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{ "url": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/email/BHEU3SNVBMYFLYU3FP2ICEAPMG2GNO3O/?format=api", "mailinglist": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/?format=api", "message_id": "[email protected]", "message_id_hash": "BHEU3SNVBMYFLYU3FP2ICEAPMG2GNO3O", "thread": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/thread/BHEU3SNVBMYFLYU3FP2ICEAPMG2GNO3O/?format=api", "sender": { "address": "morsesat (a) optonline.net", "mailman_id": "72f51eafcada419487d1a984af73dff5", "emails": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/sender/72f51eafcada419487d1a984af73dff5/emails/?format=api" }, "sender_name": "Dee", "subject": "[amsat-bb] ANS 043 Bulletins", "date": "2012-02-12T01:55:46Z", "parent": null, "children": [], "votes": { "likes": 0, "dislikes": 0, "status": "neutral" }, "content": "AMSAT NEWS SERVICE\nANS-043\n\nANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North\nAmerica, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS reports on the\nactivities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an\nactive interest in designing, building, launching and communicating\nthrough analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites.\n\nPlease send any amateur satellite news or reports to:\n\[email protected]\n\nIn this edition:\n* AMSAT Fox-1 Cubesat Selected for NASA ELaNa Launch Collaboration\n* Vega Launch on February 13 With Eight Amateur Band Cubesats\n* ARISS Contact to Celebrate 50th Anniversary John Glenn Over Perth\n* Open Mission Control Software for CubeSat Project Teams\n* NASA astronaut Janice Voss, KC5BTK Passes\n* SumbandilaSat SO-67 Amateur Transponder Recovery Work in Progress\n* AMSAT Notes:\n* International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report February 6, 2012\n\n\nSB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-043.01\nANS-043 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins\n\nAMSAT News Service Bulletin 043.01\n From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.\nFebruary 12, 2012\nTo All RADIO AMATEURS\nBID: $ANS-043.01\n\nAMSAT Fox-1 Cubesat Selected for NASA ELaNa Launch Collaboration\n\nProject ELaNa, NASA's \"Educational Launch of NanoSat\" managed by the\nLaunch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center, announced on\nFebruary 10 that the AMSAT Fox-1 cubesat has been selected to join the\nprogram.\n\nNASA will work with AMSAT in a collaborative agreement where NASA will\ncover the integration and launch costs of satellites deemed to have\nmerit in support of their strategic and educational goals.\n\nAMSAT teamed with the ARRL to write and deliver the 159 page educa-\ntional proposal to NASA. Letters documenting the importance of AMSAT's\nsatellites in the education programs at the ARRL and also at the Clay\nCenter for Science and Technology at the Dexter and Southfield schools\nin Brookline, MA, were important parts of our proposal.\n\nAMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW said, \"The ELaNA Launch opportunity\nmarks AMSAT's return to space after the conclusion of the successful\nARISSat-1/KEDR flight. We need to get the flight Fox-1, along with an\noperational flight backup satellite, built, integrat- ed, tested, and\ndelivered. Our ability to provide a spacecraft and get it launched is\ndependent upon the active support of our donors who wish to see Fox-1\nfly.\"\n\nAMSAT Vice-President of Engineering, Tony Monteiro, AA2TX noted this\nwill provide a launch opportunity for AMSAT's next generation of FM\nrepeater satellites with features and operation beyond the experience of\nAO-51. AMSAT's Fox-1 Engineering Team is making progress developing the\nadvanced satellite that will provide these features:\n\n+ Fox-1 is designed to operate in sunlight without batteries once\n the battery system fails. This applies lessons learned from AO-51\n and ARISSat-1 operations.\n\n+ In case of IHU failure Fox-1 will continue to operate its FM\n repeater in a basic, 'zombie sat' mode, so that the repeater\n remains on-the-air.\n\n+ Fox-1 is designed as the immediate replacement for AO-51. Its U/V\n (Mode B) transponder will make it even easier to work with modest\n equipment.