May 15, 2012
My Address in Space
Me in Node 2, Deck 5, ISS, LEO 51.603.
If my family and friends were to write me a letter, what address would they use? When I type my name on one of my stories, what address should I give?
It occurred to me that Space Station is a place as deserving of an address as other frontier stations like McMurdo Base or the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Base in Antarctica. These places have formal addresses, complete with zip codes. Even Navy ships have addresses. With the future development of commercial spaceships, I could realistically contemplate someone sending me a letter. So what address would they use? Do they need a zip code? Do you affix an “airmail stamp” or do we create a new category of “rocket mail” stamps? If Space Station were to have an address, instead of writing letters to Santa Claus asking for stuff, kids could write letters to astronauts asking questions about science and engineering.
My sleep station, a coffin-sized box, is located in the fifth deck space of Node 2. From an Earth-based perspective, I pop out of my sleep station as if I were coming out of the floor. I am thus situated on the International Space Station (ISS) in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with an orbital inclination of 51.6 degrees (the angle of our orbit plane to the equator) and an average altitude of 400 kilometers. It occurred to me that my address should be: Node 2, Deck 5, ISS, LEO 51.603. The first three digits of your space zip code would be your orbital inclination and the last two a designator for your particular space station, with ISS being the third in this location (after the Salyut series and Mir). This zip code nomenclature should suffice, at least until there are more than 99 different space stations in orbit.
perhaps you should add the name of the planet being orbited so that it extends well into martian and lunar orbit!
Comment by FG — May 15, 2012 @ 9:25 pm
I’m going to write you a letter and put that address on the envelope for kicks. I don’t really expect it to reach you but it would be a great surprise if it did somehow, someday.
Comment by Nathan — May 16, 2012 @ 2:25 am
Hello Don Pettit, maybe you guys should have a first level domain on Internet as well, such as countries eg. don@pettit.iss
Comment by Fabio — May 16, 2012 @ 11:05 am
This will give a whole new meaning to “Airmail”. I agree, Yes, we should have addresses up there. Eventually, Universal addresses.
) Could you imagine how much a stamp on Earth would be worth if it had been sent to the ISS and stamped ‘received’ by an Astronaut? Museum quality stuff. I love collecting stamps. I would send you new socks!! ;o)
Comment by ModerationChic — May 16, 2012 @ 12:17 pm
Hi Don, It’s been a pleasure reading your Letter to Earth! I was kind of thinking the Zip Code might be 51.604 due to Skylab or even a higher number if you wanted to count all the Salyut stations (weren’t there 7 of those?) Thanks again for your perspectives from about and I really enjoy your micro-g physics videos as well. God-speed!
Comment by Ed Marshall — May 16, 2012 @ 9:29 pm
In the last sentence, please change “about” to “above.” It makes a lot more sense that way!
Comment by Ed Marshall — May 16, 2012 @ 9:32 pm
[...] Pettit muses on his “address in space“. He also explains the complexities of how we number our missions on [...]
Pingback by Friday Links — May 18, 2012 @ 9:34 am
Hi Don,
Thanks for your messages, which together with André’s give a very nice feel of what it’s like up there. You said that the zip code works well until there are 99 different space stations in orbit. It’s even better: those 99 stations would have to be in an orbit with the same inclination, otherwise the first three digits would be different. Besides that: the 99 stations could be 100, as there’s no rule, I think, of having a zipcode ending in 00, is there? And all 99 or 100 would have to be in orbit at the same time as there’s no reason why not to assign a zipcode that’s already been used by a station that has been deorbited. In that respect I think we can safely say the possibility of zipcodes are near limitless. Only problem is that there will also the same zipcodes on Earth, e.g. 51603 being Shenandoah, IA. And I don’t think the mail service will accept the same zipcode for two different loactions
Regards, Bert
Comment by Bert Vis — May 22, 2012 @ 9:25 am