In a feat far better than the rumors of parents over-hearing mob deals go down and indiscretions being discussed by neighbors over their baby monitors, a new mother recently got great shots of the space station on the video monitor that was supposed to be focused on her 3-1/2-month old son Jack.
Natalie Meilinger of suburban Chicago was understandably confused when she tuned in, probably expecting to see sweet baby Jack wriggling out of his swaddle blanket or groping around for his paci, and instead saw the shuttle Atlantis docked at (where else?) the International Space Station. The mother says people thought she was crazy when she tried to discuss it with friends, contact the manufacturer and even report it to police. NASA -- an organization, let us be reminded, of very smart people responsible for sending large vehicles full of more very smart people to discover stuff and build technology in space -- can't figure out why the family's monitor is tuned into their station.
In the meantime, these new parents have probably totally forgotten a miracle of human life is cooing in his crib since they've viewed astronauts on a space walk, the planet and mission control on their tiny monitor screen. Whatever is "wrong," I hope it doesn't get fixed. I am totally jealous of the non-drooling entertainment they're getting for their monitor upgrade. And I consider my one late-night eavesdropping session -- the one where my neighbor checked on the totals and put in the passwords for all of her bank accounts that was broadcast over all three of our monitors -- to be officially topped.
[photo credit: Paul Beaty/AP]