\n\n+ From the ground user's perspective, the same FM amateur radio\n equipment used for AO-51 may be used for Fox-1.\n\n+ Extending the design, Fox-2 will benefit from the development work\n of Fox-1 by adding more sophisticated power management and Software\n Defined Transponder (SDX) communications systems.\n\nThe Fox-1 Project presents an opportunity to literally put your call-\nsign on the Fox hardware. AMSAT is looking for major donations to help\nunderwrite the cost of solar cells/panels, one of the more significant\nexpenses of the project.\n\nThese solar cells are needed for the flight unit as well as for the a\nflight spare. As Fox-1 will have solar cells on all six sides of the\nspacecraft and given the relatively small surface area available on each\nside (at most 4\" by 4\" per side), AMSAT needs to invest in high\nefficiency solar cells to gain as much power as possible to operate the\nspacecraft.\n\nSeveral opportunities to make your donation to keep amateur radio in\nspace include:\n\n+ Return the form sent with the letter to reply with your donation\n for the Fox-1 Project.\n - All donations over $40 will receive a Fox pin.\n - Donations of $120 or more qualify you for AMSAT President's Club\n\n+ Call Martha at the AMSAT Office +1-888-FB AMSAT (1-888-322-6728)\n+ Paypal donation widget on the main page at: http://www.amsat.org\n+ Paypal donation widget for Project Fox at:\n http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/fox/\n+ You can also go to the Paypal site and send your donation to\n [email protected].\n+ The AMSAT Store: http://www.amsat-na.com/store/categories.php\n\nProject Fox web site provide a good overview of the technical progress\nof the new satellite: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/fox/\n\n[ANS thanks AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW, AMSAT Vice-President\nof Engineering, Tony Monteiro, AA2TX and AMSAT's Project Fox Engineering\nteam for the above information]\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n-------\n\nESA Vega Launch Includes 8 Amateur Band Satellites\n\nVega is scheduled to launch on February 13, at 1000 UTC with eight\nstudent built amateur radio satellites. Internet video streaming of the\nlaunch will be available at:\nhttp://www.videocorner.tv/index.htm\n\nThe launcher will first deploy the main payload LARES, the Laser\nrelativity Spacecraft and will then make an additional firing of the\nfinal OVUM stage before deploying the secondary cubesat payloads. The\nplanned timing for these deployments, in order of ejection, are as\nfollows:\n\n= T0+ 4245.30secs 1st PPOD, with XatCobeo, e-st@r, and Goliat.\n= T0+ 4255.30secs 2nd PPOD, with Robusta, MaSat-1 and PW-Sat.\n= T0+ 4265.30secs 3rd PPOD, with UniCubeSat.\n= T0+ 4275.30secs AlmaSat-1.\n\nThe Cubesats will not deploy their antennas until >1800 seconds after\nthey leave their PODS.It is not known how soon AlmaSat-1 will start\ntransmitting after deployment.\n\nVega Launch Cubesat Amateur Band Frequencies:\n+ AlmaSat-1 437.465 MHz 1200 bps FSK, 2407.850 MHz\n+ E-St@r \t 437.445 MHz 1200 bps AFSK\n+ Goliat \t 437.485 MHz 1200 bpx AFSK\n+ MaSat-1 \t 437.345 MHz GFSK 625/1250 bps, CW\n+ PW-Sat \t 435.020 MHz FM uplink, 145.990 MHz DSB downlink\n+ Robusta \t 437.325 MHz 1200 bps FM telemetry\n+ UniCubeSat 437.305 MHz 9600 bps FSK\n+ XaTcobeo \t 437.365 MHz FFSK with AX.25\n\nLinks to the home pages of the satellite teams are included on the\nhttp://www.amsat.org page. Extensive coverage of the launch and the\nsatellites can also be found on the AMSAT-UK web:\nhttp://www.uk.amsat.org/\n\nAn ESA video of all of the satellites aboard the Vega Maiden Flight can\nbe viewed on YouTube at: http://tinyurl.com/ESA-Vega-Cubesats\n\nThe university cubesat teams welcome reception reports. All observ- ers\nare invited to submit reports via amsat-bb and to also join the CubeSat\nInternet Relay Chat channel to pass on their news and com- ments in\nrealtime. You will need an IRC client such as the ChatZilla addon for\nFireFox or mIRC to join the cubesat chat:\n\n1. Connect to the irc.freenode.net server.\n2. Once connected to the server the /join #cubesat command will\n bring you into the channel.\n3. Many users set their chat nickname to \"name_callsign\".