Omid satellite

Operator	ISA
Launch date	2009-02-02
Carrier rocket	Safir-2 SLV
Orbital decay	2009-04-25
COSPAR ID	2009-004A
Orbital elements
Inclination	55.5°
Apoapsis	383.8 km
Periapsis	252.7 km
Orbital period	90.7 min

Omid (Persian: امید‎, meaning "Hope")^[1] was Iran's first domestically made satellite^[2][3] Omid is a data-processing satellite for research and telecommunications, Iran's state television reported that it was successfully launched on 2 February 2009.^[3][4][5] After being launched by an Iranian-made carrier rocket, Safir 2, the satellite was placed into a low Earth orbit. The launch, which coincided with the 30th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution and was supervised by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was also verified by NASA the following day as a success. ^{[6] [7]} Its Satellite Catalog Number or USSPACECOM object number is 33506.

Ahmadinejad said the satellite was launched to spread "monotheism, peace and justice" in the world.^[8] The Tehran Times reported that "Iran has said it wants to put its own satellites into orbit to monitor natural disasters in the earthquake-prone nation and improve its telecommunications." ^[9] Foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the satellite was launched to "meet the needs of the country" and is "purely for peaceful purposes".^[8]

Omid had the shape of a 40-centimeter (16 in) cube with mass of 27 kilograms (60 lb). Sources in the Iranian Space Agency say the satellite's sole payload was a store and forward telecommunication capability.^[5]

The launch of Omid makes Iran the ninth country to develop an indigenous satellite launch capability.

Specifications[link]

• Store and Forward Telecommunication Satellite
• Dimensions: 40 cm * 40 cm * 40 cm
• Weight: 27 kg
• Thermal Control: Passive
• Frequency Band: UHF
• Nodal Period: 90.7minutes
• Inclination: 55.71degrees
• Apogee: 381.2 km
• Perigee: 245.5 km

Previous Iranian satellites[link]

Omid was the second Iranian satellite to be placed into orbit. A previous Iranian satellite, Sina-1, was built and launched for Iran by Russia in 2005.^[10][11]

Test launch[link]

Speaking at the opening of a new space centre on February 4, 2008, President Ahmadinejad announced that Omid would be launched in "the near future".^[12] On August 17, 2008, Iranian officials reported that a test of the satellite carrier was performed, and footage was broadcast of the launch of the Safir rocket in darkness.^[13]

According to an American official, "The vehicle failed shortly after liftoff and in no way reached its intended position."^[14] Iranian officials released a statement denouncing the allegations as propaganda and stated the Iran would soon launch the Omid satellite.^[15]

Orbit[link]

The satellite was launched southeast over the Indian Ocean to avoid overflying neighboring countries and was placed into an orbit with an inclination of 55.5 degrees,^[16] with a perigee of 246 km, an apogee of 377 km, and a period of 90.76 minutes.^[17]

End of mission[link]

Omid was reported to have successfully completed its mission without any problems. It completed more than 700 orbits over seven weeks.^[18] According to U.S. Strategic Command, the Omid satellite reentered Earth's atmosphere on April 25, 2009, during an 8-hour window centered on 0342 UT. The most likely reentry location was over the south Atlantic Ocean approximately east of Buenos Aires, Argentina. No sightings were reported.^[19] The rocket body from the launch, which had also entered orbit, reentered the atmosphere May 31, 2009.^[20]

	Omid Telemetry noicon AFSK Telemetry recorded from the Omid satellite. The deep fades may be caused by the satellite tumbling in its orbit.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Further launches[link]

Iran launched Rasad 1 on 15 June 2011 which orbited for three weeks. Other satellites have been announced as under development.

