October 2009 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

WD9EWK on the air tomorrow...
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

Hello from Tucson! >From the hamfest tomorrow morning, I plan on working the 145.920/435.300 AO-51 repeater. On VO-52, I will be on the high end of the passband. I typically try to park around 145.910 MHz USB on the downlink, and keeping in mind that N2SPI will be up around 145.915 MHz USB on the 1535 UTC pass I will try to work around him. If you are on VO-52 during that pass, look for both of us. Later in the day, I will probably have lunch with some local hams after the hamfest. I am not sure I will work the 2054 UTC AO-27 pass. Good luck to all of those working from rare grids during that pass. I will try to be on from somewhere in southeastern Arizona for the western AO-27 pass at 2235 UTC. As for AO-51 in the evening - passes around 2318 and 0054 UTC - I will be somewhere in southeastern Arizona and/or southwestern New Mexico. I may park on the Arizona/New Mexico state line, or look to be on the DM51/DM52 boundary from the New Mexico side of the border. I've worked from these grids on past trips, but only from the Arizona side of the border. I don't think I will try to drive up toward DM53, or toward the DM6x grids in New Mexico, as I will be driving back home in the evening. Again, good luck to the others who are going out to rare or unusual grids during various passes tomorrow. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

1 0

DMSP F18's launch vehicle far exceeds mission requirements
by Phil Karn Jr KA9Q 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

Seems like a missed opportunity for a secondary payload. Sigh.

2 1

Can we get them to fix AO-40 first then?
by David - KG4ZLB 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

Rogue satellites to be cleared from Earth's orbit by German robots German-built robots are to be sent into Earth's orbit to repair 'dead satellites' or push them into outer space, according to a report in Sunday's Guardian newspaper. Robots that rescue failing satellites and push 'dead' ones into outer space should be ready in four years, it has emerged. Experts described the development by German scientists as a crucial step in preventing a disaster in the Earth's crowded orbit. Last year it was reported that critical levels of debris circling the Earth were threatening astronauts' lives and the future of the multibillion-pound satellite communications industry. But senior figures at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) told the /Observer/ they have been given the go-ahead to tackle a crisis that will come to a head in the next five to 10 years as more orbiting objects run out of fuel. Their robots will dock with failing satellites to carry out repairs or push them into "graveyard orbits", freeing vital space in geostationary orbit. This is the narrow band 22,000 miles above the Earth in which orbiting objects appear fixed at the same point. More than 200 dead satellites litter this orbit. Within 10 years that number could increase fivefold, the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety has warned. You can read the full article / 'Rogue satellites to be cleared from Earth's orbit by German robots'/ at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/oct/11/space-robots-clear-rogue-sate… -- David KG4ZLB www.kg4zlb.com

4 3

The power of complaining
by Randy 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

QUOTE " It's a pity we can't harness the power of complaining to boost things to orbit... 73 Mark K6HX " Mark ... I think that the orbit would be more like a VHEO .. *smile * Randy - N2CUA

1 0

Where's the Beef?
by Frank H. Bauer 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

Robert, You commented: "As for AMSAT's ARISSsat transponder. Well we will see if it works. They are not exactly burning up the track record with success. We have had this argument and I am willing to sit back and see if it goes, but it is far to much project for the program. Most of the folks I know at JSC give it less then 20 percent chance of working...In fact it was a source of mirth at a recent BDAY party." All your e-mails give the impression that you are well positioned within JSC and "know all" that is going on within NASA. But when I did a Search for your name within the NASA employee and contractor database, the database comes up empty handed. Given that I am a "facts and data" kind of guy, what up with this? And how are you all knowing??? What do you really do for a living?? Who are these people you are talking to that are so opinionated? Or are you using another alias besides Robert Oler or Rocky Jones? Or is all you are posting on this listserv just your own kind of fluff?? Inquiring minds want to know. Frank, KA3HDO

11 12

FO-29
by Jerry Felts 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

Is FO-29 active?? I can't tell from AMSAT'S webpage. -- Jerry - NR5A - South Dakota http://nr5asstuff.blogspot.com/ http://nr5abeaconblog.blogspot.com/