\n\nChatZilla AddOn for Firefox:\nhttps://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/chatzilla/\n\nmIRC\nhttp://www.mirc.com/\n\n[ANS thanks the CubeSat Teams for the above information]\n\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\nARISS Contact to Celebrate 50th Anniversary John Glenn Over Perth\n\nOn the 20th of February 1962 a Mercury-Atlas 6 spacecraft called\n\"Friendship 7\" was launched. In the hot-seat was Astronaut, John Glenn.\nThe objective was to place a man into earth orbit, observe his reactions\nto the space environment and safely return him to earth to a point where\nhe could be readily found.\n\nDuring the first orbit of three, the spacecraft came into radio range of\nthe Muchea Tracking Station where the first Australian space radio\ncontact was made by Gerry O'Connor who spoke with John Glenn as he\npassed overhead.\n\nOne of the questions that was posed for this flight was \"Can you see the\ncities of Earth from space?\" To help answer that question, the people of\nthe City of Perth all turned their lights on as John Glenn flew over.\nThe answer to the question was a resounding \"YES!\", and Perth was\nnicknamed \"The City of Light\".\n\nFifty years later on February 20, 2012 young people from Western\nAustralia will have the chance to ask a question of an astronaut or\ncosmonaut currently residing on the International Space Station.\nThere will be a live radio and video connection to the space station at\nthe Northbridge Piazza in Perth, Western Australia. Ten lucky winners of\nthe student competition, selected from primary and secon- dary schools,\nwill get to ask questions, and receive their answers in real time as the\nspace station flies overhead.\n\n>From a technical perspective, ARISS will configure a direct amateur\nradio link between the ISS and ham operator, Dick Flagg, AH6NM, in\nHonolulu. In Perth, members of the Hills Amateur Radio Group will\nprovide a phone link between AH6NM and Northbridge Piazza so the stu-\ndents can converse with the astronaut. Tony Hutchison, VK5ZAI, ARISS\nMentor for Australia is conducting the behind the scenes preparation.\n\nThe event begins at 17:00PM Perth time (0900 UTC) on February 20. The\ncurrently scheduled contact time is approximately at 10:22 UTC, sub-\nject to last minute change depending upon events aboard the ISS or orbit\nchanges.\n\nIn addition to the ARISS contact, web-streaming and other space act-\nivities such as a radio telescope, optical telescopes, museum exhibi-\ntions, an address by the Lord Mayor of Perth, a video message from John\nGlenn and a presentation by the Western Australia Chief Scientist are\nplanned.\n\nThe press release of the City of Lights ARISS event, issued by the\nGovernment of Western Australia can be read on=line at:\nhttp://tinyurl.com/WA-PressRelease\n\nWeb pages with more information of the event can be found at:\nhttp://harg.org.au/ariss/\nhttp://museum.wa.gov.au/city-lights\n\n[ANS thanks Richard, G4TUT and David Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS Public\nRelations, Australia ARISS Coordinator Tony Hutchison, VK5ZAI for the\nabove information]\n\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\nOpen Mission Control Software for CubeSat Project Teams\n\nCubeSat developers may be interested in learning more about the Open\nMission Control software, an open source, open access software for\nmonitoring and controlling small spacecraft. The software is designed to\nprovide an application and framework that can be adapted quickly and\neasily to support a variety of spacecraft including CubeSats,\nmyPocketQubs and NanoLab experiments, and sounding rocket and high\naltitude balloon experiments. The team include students, space pro-\nfessionals, educators and enthusiasts from around the world, all working\ntogether to build a great mission control application for small\nspacecraft projects.\n\nThe Open Mission Control framework consists of the application and\ngraphical user interface which contain the basic structure of the\nprogram, and the Open Mission Control toolbox, which provides a number\nof ready to use functions typically required for mission control\napplicationa.