See also[link]

• Iranian Space Agency
• List of orbits
• Safir (rocket)
• Sina-1
• Timeline of first orbital launches by country

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Omid

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Radio observations and other details of the Omid Mission
• Video of Iran's first domestic satellite launch
• pictures of the opening of Iran's first space system at mehrnews.com
• Real Time OMID Satellite Tracking

Omid Djalili
Djalili at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival
Born	(1965-09-30) 30 September 1965 (age 46) Chelsea, London, England, United Kingdom
Medium	Film, television, stand-up
Subject(s)	Religion, race, culture, stereotypes, human interaction
Spouse	Annabel Knight

Omid Djalili ( /əˈmiːd dʒəˈlɪli/; Persian: امید جلیلی‎; born 30 September 1965)^[1] is a British Iranian stand-up comedian, actor, television producer and writer.

Personal life[link]

Djalili was born in Chelsea, London to Iranian Bahá'í parents and is a Bahá'í himself.^[2][3] He attended Holland Park School and then the University of Ulster in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, studying English and Theatre studies.^[4]

Djalili is a Chelsea fan.^[5] He is married to British actress and playwright Annabel Knight, with whom he has a daughter, Isabella, and two sons, Louis and Daniel. ^[6][7]

Comedy career[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2011)

Djalili performing at the Arts Depot in 2007

The first significant success of his stand-up comedy career was at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1995 with "Short, Fat Kebab Shop Owner's Son", followed by "The Arab and the Jew" in 1996.

He has performed in numerous countries, including Australia, Ireland, Sweden, Belgium, Canada and the United States, where he had his own HBO Special and did 22 episodes of the NBC sitcom Whoopi with Whoopi Goldberg.

He did his part for Comic Relief after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and also in 2005 he appeared on the British TV show Top Gear as a celebrity driver. The same year he broke Edinburgh Festival box office records with over 16,500 ticket sales.

In 2006, Sky Television picked him to be the face of their Saturday night film premières, and he also announced a new tour of the UK called 'No Agenda', from January 2007 until March 2007, covering 23 different dates. The No Agenda tour DVD was released in late 2007.

On 18 March 2007, he was voted by the British public as the 60th best stand-up comedian in a Channel 4 programme "The 100 Greatest Stand-Ups". On 26 October 2007, he guest-presented the BBC political quiz show Have I Got News for You.^{[citation needed]} The Omid Djalili Show started on BBC1 on 17 November 2007. The series is a mix of sketches and stand-up material. A second series was recorded in late 2008 and began broadcast on BBC1 on 20 April 2009. He performed on We Are Most Amused on ITV1 to mark Prince Charles's 60th birthday in 2008.

A touring stand-up, his next tour starts on 14 October 2011 although previews of this tour are being performed in smaller venues such as The Beggar's Theatre, Millom. Another small venue that he has performed in is the Victoria Hall in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. When he was there, he did an interview with local radio, 6 Towns Radio about his show in Hanley.^[8].

Acting career[link]

Djalili has appeared in a number of films, most notably Gladiator, The Mummy, Mean Machine, The World Is Not Enough, Alien Autopsy, Spy Game, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Grow Your Own, Notting Hill, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Sex and the City 2 and provides his voice in Over the Hedge.

He had observed that he usually appears as a generic Middle Eastern background character in many of these films, often commenting that he appears in the James Bond film as the "Second Azerbaijani oil pipe attendant". He appeared as Nasim in the U.S. sitcom Whoopi, starring Whoopi Goldberg, and picked up an international film award for Best Supporting Actor in Casanova, starring alongside Heath Ledger and Jeremy Irons.

On 12 February 2009, Cameron Macintosh (producer) announced that Djalili will appear as the second Fagin in the new West End production of Oliver! at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London. Omid took over from Rowan Atkinson, who was contracted until 18 July 2009.^[9]

In 2009, Djalili became the voice of Yusuf Amir in the popular gaming series Grand Theft Auto. He took up the role in the Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony spin-off game. In 2010, he starred in the David Baddiel scripted film The Infidel.

