On Fri, Feb 6, 2009 at 4:39 PM, Bruce Robertson ve9qrp@gmail.com wrote:
I know the following is something some of us do not want to hear, but this new economic reality also has presented us (and others) with some interesting opportunities in LEO.
Bingo.
Ours is no longer a launch/cost problem -- paying for a ride to HEO is just out of the question.
Our real problem is facing the reality that radio amateurs may never have another opportunity for HEO. I have previously (and frequently to no avail) written that we are __long__ past the time when we should still be crying in our beer over HEO.
We need to let that go and follow a new path. And as Bruce pointed out so well, there are multiplied opportunities that are actually very feasible at LEO. We should be developing scientific payloads that use amateur radio to downlink and share data with a global audience. There is so much to explore with global climate change and other similar areas that are interesting and in high demand -- and it would garner us no end of publicity and new members.
Instead, many continue to cry for nothing but HEO. Having been an active AO-13 operator I really understand that desire; heck, I would also like to believe in Santa Claus but it ain't happening. If you factor AO-40 out of the equation, AMSAT last placed a bird in HEO in 1988. That was 21 years ago -- how many decades are we going to keep hoping for a magic ride to HEO before we accept reality and move on?
The longer we wait, and spin our wheels hoping for a miracle, the more this all becomes a moot point. If all the action is going to be at LEO, and AMSAT is firmly determined not to plan for a LEO future, then AMSAT becomes more irrelevant with each passing year until it is no more.
73, Jeff KE9V AMSAT-NA AMSAT-DL