Taken with a PalmPix camera...

[alexpgp]

This photo was taken in low ambient light, with no flash, using a Kodak PalmPix camera, which hooks onto the sync port of a Palm III and uses the Palm's software and storage to turn the combo into a cheap digital camera.

I've resampled the image from 640 x 480 to 320 x 240 and saved it as a 70 dpi JPG with 25% compression.

The specifications on the unit are as follows: The lens on the unit is f/2.0, with a focal length of 6.1 mm and a focusing distance of from 36 inches to infinity. The shutter speed varies from 1/15 to 1/500 of a second.

The quality of the photo is not stellar, but neither is the price of the unit ($99 at the local Franklin Covey store). Futhermore, I suspect it would take better pictures given more light to play with.

The subject, BTW, is yours truly, at his position in the MCC, during a break in the action.

Cheers...

Comments

Re: coolness

[alexpgp.livejournal.com]

No disrespect for the USAF intended, but there are a lot of astronauts who are neither in the military nor pilots.

Taking the liberty of quoting from a JSC Web page on astronaut selection and training (http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/pao/factsheets/nasapubs/9707006.html):

Mission specialists have similar requirements to pilot astronauts, except that the qualifying physical is a NASA Class II space physical, which is similar to a military of civilian Class II flight physical and includes the following specific standards: for vision-distance visual acuity - 20/200 or better uncorrected, correctable to 20/20, each eye. For Blood pressure-Same as for Pilots. Height requirements for mission specialists are between 58.5 and 76 inches.

The application package may be obtained by writing to the Astronaut Selection Office, Mail Code AHX, Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058-3696.

Cheers...