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{ "url": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/email/H6AI2BAFSMNUUNOXUSCLG6TDC4NKIEH3/", "mailinglist": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/", "message_id": "CAHKCqnB2rzzs5D7X9BNfAHvjmh9FKPpJfweBPrLfgVFZ6S=tBw@mail.gmail.com", "message_id_hash": "H6AI2BAFSMNUUNOXUSCLG6TDC4NKIEH3", "thread": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/thread/H6AI2BAFSMNUUNOXUSCLG6TDC4NKIEH3/", "sender": { "address": "mjohns+K0JM (a) luther.edu", "mailman_id": null, "emails": null }, "sender_name": "Mark D. Johns", "subject": "[ans] ANS-359 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins", "date": "2019-12-15T00:00:00Z", "parent": null, "children": [], "votes": { "likes": 0, "dislikes": 0, "status": "neutral" }, "content": "AMSAT NEWS SERVICE\nANS-359\n\nThe AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor-\nmation service of AMSAT, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS\npublishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on\nthe activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who\nshare an active interest in designing, building, launching and commun-\nicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites.\n\nThe news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur\nRadio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.\n\nPlease send any amateur satellite news or reports to:\nans-editor at amsat.org.\n\nYou can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service\nBulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see:\nhttp://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans\n\nIn this edition:\n\n* Calling All Radio Amateurs: Help Find OPS-SAT!\n* FCC Moves to Remove 3.4 GHz Amateur Satellite Allocation\n* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution\n* FoxTelem version 1.08w Released\n* AMSAT-EA works against the clock on GÉNESIS satellites\n* New NASA eBook Reveals Insights of Earth Seen at Night from Space\n* Israel Applauds Successful Launch of Duchifat3\n* Ham Radio University Satellite Operations Forum on January 4\n* Possible ARISS SSTV Operation Before Year's End\n* Recent ARISS Contacts\n* Upcoming Satellite Operations\n* Satellite Shorts From All Over\n\n\nSB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-359.01\nANS-359 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins\n\nAMSAT News Service Bulletin 359.01\n>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.\nDATE 2019 Dec 15\nTo All RADIO AMATEURS\nBID: $ANS-359.01\n\nCalling All Radio Amateurs: Help Find OPS-SAT!\n\nCalling all radio amateurs! The European Space Agency (ESA) is chal-\nlenging anyone with amateur radio equipment to catch the first signals\nfrom OPS-SAT, ESA’s brand new space software laboratory.\n\nOn 17 December, OPS-SAT will be launched into low-Earth orbit on a\nSoyuz rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, together with ESA’s Cheops\nexoplanet-tracker.\n\nOnce launched, the satellite will deploy its solar panels and ultra-\nhigh frequency antenna, and then start to send signals back home.\n\nCould you be the first on Earth to catch them? ESA’s mission control\nteam in Darmstadt are asking for your help to find the fledgling Cube-\nSat.\n\nOPS-SAT is a first-of-its-kind CubeSat dedicated purely to experimen-\ntation. It carries a wide variety of advanced payloads allowing ‘Ex-\nperimenters’ to deploy and test their software and apps in space.\n\nAnyone can apply to be an Experimenter! Find out more about the mis-\nsion, and how to apply, here: https://tinyurl.com/ul8327f\n\nLift-off is scheduled for 08:54:20 UTC on 17 December. Deployment will\nbegin 15044.6 seconds later (T+15044.6 seconds), expected to be at\n13:05:04 UTC. OPS-SAT will begin transmitting 15 minutes after satel-\nlite deployment and after ultra-high frequency (UHF) antenna and solar\narray deployment have been confirmed. The first two passes over Europe\nare expected on the same evening.\n\nTo track OPS-SAT, a preliminary launch TLE is available here, and will\nbe updated as soon as new orbital information is available.\n\nMain downlink characteristics:\nSpace segment transceiver GomSpace NanoCOM AX100\nFrequency UHF – 437.2 MHz\nModulation GMSK\nOccupied Bandwidth 25 kHz\nBaudrate 9k6\nModulation Index 0.5\nMore information can be found at:\nhttps://github.com/esa/gr-opssat/blob/master/docs/os-uhf-specs.pdf\n\n[ANS thanks ESA for the above information]\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+\n\n Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows,\n and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through\n AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards\n Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.\n https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/\n\n+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nDonate to AMSAT Tax-Free From Your IRA\n\nAre you over 70-1/2 years of age and need to meet your IRA's Required\nMinimum Distribution for 2019? Consider making a donation to AMSAT!