Full Resolution OK, here's Carl Engelbrecht and my friend Srinivas Laxman.
I am living in DC now, but I spent the last three years before the flyby living in Bombay, India. Srinivas is a journalist for the Times of India. He's a space nut, and a huge fan of anything that goes into space, from ISRO or NASA or any other agency. I knew him well in India, and he came to dozens of talks that I gave. So I was really excited that he was able to come out to the Ultima Thule flyby, and cover it for the Indian press.
Srinivas: "All is good Henry, and I am so excited to finally be here. But I don't understand, one thing, Henry. Let me ask you this. I am registered with the media office. But... when will I get my badge? In India, that is the first thing they will do -- send you your media badge, many months ahead of time."
Me: "Oh, it's fine. We'll just walk over and get it."
Srinivas: "But we can't just walk over! There must be, you know, a gate. And then security. And another gate. And more gates, and checks. I think, certainly, I must set aside at least four hours in the morning to get through the security process, no? I must go there today, two days early."
For what it's worth, APL is a very secure area, but Carl Engelbrecht and APL's media office did a great job making sure that journalists from around the world had access to all of the same briefings and tours to cover the story.
And, it was especially cool that Carl grew up and lived in South India for the first 17 years of his life. "I went back there a few years ago. I could still speak Tamil, and the families that we knew, we still remembered each other so well." The Indian press got word of Carl's involvement with New Horizons, and did even wrote up a neat article on him.