In 2010, Djalili starred in a series of TV and cinema adverts for Moneysupermarket.com.^[10]

Djalili appeared in the short-lived NBC sitcom The Paul Reiser Show, which was a midseason replacement for the 2010-11 television season.^[11]

For the BBC Learning project "Off By Heart Shakespeare", Omid played Lord Capulet from Romeo and Juliet and delivered the speech "Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch!"^[12]

Other activities[link]

On 13 June 2010, Djalili appeared in a Meltdown Festival concert^[13] given by the Philharmonia Orchestra at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, performing the part of the narrator in 'Rubaiyat', a tone poem by American classical composer Alan Hovhaness which sets the words of Omar Khayyám to music. He also appeared on the Graham Norton Show on 17 February 2012, alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Cuba Gooding Jr..

Filmography[link]

Cinema[link]

• The Mummy (1999)
• Notting Hill (1999)
• Mad Cows (1999)
• The World Is Not Enough (1999)
• Gladiator (2000)
• Spy Game (2001)
• Mean Machine (2001)
• Anita and Me (2002)
• Cross My Heart (2003)
• Deadlines (2004)
• The Calcium Kid (2004)
• Modigliani (2004)
• Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
• Casanova (2005)
• Alien Autopsy (2006)
• Over the Hedge as Tiger, the bad tempered Persian cat (2006)
• Grow Your Own (2007)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
• The Love Guru (2008)
• Dead Man Running (2009)
• The Infidel (2010)
• Sex and the City 2 (2010)
• Animals United (2010)
• Mr. Nice (2010)
• Big Fat Gypsy Gangster (2011)

Television[link]

• The Friday Night Armistice (1996)
• Alexei Sayle's Merry-Go-Round (1998)
• The Bill (1998)
• Barking (TV series) (1998)
• The Lake of Darkness (1999)
• Cleopatra (1999)
• Coming Soon (1999)
• Small Potatoes (1999)
• Black Books (2000)
• Jason and the Argonauts (2000)
• Lenny Henry in Pieces (2000)
• So What Now? (2001)
• Relic Hunter (2002)
• Dinotopia: The Series (2002)
• Between Iraq and a Hard Place (2003)
• Whoopi (2003)
• Live at the Apollo (2004)
• Age of Awakening. Narrator (2005)
• Chopra Town (2005)
• One Night Stand (HBO) (2005)
• My Family and Other Animals (2005)
• Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive (2006)
• Jack Dee's Lead Balloon (2006)
• Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law (2006)
• TV Heaven, Telly Hell (2007)
• Have I Got News For You (2007)
• The Omid Djalili Show (2007)
• Premier League All Stars (2007)
• Never Mind The Buzzcocks (2008)
• The Omid Djalili Show - Series 2 (2009)
• Would I Lie To You? (2009)
• The Paul Reiser Show (2011)

Video games[link]

• Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony as Yusuf Amir.^[14] (2009)

• 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand as Eddie.^[15] (2009)

Awards[link]

Djalili has won awards for his comedy. These include the EMMA Award, Time Out Award, and LWT Comedy Award for Best Stand-up Comedian, Spirit of the Fringe Award as well as the One World Media Award for his Channel 4 documentary, Bloody Foreigners.

He has also been nominated for awards, such as the Perrier Award for Best Comedian, the Gemini Award for Best Comedy Performance of 2003, the South Bank Award for Best Comedy of 2003, the Royal Television Society Award for Best Stand-up, and the European TV Award for his Bloody Foreigners.

Stand-up DVDs[link]

• No Agenda: Live at the London Palladium (26 November 2007) - Live at the London Palladium
• Live in London (16 November 2009) - Live at the Apollo, Hammersmith

See also[link]

• Iranian stand-up comedy

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Omid Djalili

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Omid Djalili

• Omid Djalili's official web site
• Omid Djalili at the Internet Movie Database
• Omid Djalili on Twitter

Jack Dee
Jack Dee in 2007
Born	(1961-09-24) 24 September 1961 (age 50) Bromley, Kent, England
Medium	Stand-up, television, radio
Nationality	British
Years active	1986–present
Genres	Deadpan, Observational comedy
Subject(s)	Everyday life, Family, Marriage, Human interaction, Current events
Influences	Larry David
Influenced	Jack Whitehall
Spouse	Susan Jane Hetherington (m. 1989–present)
Notable works and roles	The Jack Dee Show (1992–94) Just For Laughs (1992) 'Art' (1998) Jack Dee: Live at the Apollo (2004–06) Lead Balloon (2006–2011)
British Comedy Awards
Best Stage Newcomer 1991 Best Standup Comedian 1997

James Andrew Innes "Jack" Dee (born 24 September 1961) is an English stand-up comedian, actor and writer known for his sarcastic, witty, and deadpan humour. He won Celebrity Big Brother 2001.