\n\nUnder the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, individuals\nover 70-1/2 years of age may make direct transfers of up to $100,000\nper year from a traditional IRA to an eligible charity without\nincreasing their taxable income. Consult your tax advisor or\naccountant to make certain you are eligible.\n\nAMSAT is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational and scientific\norganization whose purpose is to design, construct, launch, and\noperate satellites in space and to provide the support needed to\nencourage amateurs to utilize these resources. AMSAT's federal tax ID\nis 52-0888529.\n\n+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nFCC Moves to Remove 3.4 GHz Amateur Satellite Allocation\n\nAMSAT (@AMSAT) tweeted at 11:51 AM on Thu, Dec 12, 2019: \"At today's\nOpen Meeting, the Federal Communications Commission passed a Notice of\nProposed Rulemaking proposing to delete the amateur allocation at\n3.3-3.5 GHz, including the amateur satellite service allocation at\n3.4-3.41 GHz.\"\n\nLater, @AMSAT tweeted:\n\"Noting the importance of microwave spectrum for future amateur satel-\nlites in HEO and/or GEO orbits and beyond, AMSAT will file comments\nin this proceeding opposing the deletion of this amateur satellite\nservice allocation.\"\n\nWatch ANS bulletins for future developments.\n\n[ANS thanks @AMSAT for the above information]\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nChanges to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution\n\nThe following Amateur Radio satellite has been added to this week's\nTLE distribution:\n\nSMOG-P - NORAD CAT ID 44832 (per Nico Janssen, PA0DLO).\n1 44832U 19084J 19346.85910300 .00001000 00000-0 50000-4 0 05\n2 44832 97.0009 211.0657 0089111 218.3064 289.3286 15.64885322 06\nFrequency: 437.1497 MHz.\n\nThe Israeli student satellite Duchifat3 was successfully placed in or-\nbit by ISRO (India) on December 11, 2019 along with several other sat-\nellites. Therefore, it will take a while for those objects to separate\nenough to accurately identify Duchifat3. The following is a set of\npreliminary TLEs supplied by Nicholas Mahr, KE8AKW (via AMSAT-BB) on\nDecember 12, 2019 for your use:\n\nDuchifat3\n1 84101U 19345.41319444 .00000000 00000-0 50000-4 0 08\n2 84101 37.0000 148.0000 0001442 0.0000 140.0000 15.02563222 03\n\nOn Dec. 13, Nico Janssen, PA0DLO, verified Doppler measurements show-\ning that Duchifat 3 is object 44854 (2019-089C). The telemetry down-\nlink frequency is 436.400 MHz. AMSAT\n\nAnother PocketQube on this launch (only 5 cm on a side!0 has been iden-\ntified as ATL 1\n1 44830U 19084G 19346.85945000 .00001000 00000-0 50000-4 0 08\n2 44830 96.9998 211.0781 0044791 228.7076 277.5196 15.64736264 09\nFrequency: 437.1741 MHz.\n\n[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, Orbital Elements Manager, and Nico\nJanssen, PA0DLO, for the above information.]\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nFoxTelem version 1.08w Released\n\nChris Thompson, AC2CZ/G0KLA, has announced the release of version 1.08w\nof the FoxTelem software. This is a bug fix release to FoxTelem. If you\nhave been seeing issues then you should upgrade to this new version.\n\nPrimarily it addresses the following:\n* Crashes seen at run time\n* Issue with DDE transmission to SatPC32 which can hang FoxTelem or\n another program using DDE\n* Some minor issues with HuskySat graphs and display\n\nIt is available as usual here:\nhttp://amsat.us/FoxTelem/windows/\nhttp://amsat.us/FoxTelem/linux/\nhttp://amsat.us/FoxTelem/mac/\n\nThanks to all who reported bugs and issues. Keep them coming. Please\nadvise Chris if you see any other issues via g0kla <at> arrl.net\n\nFox-in-a-box orders from the AMSAT Store after December\n13, 12:01 UTC (that is, by the time you see this) will also ship with\nFoxTelem V1.08w. The FIAB download directory has not yet been upgrad-\ned, but a downloaded SD card as well as existing cards are very easy\nto upgrade. Please see previous articles here and in the ANS for how\nto do it.\n\n[ANS thanks Chris Thompson, AC2CZ/G0KLA, and Burns Fisher, WB1FJ for\n the above information]\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nAMSAT-EA works against the clock on GÉNESIS satellites\n\nAMSAT EA is workin against the clock, together with students from the\nEuropean university, in the development of the GENESIS satellites. The\n1.5 P pico sats, measuring 7.5x5x5cm are expected to be launched from\nthe United States in February 2020. These satellites are based on the\ndesigns of EASAT-2 engineering and will allow testings of the EASAT-2\nsubsytems.\n\nThe estimated time in orbit of the GENESIS is estimated at around a\nmonth. They incorporate the linear transponder receiver module design-\ned for EASAT-2 and an Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK) transmitter. They\nwill offer functionality of a regenerative repeater in ASK and CW and\nalso incorporate the ionic motor experimental for pocketqubes devel-\noped by Applied Ion Systems.