\n\nThe Open Mission Control application and graphical user interface can be\nadapted to a project quickly and easily, by populating them with\nelements from the Open Mission Control toolbox and other stan- dard\nlibrary elements. This approach allows also users with limited\nprogramming experience to create sophisticated mission control soft-\nware by building on a solid basic implementation.\nUse and verification.\n\nDesigned to work with any spacecraft project, the first flight mis- sion\nthat is expected to use Open Mission Control is myPocketQub 442.\nmyPocketQub 442 was selected to fly as a pocket spacecraft attached to\nUKube-1, the first United Kingdom Space Agency CubeSat. It is expected\nto be the first mission controlled by Open Mission Control and to\ndemonstrate and verify various use cases:\n\n+ The first use case is for professional monitoring, command and\n control of a real spacecraft.\n\n+ The second use case involves schools and universities using Open\n Mission Control to upload their virtual payloads for their Open-\n Space365 projects, monitor their experiments as they run and down-\n load the data for analysis.\n\n+ The third use case involves the use of Open Mission Control as\n monitoring software for the various scientific and engineering\n sub-payloads that will fly on myPocketQub 442. The students con-\n ducting these experiments will use Open Mission Control to access\n and store the data from these payload experiments for analysis\n and research.\n\n+ The fourth use case is communication with engineering models of\n the real spacecraft which will be made available on the Internet.\n These engineering models are duplicates of the flight hardware and\n allow Open Mission Control to command and monitor them and their\n sub-payloads in real time and to simulate different critical mis-\n sion phases under real conditions.\n\nAdditional information and links are available on the Open Mission\nControl webpage at: http://openmissioncontrol.wordpress.com/\n\n[ANS thanks the Open Mission Control Team for the above information]\n\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\nNASA astronaut Janice Voss, KC5BTK Passes\n\nNASA astronaut Janice Voss passed away from cancer overnight. One of\nonly six women who have flown in space five times, Voss' career was\nhighlighted by her work and dedication to scientific payloads and\nexploration. Janice supported SAREX during her flights on the Space\nShuttle. She was a phone-in speaker during one of AMSAT's multi-media\nDayton Forum presentations with Roy Neal as MC. Janice held the callsign\nKC5BTK.\n\nVoss began her career with NASA in 1973 while a student at Purdue\nUniversity. She returned to NASA in 1977 to work as an instructor,\nteaching entry guidance and navigation to space shuttle crews. After\ncompleting her doctorate in 1987, she worked within the aerospace\nindustry until she was selected as an astronaut in 1990.\n\nVoss' first spaceflight mission was STS-57 in 1993, the first flight of\nthe Spacehab module. She next flew on STS-63 in 1995, a mission to the\nMir space station, and third flight of Spacehab. She also flew as a\npayload commander on STS-83 in 1997 with the Microgravity Science\nLaboratory, but the mission was cut short due to problems with one of\nthe orbiter's three fuel power generation units. Voss, the crew and MSL\nflew again as the STS-94 MSL-1 Spacelab mission, focused on materials\nand combustion science research in microgravity.\n\nHer last mission was STS-99 in 2000, a flight to the International Space\nStation as part of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission which mapped\nmore than 47 million square miles of the Earth's land surface.\nIn total, Voss spent more than 49 days in space.\n\nPeggy Whitson, chief of the Astronaut Office said, \"By improving the way\nscientists are able to analyze their data, and establishing the\nexperimental methods and hardware necessary to perform these unique\nexperiments, Janice and her crew ensured that our space station would be\nthe site of discoveries that we haven't even imagined.