PRESS RELEASE
March 14, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact:
Susan MacTavish Best
susan@bestpr.netcraigslist "test launches" 138,179 classified ads from earth toward outer space communities.
San Francisco, CA (USA) : Following a successful launch of an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral carrying the first of a new Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) satellite into space, Deep Space Communications Network launched the first private communications message into deep space for craigslist. The 23 minute transmission included over 24 million words and pictures from the global craigslist community into deep space. The transmission was preceded by a tone and identifier to the audio signal that stated the earth date and that the transmission was from the planet earth.
The transmission originated from Cape Canaveral, Florida USA 28.52422 North Latitude 80.59779 West Longitude The transmission dish was elevated to 70 degrees And pointed to an Azimuth of 250 degrees It was transmitted at transmission frequency of 5945 MHz in a Horizontal Polarity Transmitter output power was 500 Watts Antennae provided 46 db of gain Audio was transmitted on subcarrier frequency of 5.8 MHz, 6.2 MHz & 6.8MHz Transmission Bandwidth was 36 MHz Transmission began at 6:30 PM ET on March 11, 2005 and lasted 23 Minutes.
"The response from our terrestrial community wanting to take advantage of being able to communicate with the outer space community has really been out of this world," noted craigslist customer service rep and founder, Craig Newmark. "With over 24 million words and pictures building up in our space blog we were contacted by the Deep Space folks with the launch window and we jumped at the opportunity to get the messages out there," remarked Newmark.
craigslist first announced their plan to make access to space in February after CEO Jim Buckmaster won an auction on eBay for the first private communication to be transmitted into deep space by Deep Space Communications Network, of Cape Canaveral, Florida. "craigslist now serves community in 99 cities and 19 countries, and getting the word out into interstellar space seemed like the logical next step. It really is a small galaxy" noted Buckmaster.
The next space launch of data for the craigslist community is scheduled after the successful return to flight of the Space Shuttle. This mission known as STS-114 will mark the 114th Space Shuttle flight for the Shuttle program and the 31st Shuttle Mission for the Space Shuttle Discovery. At the controls of mission STS-114 will be the first women Commander Colonel Eileen Collins who along with other members of the 7 person crew will be on a 19 day International Space Station re-supply flight. STS-114 is currently scheduled for liftoff May 15th from the same launch pad that first launched and landed man on the moon, Launch Complex 36A located on the Kennedy Space Center.
When asked about craigslist involvement in the intragalactic transactions Jim Buckmaster, CEO of craigslist reaffirmed that it was craigslist policy to not get involved in communications between members and noted, "We continue to believe that what any of our members do inside the privacy of their own home or spaceship is the business of two or more consenting beings, human or otherwise."
About craigslist:
Founded in 1995 by Craig Newmark, craigslist is widely known as an archetype of online community - a democratic, trustworthy, and efficient platform for fulfilling basic human needs, as guided by real world communities worldwide. craigslist includes classified listings for jobs, housing, goods and services, personals, events, and community, plus a wide variety of discussion forums.
About Deep Space Communications Network:
Deep Space Communications Network was launched in January 2005 by a group of respected professionals with over 20 years of experience providing satellite communications and video production and programming services to the government and commercial space programs. www.deepspacecom.net
Media Contacts:
craigslist: Susan MacTavish Best, susan@bestpr.net
Deep Space Communications Network: Susan Kohl, 209-586-5887, skohl@sierracomm.com