\n\n[ANS thanks AMSAT-EA for the above information]\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nNew NASA eBook Reveals Insights of Earth Seen at Night from Space\n\nEarth has many stories to tell, even in the dark of night. Earth at\nNight, NASA’s new 200-page ebook, is now available online and includes\nmore than 150 images of our planet in darkness as captured from space\nby Earth-observing satellites and astronauts on the International\nSpace Station over the past 25 years. The book is free for download in\nKindle, ePub, and PDF formats at\nhttps://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/earthatnight_detail.html\n\n“Earth at Night” shows how scientists use images such as this astronaut\nphoto of the Gulf of Mexico taken from the International Space Station\nover the southern United States to study our changing planet.\n\nThe images reveal how human activity and natural phenomena light up the\ndarkness around the world, depicting the intricate structure of cities,\nwildfires and volcanoes raging, auroras dancing across the polar skies,\nmoonlight reflecting off snow and deserts, and other dramatic earthly\nscenes.\n\n“Earth at Night explores the brilliance of our planet when it is in\ndarkness,” wrote Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s\nScience Mission Directorate, in the book’s foreword. “The book is a\ncompilation of stories depicting the interactions between science and\nwonder. I am pleased to share this visually stunning and captivating\nexploration of our home planet.”\n\nIn addition to the images, the book tells how scientists use these\nobservations to study our changing planet and aid decision makers in\nsuch areas as sustainable energy use and disaster response.\n\nNASA brings together technology, science, and unique global Earth ob-\nservations to provide societal benefits and strengthen our nation. The\nagency makes its Earth observations freely and openly available to\neveryone for use in developing solutions to important global issues\nsuch as changing freshwater availability, food security and human\nhealth.\n\n[ANS thanks NASA for the above information]\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nIsrael Applauds Successful Launch of Duchifat3\n\nIsrael has applauded the successful launch of Isro’s PSLV-C48 rocket\nthat put an experimental satellite built by students of its country\ninto orbit on Wednesday, Dec. 11. The Cuchifat-3 Israeli satellite was\namong nine foreign customer satellites piggybacking on India's primary\npayload Risat-2BR1, a military radar imaging satellite. The launch oc-\ncurred at 09:55 UTC. Full article at https://tinyurl.com/uz7p35u\n\nDuchifat3 was built by high school students supported by Herzliya\nScience Center in Israel and carries an on-board camera for earth\nimaging. The V/u FM transponder has an uplink of 145.970 MHz and a\ndownlink of 436.400 MHz -- however some reports indicate that the FM\nrepeater downlink may actually be at 436.420 MHz.\n\n[ANS thanks The Times of India and AMSAT-UK for the above information]\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nHam Radio University Satellite Operations Forum on January 4\n\nThe 21st annual Ham Radio University, on Saturday, January 4, 2020\nis a \"A day of education to share ideas, experiences, knowledge and\nfellowship among Amateur Radio operators.\" The event will be held at:\n\nLIU / Post\nHillwood Commons Student Center\n720 Northern Boulevard\nBrookville, NY 11548\nWeb: http://hamradiouniversity.org/\n\nThe suggested donation $5 - no preregistration is required! Doors\nopen at 7:30 AM with first forums at 8:30 AM.\n\nSatellite operation is a part of the learning experience:\n11:00 a.m. Satellite Operations for Beginners by Frank Garofalo WA2NDV\n\n[ANS thanks the Ham Radio University for the above information]\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+\n\n AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur\n radio package, including two-way communication capability, to\n be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.\n Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/\n\n+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nPossible ARISS SSTV Operation Before Year's End\n\nARISS reports the possibility of a worldwide commemorative SSTV opera-\ntion from the International Space Station on Friday, Dec. 27 or Satur-\nday, Dec. 28 and following days. The SSTV downlink frequency is\n145.800 MHz. ARISS will provide more information as it becomes avail-\nable. Watch the amsat-bb and follow @ARISS_status on Twitter for up-\ndates.