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{
    "url": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/email/MMW2H3I6NMFDBMGKTQBHASM4PRYSN3TE/?format=api",
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    "message_id": "C22F10B34FC847F19B3EC8FB4E08EB0D@GouldMainPC",
    "message_id_hash": "MMW2H3I6NMFDBMGKTQBHASM4PRYSN3TE",
    "thread": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/thread/MMW2H3I6NMFDBMGKTQBHASM4PRYSN3TE/?format=api",
    "sender": {
        "address": "gouldsmi (a) bellsouth.net",
        "mailman_id": "9f2b000d905c4738ab035c94a0dffa89",
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    },
    "sender_name": "Gould Smith",
    "subject": "[amsat-bb] ANS-104 ANS Special Bulletin - ARISSat-1 Not Heard\tDuring Gagarin Commemoration",
    "date": "2011-04-14T17:29:20Z",
    "parent": null,
    "children": [
        "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/email/HU6LIRLZMVFX34PCJ5PI52LXSWP2AHNX/?format=api"
    ],
    "votes": {
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    "content": "AMSAT NEWS SERVICE\nANS-104 ANS Special Bulletin - ARISSat-1 Not Heard During Gagarin Commemoration\n\nSB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-104.01\nARISSat-1 Not Heard During Gagarin Commemoration\n\nAMSAT News Service Bulletin 104.01\n>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.\nApril 14, 2011\nTo All RADIO AMATEURS\nBID: $ANS-104.01\n\nThe planned operation of ARISSat-1/RadioSkaf-V/KEDR on April\n11 and April 12 from inside the International Space Station \nas part of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Yuri\nGagarin's flight was not successful. No earth stations on \nthe ground reported hearing transmissions on the ARISSat-1 \ndownlink(145.950 MHz for FM analog/145.920 MHz for digital).\nThe planned retransmission of the satellite's FM downlink \nvia the Kenwood TM-D700 transceiver --currently used for \nARISS contacts--was also not successful as no reports were\nreceived of signals heard on 437.550 MHz.   However, a \nsimilar ARISSat-1 transmission test conducted in February \nwas successful, with 145.950 MHz signals being successfully\nreceived by several ground stations. \n\nAt this point it isn't clear to the ARISSat-1 team what went\nwrong with the most recent test.  Unfortunately, little \ninformation has been shared by RSC-Energia concerning plans \nmade to configure the satellite and the interface used to \nconnect the satellite to one of the external ARISS antennas. \nThe status of the satellite's Russian-provided silver zinc \nbattery is also unknown.\n\nARISSat-1 is a cooperative effort of AMSAT, RSC-Energia and \nNASA.  AMSAT designed and built the spacecraft as a \nprototype of a proposed series of educational satellites \nwhich can carry student-built experiments.  The ARISSat-1 \nprototype features a student experiment designed and built \nby Kursk State Technical University in Russia.  A backup was\nalso provided (without solar panels). AMSAT delivered the \ntwo units to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX in \nearly October.  NASA has led the integration of ARISSat-1 \ninto the ISS flight program.  NASA coordinated the logistics\nof transporting the satellite and a backup unit, including \nexport licensing, from Houston to Moscow.  The shipment \noccurred in early December immediately following RSC-Energia\nconfirmation that the appropriate import documentation had \nbeen approved.  NASA also conducted the three-phase Payload\nSafety Review that ARISSat-1 had to pass in order to be \npermitted to be shipped to the ISS and deployed from the \nSpace Station.  Per protocol agreements signed by AMSAT, \nNASA and RSC-Energia, RSC-Energia assumed full \nresponsibility for ARISSat-1 after NASA shipped the prime \nand backup units.  RSC-Energia's stipulated responsibilities \nincluded integration of the Kursk experiment, providing a \nsilver zinc battery for the spacecraft, shipment of the \nprimary flight unit to the ISS via a Progress Cargo vehicle\n(which took place in January 2011) and subsequent deployment\nduring a planned Russian EVA in February 2011.  \n\nOnce AMSAT shipped ARISSat-1 and the backup unit in early \nOctober, AMSAT was no longer directly involved with \nmanagement and operation of the satellite.  AMSAT agreed to\nsend a representative to Moscow (Lou McFadin, W5DID) in order\nto assist with testing and final checkout of the satellite \nonce it arrived from the US.  Lou was accompanied by NASA's\nMark Steiner, K3MS and the requests for visas and access \nthe RSC-Energia facilities was coordinated by NASA.  