RazakSAT To Be Sent Off Tomorrow (source)

KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's first homegrown, remote-sensing satellite, RazakSAT, will be sent off tomorrow to prepare for its launch into orbit at Kwajalein Island, Republic of Marshall Islands on April 21.

The sending-off ceremony of the satellite will be witnessed by Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili at the Royal Malaysia Air Force base in Subang, a statement from the minister's office here said today.

RazakSAT, named after Malaysia's second prime minister Tun Abdul Razak, is a mini-class satellite weighing at 190kg, and will orbit the Near Equatorial Orbit (NEqO) at an altitude of 685km.

It is also the first remote-sensing satellite to orbit the NEqO, where the orbital location will enable observation to be made on the earth's surface more often -- as compared to other remote-sensing satellites -- that is, five to six times daily, during daylight.

The satellite, which will be blasted into space using the United States launcher, Falcon-1, is designed and manufactured by a local company, Astronautic Technology (M) Sdn Bhd (ATSB).

The RazakSAT is a continuation of the TiungSAT-1 programme which was successfully launched in 2000.

Compared to TiungSAT-1 which was more experimental in nature, RazakSAT is considered a functional satellite in monitoring the earth's surface and environment.

The 2.5 metre MAC on the satellite is expected to provide high resolution images of Malaysia that can be applied to land management, resource development and conservation, forestry, fish migration and security.

Together with RazakSAT, two other satellites -- CubeSAT and InnoSAT -- meant for educational purposes, will also be launched.

CuteSAT was developed by ATSB while InnoSAT was developed by three local universities, namely Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Universiti Malaysia Perlis.

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*ROLLS EYES*

Is the art of subtlety no longer a requirement in Malaysian politics? I mean... COME. ON.

I’m not trying to be all ‘hippy’ here, and I know that going green is the latest ‘in’ thing to do, but I swear I’m not doing it to be with the ‘in’ crowd.

Earth Hour is a worthwhile cause, y’all. And, since my electricity bill is like, sooooooooooo expensive, I think an hour without it (electricity) would show ‘em utility company a whatfer. All you have to do is switch off the lights, even a lazy couch potato like me can do it. 

• Saturday, 28th March
• 830-930pm
• Join the cause!

Click the banner on your right for more info.

Here we go again, ANTM Cycle 12!

I know it’s trash, I know it kills brain cells, but like a fat kid addicted to chocolates and cakes, I’m addicted to ANTM. I’m following the new cycle on youtube, and since I don’t want the account to get “cease and desist” by the TV network, I will refrain from posting direct link to the youtube account (like anyone from the network is reading this blog *snorts*). So, shhhh… Okay.

The girls this cycle are awesomely alien looking… they have little to average potential to be a working model in real life, but the greatest potential to be a showstopper in reality TV. Yes, I watched ANTM long enough to be able to differentiate between an actual model, and an actual reality TV goldmine. Actual top models like Gemma Ward and Agyness Dyn are weird too, but still pretty. ANTM’s girls are just… weird. Except for Nicole, winner of Cycle… something. She’s pretty… enough, but bo-ring.

Wow just listen to me. I sound like I know fashion haha.

More addicts over at Livejournal’s Top Model site, fyi.

Johnny Depp… *swoons*.

Trailer from his new movie, Public Enemy, is out!

“I like baseball, movies, good clothes, fast cars... and you. What else you need to know?”

BAD. ASS.

Synopsis: (source)

In the action-thriller Public Enemies, acclaimed filmmaker Michael Mann directs Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Academy Award® winner Marion Cotillard in the incredible and true story of legendary Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger (Depp), the charismatic bank robber whose lightning raids made him the number one target of J. Edgar Hoovers fledgling FBI and its top agent, Melvin Purvis (Bale), and a folk hero to much of the downtrodden public. No one could stop Dillinger. No jail could hold him. His charm and audacious jailbreaks endeared him to almost everyone from his girlfriend Billie Frechette (Cotillard) to an American public who had no sympathy for the banks that had plunged the country into the Depression.

Slated for release on 1st June 2009.

I was kidnapped by a cult.

Also, nothing interesting happened that calls for an update in this barely breathing blog. Until now.

My younger brother got engaged last weekend at Terengganu. We stayed at a beach-front chalet, and though the view’s awesome, the rooms… sucked. I mean, it’s functional, but for a RM150 a night, you’d expect better service and accommodation. BUT, I’m not going to complain (much), because the food in Terengganu was FA-BUH-LOUS. I love that keropok lekor are everywhere, and we had nasi dagang for breakfast every morning when we were there. YUM. And did I mention we stayed by the beach? I didn’t swim in the ocean, but being near it was enough to calm my concrete-laden soul. Wah, unnecessarily poetic.

We managed to squeeze some shopping time too at Pasar Payang, and eventhough I’m just starting to ‘build up’ my saving accounts back from the Bandung trip damages, I still bought RM365 worth of Terengganu batik. Will I ever learn??? Apparently not.

I haven’t even skimmed about the engagement ceremony yet. As any malay ceremony, you must serve food for the guests. And they served the best! Eventhough it was 530pm, they served rice with lauk like it was lunch time. So of course we can’t NOT eat, because we would be offending the host. Heheh. They served lauk kampung-style, which included ikan masin, budu, ikan bakar, sambal belacan… OMG I’m salivating all over again! Oh, the bride-to-be (my bro’s now-fiancée) looked pretty too. And so on and so forth.

Last time we went to the east coast, it was a horrible 14-hour journey at the worst. This time, it only took us 6 hours from KL-Terengganu. Though it’s considerably much better than the last trip, I was still not accustomed to sitting in the car for 6 hours straight. You see, I’m old. I have a weak lower back. If I sit in a car for too long, it aches. Plus, it was raining, and the aircond made it worse. Tomorrow you’ll see me wearing bulky knitted hat and orthopaedic shoes while saying stuff like “Kids these days. In MY days, blablabla…”.

Man, I really need to focus on something not food related.