\n\nAn SSTV system is an integral part of one of the ARISS ham radio sta-\ntions, NA1SS/ RS0ISS in the Service Module. It transmits and receives\nJPEG still images.This system utilizes the Kenwood D700 and D710 ra-\ndios and the ARISS antennas mounted on the Service Module. The SSTV\nequipment also includes SpaceCam and MMSSTV software, a radio/computer\ninterface module and data cables. A Kenwood VC-H1 is also used to pro-\nvide near real-time automatically transmitted images once every 3 min-\nutes, when active.\n\nA Kenwood D710 radio located in the Service Module was deployed by the\nRussian Space Agency, Energia to provide extended support of imaging\nexperiments using various SSTV formats. It employs SpaceCam and MMSSTV\nsoftware to transmit stored images.\n\nThe current Expedition 61 crew aboard the ISS includes Dr. Andrew\n“Drew” Morgan, KI5AAA, an emergency physician in the U.S. Army; veter-\nan pilot Cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov, RK6ATR; Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP,\nan Italian Air Force officer, pilot, and engineer; pilot Cosmonaut\nOleg Skripochka; biologist Dr. Jessica Meir; and electrical engineer\nChristina Koch.\n\n[ANS thanks ARISS and NASA for the above information]\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nUpcoming and Recent ARISS Contacts\n\nIstituto Comprensivo “Japigia 1 – Verga”, Bari, Italy, direct via\nIZ7RTN and Istituto Comprensivo “Caporizzi – Lucarelli”, Bari, Italy,\ndirect via IZ7RTN. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be\nRØISS, The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP. Contact is\ngo: Fri 2019-12-20 12:35:30 UTC 77 deg\n\nThere are few upcoming ARISS school contacts due to school holiday\nvacations around the world. Recent contacts were:\n\nA contact with About Gagarin From Cosmos, City of Kursk, Russia and\nCity of Ufa, Russia, direct via RZ9WWB was scheduled for Wednesday,\nDec. 11. The ISS callsign was scheduled to be RSØISS, and the sched-\nuled astronaut was Alexander Skvortsov, RK6ATR.\n\nA contact with Woodridge Middle School, High Ridge, MO, direct via\nNØKBA was scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 12. The ISS callsign was\nscheduled to be NA1SS, and the scheduled astronaut was to be Luca\nParmitano, KF5KDP.\n\nANS has verified that these contacts took place as scheduled.\n\nThe ARISS contact with Council Rock High School South students at\nthe Northampton, Pennsylvania school on Thursday, December 5 rece-\nived local press coverage in the Bucks County Courier Times news-\npaper: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-349-ARISS-CouncilRock\n\n[ANS thanks ARISS for the above information]\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+\n\n Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront.\n 25% of the purchase price of each product goes\n towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space\n https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear\n\n+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nUpcoming Satellite Operations\n\nFor \"Ham Radio Day Aboard the Queen Mary\" on Saturday, 14 December\n2019. Endaf Buckley, N6UTC, and Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK, will work\npasses as W6RO between 1700 UTC and 0100 UTC (9am-5pm Pacific time)\nfrom the Sports Deck on the RMS Queen Mary, next to the W6RO Wireless\nRoom. More information about this event is available at:\nhttps://amsat.org/pipermail/amsat-bb/2019-November/075512.html\nand at\nhttps://www.queenmary.com/calendar-of-events/ham-radio-day/home/\nOn Sunday, 15 December 2019, N6UTC and WD9EWK will go north of the\nLos Angeles area to the DM04/DM05/DM14/DM15 (35.0 N 118.0 W) grid\nintersection. They plan on working passes for a few hours there,\nstarting with an AO-92 pass around 1740 UTC.\n\n[ANS thanks AMSAT Board member Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK, for the above\ninformation]\n\nSouth Florida (EL95, EL96) December 11-15, 2019\nJames, K4WPX, will be in EL96/95 December 11th-15th, vacation style,\nmostly evening passes, FM only. James will be staying in EM96 but\n~1mile from the EM95 line, so he can skip over there for some passes,\ntoo. Pass announcements via Twitter: https://twitter.com/k4wpx\n\nHawaii (BK19, BK28, BK29, BL20) December 21-28, 2019\nAlex, N7AGF, is heading back to Hawaii over Christmas. This will be a\nholiday-style activation, with special empahasis on the grid that got\naway – BK28. Keep an eye on Alex’s Twitter feed for further announce-\nments: https://twitter.com/N7AGF\n\nBig Bend National Park (DL88) March 16-17, 2020\nRon AD0DX, Doug N6UA, and Josh W3ARD will operate from Big Bend Nation-\nal Park to put grid DL88 on the air. Details will be added here, as\nthey come available, but you are more than welcome to keep an eye on\ntheir individual Twitter feeds: https://twitter.com/ad0dx,\nhttps://twitter.com/dtabor, and https://twitter.com/W3ARDstroke5\n\n[ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP-User Services, for the\n above information]\n\nXT2, BURKINA FASO (Reminder). Harald, DF2WO, is once again active as\nXT2AW from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, until December 20th. Activity is\nusually holiday style on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and the Digital\nmodes. He states that he works mostly on the Digital modes (FT8, PSK31,\nJT65 and RTTY) and slow CW. He will concentrate on 160/80/60 meters.