Early life[link]

Dee was the youngest of three children born to Rosemary A. (née Stamper) and Geoffrey T. Dee, after Joanna Innes Dee & David Simon Innes Dee. Jack Dee was born in Bromley, Kent^[1] and grew up in nearby Petts Wood^[2] before moving with his family to Winchester when he was young. His father, Geoffrey, was a printer and his mother, Rosemary, was the daughter of two unsuccessful repertory actors, Henry Lionel Pope "Lionel" Stamper (1906–1985) & Edna May Howard Innes (1904–1969) (and the great-niece of Charles William Stamper, motor engineer to King Edward VII).^[3]

Education[link]

Dee was educated at both independent and state schools. His first school was The Pilgrims' School, a junior independent school in Winchester, followed by the state Montgomery of Alamein School for his secondary education, for some time he attended Frensham Heights School. He took his A-levels at Peter Symonds' College, and left with a D and an F grade. Following this, he planned to attend drama college, but his plans were scuppered when his mother persuaded him to get a vocation, and so he entered the catering industry and became a waiter.^[4]

Life and career[link]

In his twenties, Dee worked at the Ritz and started drinking heavily. He attended church and attempted to become a priest. After he realised that wasn't for him he gave that up, he never quit drinking, although he would later describe his condition as "alcohol abuse" rather than alcoholism, which was diagnosed at the time.^[5] Since then he has advertised John Smith's Bitter.

Career[link]

Dee's first public act was an open-mic gig in 1986 at the Comedy Store, which he went to one evening after work.^[6] He was encouraged to write additional material and to tour the circuit. Since the 1990s he has performed sell-out acts at many high-profile venues (including the London Palladium and the Hammersmith Apollo). After he scooped the British Comedy Award for Best Stage Newcomer in 1991, Dee was offered his own show; The Jack Dee Show first went out on Channel 4 in February 1992, bringing him to a wider audience. His combination of stand-up routines on television continued with Jack Dee's Saturday Night on ITV, Jack Dee's Happy Hour in 1997 and later Jack Dee Live at the Apollo in 2004 on BBC One.

Aside from his successful stand-up career, Dee has played starring roles and guest appearances in television series. He played the part of Doug Digby in the Grimleys pilot (1997) before the role was recast for the series, and made guest appearances on such programmes as Silent Witness, Dalziel and Pascoe and Jonathan Creek.

In 2001, he won Celebrity Big Brother (then linked to fundraising for Comic Relief). During evictions, he dressed up in a tweed jacket and cap and held his packed suitcase, hoping to be voted out. During the eviction of another housemate he briefly absconded to sneak a quick kiss with his wife. He also escaped for several hours at night-time. He has subsequently said that he dislikes the treatment of the housemates by the show and its producers, and has refused all permission for any of the clips to be shown again.^[7]

In 2004 he played the role of Steven Sharples MP the self-styled 'Deputy Home Secretary' alongside Warren Clarke and Dervla Kirwan in The Deputy. Dee's performance was praised, though the film itself received a lukewarm response.^[8] Later that year he starred in another one-off drama, Tunnel of Love. He was the celebrity advocate in Britain's Best Sitcom for Fawlty Towers and presented an hour-long documentary about the series.