\"\n\nFor Voss' complete biography, please visit:\nhttp://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/voss-jan.html\n\n[ANS thanks Frank Bauer, KA3HDO and SpaceRef.com for the above\ninformation]\n\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\nSumbandilaSat SO-67 Amateur Transponder Recovery Work in Progress\n\nIt would appear that prior reports on the demise of South Africa's\nSumbandilaSat were 'greatly exagerated' (with apologies to author Mark\nTwain).\n\nA report on the Southern African AMSAT website says partial recov- ery\nis possible for Amateur Radio Operation to possibly resume in March\n2012.\n\n\"We have not given up on our efforts to get SumbandilaSat working again\neven if it is only partially\", said Johan Lochner ZR1CBC who is spending\nmuch time on the recovery process and many nights burn- ing the midnight\noil working on new and more intelligent algorithms.\nHe and his colleagues are making every effort to get the satellite\nworking again.\n\nSumbandilaSat experienced a corruption in the programme memory of one of\nthe power switches. This is the interface unit which con- trols a robust\norientation control implementation system which is using output from the\nmagnetic sensors to point the solar panels to- wards the sun in a safe\nmode scenario when for example communica- tions with the ground segment\nwas not possible for a few days.\n\nThe corruption of the program memory prevented the magnetic inter- face\nunit from automatically switching on after power-up and thus\npreventing access to measurements taken by the magnetometer.\n\nJohann said, \"As a result of the malfunction of the magnetic control\nunit the satellite started to slowly point away from the sun with\nintermittent sun eclipses. When there was no power flowing from the\nsolar cells the batteries drained and we could not in a safe way\ncommunicate with the satellite, so we backed off. Once we determined\nthis pattern we stopped communicating with the satellite when we did\nnot see sufficient charge on the batteries. At other times we had good\ncommunication when could diagnose what was going on. Dur- ing good\ncommunication windows that could last 2 or 3 days we tried to diagnose\nthe exact nature of the problem in the same way as we had done before\nand we started to implement a fix. The particular power switch that\nfailed was already the redundant one so we were in a worse state than\nbefore.\"\n\nSumbandilaSat controllers implemented automated ground segment soft-\nware to make contact with the satellite from both SANSA Space Opera-\ntions and the Electronic Systems labs at SU. The objective was to\ncontact the satellite automatically and to try to implement the recovery\nprocedure and also notify the team if any contact was made.\n\nJohann continued, \"By mid-November 2011 we again made contact with\nSumbandilaSat and set in place a planned recovery procedure. Within\n3-4 days we came to the conclusion that the main battery had failed.\nEarlier the intermittent contact was because the battery could not be\nfully charged and that satellite power bus was too low for the\nprocessors and transmitter to function. We surmised that during the\nmonth that we had no contact that the battery must have gone open\ncircuit. With the battery no longer on the power bus, the voltage on the\nbus would rise to 28.5 volts and supply enough current to support\noperations when SumbandilaSat was in full sunlight.\"\n\nThe SumbandilaSat concludes, \"We are determined to get this working and\nto maintain the scientific value of the satellite as much as possible.\nJohann's focus is now on getting the amateur radio trans- ponder\nworking, which with the loss of AO-51 will be a great asset to amateur\nradio satellite activity. By the end of February we hope to achieve\nthis!\"\n\nUplink: 145.875 MHz (no tone required)\nDownlink: 435.345 MHz\n\nSee: http://www.amsatsa.org.za/SumbandilaSat.htm for full coverage of\nthis news.\n\n[ANS thanks SA AMSAT and Johan Lochner, ZR1CBC for the above\ninformation]\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n----\nAMSAT Notes:\n\nAMSAT Fox Project Flyer\nPatrick Stoddard, WD9EWK has put together a nice 4 page pdf description\nof the Fox project. This is available directly from this URL:\nhttp://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/fox/AMSAT_Fox-20120206.pdf or the link\ncan be found midway down the Fox page on the AMSAT Web site.\nMore detailed information about the Fox project can be found in the Fox\narea of the AMSAT Web site.