Moonster Saturn

[nanila]

Little Niece sent me a handmade card.


[Black card with gel pen writing says "2 moonster Satun" with scattered white and yellow star-moons and a multi-coloured ringed planet at the bottom.]

Inside, it says:

To Auntie
nanila
We went to the hepworth
galleree
now we are reeding
about jupiter
love from Little Niece

Apparently, she is learning about the solar system and she is very excited that I'm working on the new JUICE mission to Jupiter. We have orders to bring our telescope with us on our next visit so we can look at Jupiter and the Galilean moons.

I think I forgot to tell the anecdote from our last visit with Little Niece, during which she asked me to explain my job to her. "Auntie nanila", she said, "how do you control your spacecraft?"

I hemmed and hawed, because well. Little Niece is five years old. "Well, it's a bit complicated to explain..."

Little Niece paused and looked at me sternly. "You could at least try."

So I did.

Comments

[soliano]

The wisdom and persistance of youth!

[nanila]

Indeed! I think she understood the basics of telecommanding. But I'm not sure the spacecraft office would be too happy if I programmed it to do "cartwheels", as she requested. ;)

[0jack]

That's a fantastic story, and what a great card! Little Niece is quite an artist. :)

[nanila]

I think "moonster" is a great portmanteau, too. Because Saturn is a monster with many moons.

[ceb]

Awww! We got a card from oldest-nephew (age 6) with a circuit and lightbulbs on it but yours wins :-)

[nanila]

It's good to know there are lots of science-loving children out there. :D

[ironed_orchid]

You are the most exciting aunt that a girl discovering the solar system could hope to have ;-)

[nanila]

I hope she still thinks so in ten years' time.

[sunflowerinrain]

Lovely! And how lucky she is to have you to explain things to her.

Hm, you could collect the explanations and produce a guide for bright young things. It's the age at which most children would be interested, and they have often given up by the time they reach the age at which most books and websites are aimed. Maybe she could illustrate it ;)

[nanila]

I'm trying to remember how my explanation went. I think I started off saying something like, you know your mummy & daddy's computer? Well, Auntie nanila has a very fast computer that helps her create commands for the spacecraft. Then she uses that computer to send the commands to a big satellite dish, like the one you have for your TV but a lot more powerful. That big satellite dish points at the spacecraft and sends the commands, telling it what to do - roll, turn, fire the main engine, open or close a cover (like a lid on a saucepan).

Once I found the right analogies, it didn't seem so complicated any more!

[weaverbird]

Oh, she's adorable!

Also, I agree with the comment up-thread about collecting explanations aimed at kids her age. What a great idea!

[nanila]

The next time I see Little Niece, I'll see if we can have a drawing session for the explanation we came up with. :D

[pulchritude]

Awww, that's adorable :)

[nanila]

Now I need to write her back. I'd better tell her some good Jupiter facts!

[lark_ascends]

Goegeous and priceless.

[nanila]

"Moonster" is a great adjective for Saturn, isn't it? I thought it was an appropriate portmanteau.

[sfred]

Aw!

[nanila]

She's pretty cute. Now, to keep her interested in space!