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Target Iditarod Teacher on the Trail™ World Communication
by Jane Blaile
Today I met with World Communications Center satellite services. They are a sponsor of the 2008 Iditarod communications systems. And amazingly, their headquarters are right here in the Valley of the Sun! The two folks I've talked to are actually Alaskans, but working here some. They were very excited that the Teacher on the Trail TM was so close!
I was given the satellite phone that I'll use out on the trail. It is fascinating, actually, to think about the signals beaming from 500 to over 600 miles into space, connecting with a satellite, and then the reciprocal signals being returned the same distance to eventually be put onto a land line. One way I'll use it is to communicate with Nome radio each day to give an update. In 3 weeks from today, I leave for Alaska. I'd better get busy learning how to be quick with it. A big thanks to the company for providing the Target 2008 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail with this means of communication!
Last year they piloted a program with Iditarod Air Force pilots in which the pilots had a 4 key box. Each key sent a message. They were similar to:
"Weather is fine; I'm heading out."
"Weather is questionable; I'm heading out anyway."
"Weather is bad; I'm staying put."
"HELP!"
It's such a gift to be able to have such communication out there; it's important to the safety of the people, mushers, and dogs.