\n\n\nAMSAT Annual Meeting dates set\nThe 2012 AMSAT Annual Meeting and Symposium will be held Oct 26-28,2011\nat the Holiday Inn Orlando Airport. More details as they become\navailable.\n\nAMSAT at Dayton 2012\nThe AMSAT Dayton team is busy preparing for the AMSAT presence at this\nyears Hamvention - May 18-20, 2012. Same booth spaces next the the ARRL\narea, outdoor satellite demonstration area and it looks like the AMSAT\nForum will be Saturday morning. Additional information and web site area\nsoon.\n\n[ANS Thanks Gould, WA2SXM, for this information]\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n------------\n\nAmateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report\nFebruary 6, 2012\n\n1. Upcoming School Contacts\n\nAn Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact was\nsuccessful for Inuksuk High School, Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada on\nWednesday, February 8 at 15:18 UTC via telebridge station AH6NM in\nHawaii. The school has formed a space club through which students are\nlearning about the ISS via videos, the internet and guest speakers. They\nare learning how to track the ISS and are completing space-related\nprojects. Radio usage and protocol have been discussed. First Air and\nthe Makivik Corporation are the sponsors that ensure ARISS contacts are\nsupported in the remote areas of Northern Canada.\n\nSoumuta Elementary School, located in Kagoshima, Japan scheduled for an\nAmateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on\nSaturday, February 11 at 10:33 UTC was successful. The school was\nestablished in 1972 and has a current enrollment of 479 students.\nStudents are learning about the mission of the ISS and will experience\namateur radio concepts through their contact.\n\n2. Polish Students Experience Successful ARISS Contact\n\nOn Saturday, February 4, students attending the Zespol Szkol nr 8 in\nWalbrzych, Poland participated in an Amateur Radio on the International\nSpace Station (ARISS) contact with Don Pettit, KD5MDT on the ISS. Radio\nstation W6SRJ in California provided the telebridge connection.\nGreetings were exchanged and students were able to get through all the\nspace-related questions they had prepared. The contact was integrated\ninto a curriculum covering electronics, microprocessor systems and\nEnglish and drew interest from the school's robotics and amateur radio\nclubs. Contact audio was fed into EchoLink and IRLP (Internet Radio\nLinking Project). Representatives from radio and television stations\nprovided media coverage.\n\n3. ARISS-U.S. to Review Proposals Submitted\n\nThe NASA Teaching From Space office received over 100 inquiries about\nthe U.S. proposal process for ARISS contacts that will be scheduled\nduring the July 2012 - January 2013 time frame. Twenty-three schools met\nthe January 30 deadline and submitted proposals. The next step is for\nthe U.S. Selection Committee to review the proposals and select the U.S.\nschools in about one month. Another window of opportunity for U.S.\nschools and organizations to submit proposals will open later in the\nyear.\n\n4. AMSAT News Service on ARISS\n\nThe February 5 AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) News Service\nbulletin (ANS-036) included an item about the successful amateur radio\nsatellite, SuitSat, titled, \"Remembering Mr. Smith - SuitSat-1 February\n3, 2006.\" Another piece covered the recent ARISS contact with El Dorado\nCounty students. To view the articles, see:\nhttp://amsat.org/pipermail/ans/2012/000589.html\n\n5. Amateur Radio Newsline Covers ARISS\n\nOn February 3, Amateur Radio Newsline posted the winners of the ARISSat\nChicken Little Contest in its report #1799. To read, \"Ham Radio in\nSpace: Winners of ARISSat-1 Chicken Little Contest Announced,\" see:\nftp://ftp.arnewsline.org/quincy/News/news.txt\n\n\n/EX\n\nIn addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the\nPresident's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors\nto AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits.\nApplication forms are available from the AMSAT Office.\n\n73,\nThis week's ANS Editor,\nDee Interdonato, NB2F\nNb2f at amsat dot org\n\n\n\n\n", "attachments": [] }