\n\"PLS Skeds for 80 and 160.\" He will also be active on the Satellites\n(including 3W into 85cm dish for QO-100) See QRZ.com more details. QSL\nvia M0OXO, direct or by M0OXO's OQRS (www.m0oxo.com/oqrs/).\n\nZZ, BRAZIL (WFF Op). Operators Joao Carlos/PU4GOD, Leo/PY1CC, Aldir,\nPY1SAD and Eduardo/PU1REC will be active from the headquarters of the\nRestinga de Jurubatiba National Park (PYFF0226) with special callsign\nZZ1F between December 12-15th. This is during the first weekend of the\nBrazilian Parks event, under the coordination of Ronaldo (PS8RV).\nActivity will be on 80/40/20/17/15/12/10/6 meters including VHF using\nCW, SSB, Satellites and the Digital modes. QSL via LoTW or QRZ.com.\n\n[ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1443 for the above information]\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nSatellite Shorts From All Over\n\n+ Some observers have reported that satellite JY1 is, at least occa-\n sionally, transmitting image data from its on-board camera.\n (ANS thanks Hasan Schiers, N0AN, for the above information)\n\n+ Want to build a satellite? A scholarly book, \"Low Earth Orbit Satel-\n lite Design\" by Dr. George Sebestyen, Steve Fujikawa, Alex Chuchra,\n and Nick Galassi, was recently published by Springer, Inc. This\n book offers an in-depth guide to engineers and professionals seeking\n to understand the technologies behind Low Earth Orbit satellites. At\n $139.99 for the hardcover edition, it might be a pricey stocking-\n stuffer, but paperback and ebook editions are cheaper, and Springer\n is running a holiday book special:\n https://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319683140#aboutBook\n (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information)\n\n+ ESA’s short film, The Burn, takes us into the heart of Europe’s mis-\n sion control during a critical moment in the life of a future mis-\n sion. Filmed on site in Darmstadt, Germany, with the help of volun-\n teers (many of whom are real-life spacecraft controllers), The Burn\n illustrates the critical importance of decades of investment in\n state-of-the-art mission operations infrastructure and highly train-\n ed teams to flying Europe’s most daring space missions. View the\n film at: https://tinyurl.com/yxxewnjt\n (ANS thanks ESA for the above information)\n\n+ NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS, aims to carry astronauts to the\n moon in 2024 as part of the Artemis project, and has been described\n as \"the most powerful rocket ever built.\" The SLS has just completed\n its latest round of testing: a \"test to failure\" pressure test of\n the main liquid hydrogen tank. The tank withstood more than 260% of\n expected flight loads before buckling and rupturing! The tank was\n pushed to its limit and failed at the point predicted by the ana-\n lysts, which is good news for the models used by NASA.\n (ANS thanks engadget.com and NASA for the above information)\n\n+ Meade Instruments, a company familiar to backyard astronomers, has\n filed for bankruptcy. The company has fallen on hard times in recent\n years, as they’ve faced increasing competition. Meade also recently\n lost a lawsuit, which pushed them over the edge into bankruptcy. The\n company is based in Irvine, California, and was founded in 1972.\n They started out selling small refracting telescopes. They expanded\n and now sell telescope models worth up to $10,000.\n (ANS thanks Universe Today for the above information)\n\n+ The Orbital Index blog (orbitalindex.com) maintains a directory of\n free space-related software resources for space hobbiests at:\n https://github.com/orbitalindex/awesome-space\n (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information)\n\n+ The Orbital Flight Test of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is\n scheduled for Dec. 20 at 6:36 a.m. EST. The uncrewed flight test\n will be Starliner’s maiden mission to the International Space Sta-\n tion for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.\n (ANS thanks NASA for the above information)\n\n\n\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\ndonors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi-\ntional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT\nOffice.\n\nPrimary and secondary school students are eligible for membership\nat one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students\nenrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu-\ndent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.\nContact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership\ninformation.\n\n73 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space,\nThis week's ANS Editor,\n\nK0JM at amsat dot org\n", "attachments": [] }