Hinode says hello to the world
L is happy to report that Hinode (pronounced "Hee-no-day"), her group's satellite, is alive and well. Hinode is the Japanese word for sunrise -- appropriate since it takes pictures of the sun. It passes over Japan about twice a day as it orbits high overhead, and someone has to be there to connect to it every time it passes during these first few weeks. It beams down a status report about things like its temperature, power, and other vital signs. They quickly try to analyze things to make sure nothing is wrong. The satellite is only in range for about 15 minutes, and some decisions need to be made after the satellite sends its status but before it disappears below the horizon like the setting sun. It's a stressful race against "sundown," especially when Hinode rise-to-set "day" is only 15 minutes instead of 24 hours. They spend the time in between passes making plans about what to tests to tell the satellite to perform next time it passes overhead. They are slowly asking it to do more and more tricks to make sure that everything is operating correctly. You may remember that the satellite takes pictures of the Sun, but they won't work up to operations that complex for another few weeks (we'll be sure to post the first new picture here when that happens!!). A previous solar satellite spun wildly out of control when its operators (people with jobs similar to L) were a bit hasty and accidentally sent a bad series of commands when the satellite was not ready. When you're dealing with a satellite that costs hundreds of millions of dollars, slow and steady definitely does win the race.