the solar wind, magnetic and electric fields, cosmic rays, and dust in interplanetary space. It flew within 47 million km of the Sun at a speed of 238,000 km per hour, the closest any human-made object had been. Its data indicated the presence of 15 times more micrometeorites close to the Sun than there are near Earth.
Image Credit: NASA