In 2005 he co-hosted Comic Aid, a one-off gathering of comedians that aimed to raise money for the Asian Tsunami Appeal. In May of the same year he appeared on the "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car" segment of the BBC Two series Top Gear, achieving a lap time of 1:53.5 (52nd on the Suzuki Liana leader board). His most recent series Lead Balloon, which he also co-wrote, began on BBC Four on 4 October 2006. Described as "Britain's answer to Curb Your Enthusiasm",^[9] Lead Balloon sees Dee play the semi-biographical role of Rick Spleen. A second series of eight episodes was commissioned and was broadcast on BBC Two in 2007, with a third series debuting on Thursday 13 November 2008. A fourth series has just finished being shown on the BBC as of the 5th July.^[10] He also starred as Harry in the 2005 film Short Order.

Dee hosts the radio panel show I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, and is a frequent guest on QI and Have I Got News for You, which he has guest-presented ten times, and he hosts segments of the BBC's biennial Comic Relief telethon. He starred in advertisements for John Smith's Bitter in the 1990s, becoming known as "the midget with the widget".

He made his stage debut in 1998, playing Yvan in Yasmina Reza's Olivier award-winning 'Art'. He later returned as Serge for a 13-week run at the request of the director.^[2]

In 2008, Dee took part in the 15th anniversary special of Shooting Stars where he replaced Will Self as captain of Team A. The show aired on 30 December 2008 on BBC2.

Dee returned as team captain in series 6 of Shooting Stars on 26 August 2009, and again for the 7th series.

In February 2009, it was announced that Dee would be one of a trio of hosts to replace Humphrey Lyttelton for the summer series of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (the others being Stephen Fry and Rob Brydon).^[11] Dee subsequently became the permanent host from the 52nd series onwards.^[12]

Over Christmas 2009, Dee played the role of John Tweedledum in The News at Bedtime.

In 2010, Dee took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March.

Personal life[link]

Dee met Susan Jane "Jane" Hetherington, in 1986 when he was working as a waiter in Fulham and she was a receptionist at a nearby hotel.^[13] They married in Winchester, Hampshire, in 1989.^[14] Together they have four children^[14]: Hannah Jane Innes (born 1992), Sophie Jane Innes (born late 1994) and twins, Frederic 'Freddy' Leonardo Innes and Charles Leonardo Innes 'Charlie' (born 1998). The family lives in Wandsworth.

Dee suffered from Depression, and he has claimed that his work is the best therapy for his condition, saying "if you have the impulse to be creative, you ignore it at your peril".^[15]

He abused alcohol heavily in the 1980s. Following his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother he had a relapse, though did not attend AA meetings because he did not want paparazzi photographing him leaving the meetings.^[16]

In 2007, the Daily Express reported that he was in negotiations with publishers to release his autobiography.^[17] He signed with Doubleday in 2008 and the book, Thanks For Nothing: The Jack Dee Memoirs, was released in October 2009, along with an audiobook of the same title which he narrates.^[18] According to Dee, "it's really the story of how I got into comedy... It's kind of an autobiography but isn't, as it stops about 25 years ago. It goes right up to the first time I do stand up."^[19]

In February 2009 Dee and several other entertainers wrote an open letter to The Times supporting Bahá'í leaders then on trial in Iran.^[20]

Dee is also a director of Open Mike Productions, which produces shows for television and radio.

Awards and nominations[link]

Stand-up VHS & DVDs[link]

• Live at the Duke of York's Theatre (1992)
• Live at the London Palladium (10 October 1994)
• Live in London (10 November 1997)
• Live and Uncut (5 November 2001)
• Live At The Apollo (18 November 2002)
• Live Again (14 November 2005)

See also[link]

• Lead Balloon

Notes and references[link]

External links[link]

• Jack Dee on Twitter
• Jack Dee at Off The Kerb Productions
• Jack Dee – the website for his autobiography, Thanks for Nothing
• Jack Dee at BBC Online Guide to Comedy
• Jack Dee at the British Film Institute
• Jack Dee at the British Film Institute's Screenonline
• Jack Dee at the Internet Movie Database
• Johnston, Jenny (16 October 2009). "Don't tell me to cheer up! Jack Dee on being a borderline alcoholic and living with depression". London: Daily Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1220330/Dont-tell-cheer-Jack-Dee-borderline-alcoholic-living-depression.html. 

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