Due to\nvisa limitations (Russia does not allow changes to visas \nonce individuals are in Russia), the window for Lou's and \nMark's  time in Moscow could not be changed once it became\napparent that the shipment was being held by Russian customs\nand wouldn't be released until after the expiration of visas.\nDuring the time that Lou and Mark were in Moscow, testing \nprocedures were drafted and agreed to by RSC-Energia's \nprincipal investigator for ARISSat-1 (Sergey Samburov, RV3DR)\nas a signed protocol to assist the Russian engineers with \ntesting and checkout without the presence of AMSAT.  Lou and\nMark departed Moscow on 22 DEC 10 for the US and the \nsatellite with the backup unit were subsequently released \nfrom Russian customs and delivered to RSC-Energia on \n28 DEC 10 following submission of appropriate documentation\nby RSC-Energia. \n\nIn addition to the missed opportunity for AMSAT and NASA to \nparticipate in the checkout in Moscow, the delayed release \nfrom Russian Customs also meant that the satellite arrived \nin RSC-Energia just as they were commencing a 10-day total \nholiday shutdown from 1-10 JAN 11.  In order to make launch\nof the Progress 41P cargo vehicle to the ISS in January, the\nsatellite had to be flown to the Baikonour Cosmodrome on \n11 JAN 11, the day after RSC-Energia personnel returned from\ntheir holiday.  Sergey Samburov, RV3DR spent a period of time\nduring the holiday period conducting a checkout of the \nsatellite, but it is still unclear whether the documentation\nprovided by Lou McFadin and Mark Steiner and agreed to as a \nprotocol was followed.  For example, AMSAT and NASA have yet\nto receive any of the full set of closeout photographs of the\nsatellite's exterior stipulated in the protocol.  \n\nThe satellite did make the flight to Baikonour and was \nsubsequently flown to the ISS on 28 JAN 11 on Progress cargo \nvehicle 41P.  Once the satellite arrived at the Space Station,\nthere was another unexpected alteration to the original plan \nwhich has been previously agreed to by AMSAT, NASA, and \nRSC-Energia.  Russian officials now wanted confirmation that\nthe satellite was in working order prior to EVA deployment.\nWhy this decision was made was never fully explained to AMSAT\nor NASA. Even though the satellite was never intended to be \noperated from inside the ISS, the RSC-Energia team made plans\nto operate ARISSat-1 from inside the ISS during the period \n10-13 FEB 11, connecting the two-meter transmitter to one of\nthe external antenna used for ARISS contacts with the intent\nof getting confirmation from ground stations that the \nsatellite's transmissions could be received by amateur radio\nstations on the ground.  This unexpected development raised \nAMSAT and NASA concerns given the potential for damage to the\nspacecraft inside the ISS and the possibility of \nmisinterpretation of results.  Despite these concerns, the \ntest was successfully conducted on 10 FEB 11 for 20 hours \nwith the Kenwood TM-D700 on the ISS used to verify normal\ntransmission from the satellite. Ground stations, including\nTony Monteiro AA2TX, did provide reception reports \nconfirming successful operation of the satellite.\n\nARISSat-1 was scheduled to be deployed during Russian \nEVA-28, scheduled for 16 FEB 11, as one of the planned \ntasks on that EVA.  However, AMSAT and NASA were informed\non 11 FEB that RSC-Energia officials decided to remove the\nsatellite deployment from the Russian EVA-28 schedule of \nactivities due to complications with another task scheduled\nfor that EVA.  AMSAT and NASA were informed that the \nARISSat-1 deployment would be rescheduled and included as a\ntask in the next Russian EVA, currently scheduled for July \n2011. Around the same time, the RSC-Energia Principle \nInvestigator mentioned the possibility of a \"special event\ninvolving ARISSat-1\" around the date of the 50th anniversary\nof the Gagarin flight commemoration on 12 APR 11.  AMSAT and\nNASA inferred that, by retaining the satellite onboard the \nISS until the next Russian EVA in July, RSC-Energia could \nensure that the satellite could be activated within the ISS \nspecifically for the Gagarin Commemoration.  \n\nDuring the period from the testing on 10 FEB 11 to the \nplanned time of activation on 11 APR 11, the satellite was\nplaced in storage on the ISS.  AMSAT and NASA  were not \ninformed of the configuration the satellite was in when it \nwas stored, though it appears that the Lexan covers over the\nsolar panels had been removed and replaced by 'soft covers' \nthat were meant to be used only in preparation for deployment.