3 2

K2BSA and ARISS from the National Scouting Museum during JOTA - 17 Oct.
by Keith Pugh 16 Oct '09

16 Oct '09

K2BSA will be operating on the Amateur Radio Satellites from the National Scouting Museum in Irving, TX, from 14:00 to 22:00 UTC on Saturday, 17 Oct. 2009. We will be on as many of the passes listed below as possible. We will be operating as a portable, hand-held station. Bring your Scouts and join us on the "Birds." WinAos QTH: -97.0/32.9 T#: 11612 Sat.: 6 [Standard] ---------------------------------------------------------- Day Object AOS (U) LOS Period maxEl AZ ---------------------------------------------------------- 17.10.2009 SO-50 14:41 14:50 09 10 356 - 098 17.10.2009 AO-07 14:47 15:06 19 37 005 - 225 17.10.2009 VO-52 15:35 15:48 13 35 023 - 176 17.10.2009 SO-50 16:20 16:33 13 76 330 - 155 17.10.2009 VO-52 17:12 17:23 11 16 348 - 228 17.10.2009 AO-27 19:10 19:23 13 20 129 - 003 17.10.2009 AO-27 20:48 21:03 15 39 185 - 340 There will also be an ARISS Contact with Scouts at the museum that will take place starting at 21:53 UTC. This will be a Telebridge contact via WH6PN in Hawaii. The contact will be on the EchoLink AMSAT Conference and on a wide area, 442.400 MHz repeater in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. 73 - Keith, W5IU

2 2

AO-51 for November
by John Marranca, Jr 16 Oct '09

16 Oct '09

Drew, et al: Any possibility of having SSTV on the 2nd channel for November? Thanks! John KB2HSH --composed with Windows 7 Ultimate _______________________________ John Marranca, Jr -PBX Technician- BN Systems, Incorporated Orchard Park, NY (716)406-7130

2 1

More on imaging statellites...
by Mark VandeWettering 16 Oct '09

16 Oct '09

> Getting an image is clearly possible, but only if you can get a certain > agency known by its initials to do it. Recall that Skylab, circa 1973, took > some damage on launch. Some amazing pictures were provided by said agency, > among others, to assess what was needed for repair. Now imagine 35 years > later. However, that is not going to happen, and in any case, there is > little to be gained, though of course we are all curious. I was interested in the details of this, and dug around on the web to find some more information. It appears that on May 16, 1973, a KH-8 "Gambit" spy satellite was launched. These were apparently a "film return" satellite, that would deorbit film cannisters. Their resolving power was said to be about 1/2 a meter on the ground from orbit. These satellites appear to operate in fairly low orbits (say, between 220km and 350km), so let's take 300km as a reasonable orbit height. That means that their resolving power was around .3 arc seconds, which implies that their imaging optics were about 15 inches minimum in aperature. (I am assuming a straight heads down imaging geometry, if the resolution could be achieved at a different angle, the imaging optics would have to be increased, and this didn't take into account any atmospheric effects. The reality is that .3 arc seconds is probably fairly challenging through the atmosphere no matter what size optics you have, at least without adaptive optics). A bit more research bears this out: the KH-8 carried a 44 inch optic with a 77 inch focal length. Anyway, Skylab launched on May 14th. The first crew launched on May 25th. So, an interesting question was what imaging opportunities were there between the sats? Luckily, somebody else did all the heavy lifting and made a nice webpage (thanks Ted Molczan!) http://www.satobs.org/columbia/Skylab.html Ranges as low as 138km were acheived between the KH-8 and Skylab. At that range the nominal resolution of a 44 inch optic (which might be achieved without atmpsheric effects) might approach just 7 cm. Indeed, very good resolution. Check out more info on Ted's webpage: http://www.satobs.org/columbia/KeyHolesattosat.html

1 0

When was GO-32 last heard?
by Mark L. Hammond 16 Oct '09

16 Oct '09

Curious when anybody last hear GO-32. I've checked recently, and don't think it is even transmitting short telemetry packets. Does anybody have contact information for a control station? 73, -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

1 0