AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-285
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites.
The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org.
In this edition:
* AMSAT Officer Appointments * Challenge Coin Premium for AMSAT Fox Donations * 6th European CubeSat Symposium * ARISS News * NASA Invites Public to Send Your Name to Mars – Starting on Orion’s 1st Flight
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-285.01 ANS-285 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 285.01 From AMSAT HQ Kensington, MD. October 12, 2014 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-285.01
AMSAT Officer Appointments
The following Officers of AMSAT-NA for 2014-2015 were appointed by the Board of Directors at their annual meeting held in Baltimore, MD.
President Barry Baines WD4ASW Executive Vice President Open VP Human Space Flight Frank Bauer KA3HDO VP Engineering Jerry Buxton N0JY VP Operations Drew Glasbrenner KO4MA VP User Services JoAnne Maenpaa K9JKM VP Educational Relations E. Mike McCardel KC8YLD VP Marketing Open Secretary Alan Biddle WA4SCA Treasurer Keith Baker KB1SF/VA3KSF Manager Martha Saragovitz
[ANS thanks JoAnne, K9JKM, for the above information
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Challenge Coin Premium for AMSAT Fox Donations
AMSAT is excited to announce that a new premium collectable is now available for qualifying donations to the Fox satellite program. AMSAT has commissioned a unique challenge coin for donors who have contributed at the $100 level or higher. This challenge coin is shaped as an isometric view of a Fox-1 CubeSat, complete with details such as the stowed UHF antenna, solar cells, and camera lens viewport. Struck in 3mm thick brass, plated with antique silver, and finished in bright enamel, the coin is scaled to be approximately 1:4 scale, or 1 inch along each of the six sides. The reverse has the AMSAT Fox logo.
Coins will also be made available to qualifying donors that have contributed since the Fox-1C announcement on July 18, 2014 upon request. Donations may be made via the AMSAT website, via the FundRazr crowdsourcing app at http://fnd.us/c/6pz92/sh/561Zd, or via the AMSAT office at (888) 322-6728.
The Fox program is designed to provide a platform for university experiments in space, as well as provide FM repeater capability for radio amateurs worldwide. Fox-1A and 1C are set to launch in 2015, and Fox-1B (also known as RadFXSat) is awaiting NASA ELANA launch assignment. Further information on the Fox project can be found at http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=1113.
You may donate here via PayPal. Donations will be marked specifically for Fox-1C. Note that PayPal usually allows you to donate with a credit card, even if you do not have a PayPal account. However, PayPal requirements differ depending on your country. We have no control over this issue.
[ANS thanks Drew, KO4MA, for the above information]
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6th European CubeSat Symposium
The 6th European CubeSat Symposium will take place from October 14-16, 2014 at Estavayer-le-Lac in Switzerland.
The Symposium has attracted more than 100 abstracts submitted from 31 different countries. Von Karman Institute and Swiss Space Systems are proud to support the CubeSat community by coorganising this leading CubeSat event in Europe, for the first time in Switzerland.
Von Karman Institute continues to act as the coordinator of the World’s most ambitious CubeSat Project QB50, whereas Swiss Space Systems is designing an innovative launcher specifically for small satellites to bring the launch costs to 25% of today’s market value.
The symposium abstracts are available at https://www.cubesatsymposium.eu/download/BookOfAbstracts_6th_European_Cubesa... posium_2014.pdf
6th European CubeSat Symposium https://www.cubesatsymposium.eu/
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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ARISS News
The Winter Gardens Primary School, Canvey Island, United Kingdom and Pilton Bluecoat School, Barnstaple, United Kingdom, telebridge via W6SRJ Contact was successful on Wednesday 2014-10-08 at 10:08:49 UTC.
Team Sky and Rocket (NPO Sora-To-Rocket-Dan), Kariya, Aichi, Japan, is scheduled for a direct contact via 8J2YSM,Thursday 2014-10-09 09:00:05 UTC.
Indiana Area School District, Indiana, PA, is scheduled for a telebridge contact via IK1SLD on Friday, 2014-10-17 16:41:45 UTC.
ARISS is requesting listener reports for the above contacts. Due to issues with the Kenwood radio that are not fully understood at present, the Ericsson radio is going to be used for these contacts. ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance. Feel free to send your reports to [email protected] or [email protected].
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From 2014-11-10 to 2014-12-07, there will be no US Operational Segment (USOS) hams on board ISS. So any schools contacts during this period will be conducted by the ARISS Russia team.
[ANS thanks Charlie, AJ9N, for the above information]
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NASA Invites Public to Send Your Name to Mars – Starting on Orion’s First Flight
by Ken Kremer on October 8, 2014 http://www.universetoday.com/115123/nasa-invites-public-to-send-your-name-to... mars-starting-on-orions-first-flight/
NASA invites you to send your name to Mars via the first Orion test flight in December 2014. Deadline for submissions is Oct 31, 2014. Join over 170,000 others! See link below. Credit: NASA
Here’s your chance to participate in NASA’s ‘Journey to Mars’ and the first flight of the new Orion spacecraft that will eventually transport humans to the Red Planet.
NASA invites you to send your name to Mars. And the adventure starts via the first Orion test flight dubbed Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) scheduled for blastoff on December 4, 2014 from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
This week NASA announced that the public can submit their names for inclusion on a dime-sized microchip that will travel on spacecraft voyaging to destinations beyond low-Earth orbit, including Mars.
Join over 170,000 others who have already signed up in just the first few hours!
Since the Orion EFT-1 mission is set to launch in less than two months, the deadline to submit your name is soon: Oct 31, 2014.
“NASA is pushing the boundaries of exploration and working hard to send people to Mars in the future,” said Mark Geyer, Orion Program manager, in a NASA statement.
“When we set foot on the Red Planet, we’ll be exploring for all of humanity. Flying these names will enable people to be part of our journey.”
How can you sign up to fly on Orion EFT-1? Is there a certificate?
NASA has made it easy to sign up and you can also print out an elegant looking ‘Boarding Pass’
Click on this weblink posted online by NASA today: http://mars.nasa.gov/participate/send-your-name/orion-first-flight/
[ANS thanks Universe Today and NASA for the above information]
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In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office.
Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information.
73, This week's ANS Editor, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org