\nWe were not informed if the satellite was deactivated \nfollowing the test, or if the battery was disconnected to \nprevent drainage, or if the satellite may have been \ninadvertently left on. Given that operation of the satellite\nfrom within the ISS was never part of the original plan and\nthese activities took place without AMSAT and NASA involvement,\nthe ARISSat-1 engineering team is in the dark concerning the \nimpact of storage on the satellite. As the originally \nagreed-to plan was to deploy the satellite within only a few\nweeks of arrival on the ISS, there were no provisions made in\nthe satellite design to prepare the satellite for long-term \nstorage on the ISS.\n\nAdding to the lack of information was that the primary \nRSC-Energia Principle Investigator for ARISSat-1 went on \nvacation for the entire month of March and there wasn't a \ndesignated backup to coordinate with AMSAT and NASA.  \nSergey, RV3DR returned from vacation on 1 APR 11, but was \nunavailable for the regularly scheduled weekly conference \ncall that was scheduled to take place on 5 APR 11. This meant\nthat AMSAT and NASA were not apprised of the details for \nplanned operation of ARISSat-1 for the Gagarin Commemoration\nuntil late in the first week in April.  AMSAT sent out a press\nrelease to the media on Friday, 8 APR 11, as well as a special\nANS Bulletin containing the information that had been provided\nto AMSAT through information gathered by our counterparts at \nNASA who have access to a schedule of the planned daily \nactivities of the ISS crew.\n\nThe documentation for the configuration and operation on 11-12\nAPR was developed by RSC-Energia without AMSAT or NASA input.\nAMSAT and NASA were provided a draft plan only a couple of days\nprior to operation; that document was in Russian and we could\nnot comment on it prior to planned activation.  One new \ndevelopment was the last-minute decision by RSC-Energia to \nretransmit the ARISSat-1 two-meter FM downlink on 70 CM by \nconfiguring the Kenwood TM-700 that is currently used for \nARISS contacts in cross-band repeat mode.  The ARISS team \nwas asked for a recommendation on which frequency would be \nappropriate to use, and the suggestion was made to use \n437.550 MHz.  However, procedures for configuration of the \nTM-D700 were not shared with AMSAT or NASA.  There remains \nthe distinct possibility that the unsuccessful result of this\ntest was due to a misconfiguration of ARISSat-1, its interface\nto the ARISS external antenna, or the TM-D700.  \n\nAn additional consideration is that the Cosmonauts who were\navailable for the Gagarin Commemoration were not necessarily\nthe same individuals involved with the 'test' in early February\ndue to a planned crew rotation that took place in early April,\nwhere three individuals (two Russian, one American) were flown\nto the ISS to supplement three individuals who were still \nonboard. \n\nNeither AMSAT nor NASA received any status reports directly \nfrom RSC-Energia during the timeframe of the planned \noperation. We also don't know what the Cosmonauts found when\nthey operated the three activation switches on the control \npanel, such as whether the LEDS were lit or not.  The status\nof the flight battery is currently unknown to AMSAT and NASA.\nHopefully, RSC-Energia will provide an update on the status of\nthe satellite to AMSAT and NASA and a determination can be made\nof the health of the satellite.\n\nAs noted above, ARISSat-1 is made possible through the \ncooperation of RSC-Energia, NASA and AMSAT.  However, the degree\nof information received from RSC-Energia has been very sporadic,\ngiven that ARISSat-1 is technically a Russian satellite \n(callsign RS01S), and, per the signed protocol agreements,\nRSC-Energia has assumed full responsibility for all activities\nassociated with ARISSat -1 from pre-launch preparation in Moscow\nthrough EVA deployment from ISS.  Indeed, RSC-Energia has never \npublicly acknowledged that AMSAT was the organization that built\nthe satellite nor the significant NASA involvement in the \nproject. Clearly, what our expectations are concerning \n'transparency' of information does not coincide to what \nRSC-Energia has been willing to share to date.\n\nWe will continue our efforts to gain insight from RSC-Energia\nconcerning what transpired regarding their planned Gagarin \nCommemoration event.  We're anxious to know the status of the\nsatellite as well as prospects for deployment in July.  We are\ndependent upon the willingness of RSC-Energia to keep AMSAT\nand NASA informed.  As we are apprised of developments, we \nwill share that information.  \n",
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