AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-185

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT, 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@amsat.org

You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

In this edition:

* "Clean Sweep" on Satellites Possible in 2021 13 Colonies Event
* MIR-SAT1 Designated as MIRSAT-OSCAR 112 (MO-112)
* Youth on the Air Camp 2021 to be On the Satellites
* The AMSAT-SA Space Symposium on 10 July
* VUCC Awards-Endorsements for July 1, 2021
* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for June 30, 2021
* NASA to Air Departure of SpaceX Cargo Dragon from Space Station
* ARISS News
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
* Satellite Shorts From All Over


ANS-185 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 185
To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2021 July 4


"Clean Sweep" on Satellites Possible in 2021 13 Colonies Event

The 2021 edition of the annual 13 Colonies special event is July 1, 2021-1300 UTC to July 8, 2021-0400 UTC.  This year, a "clean sweep" (working stations in all 13 states that were the original 13 U.S. Colonies) is possible via satellite! Yes, one or more stations in each state have volunteered to be active on the satellites this year.  

More info on 13 Colonies is at http://www.13colonies.us/  including information on the exchange, logging, individual state QSLs, and certificates. DXsummit is recommended for spotting, and many of the satellite ops are active on Twitter and self-spot there as well.  

The special event stations will identify with special calls as follows:
K2A - New York
K2B - Virginia
K2C - Rhode Island
K2D - Connecticut
K2E - Delaware
K2F - Maryland
K2G - Georgia
K2H - Massachutsets
K2I - New Jersey
K2J - North Carolina
K2K - New Hampshire
K2L - South Carolina
K2M - Pennsylvania
WM3PEN - Philadelphia bonus station
GB13COL - Great Britain bonus station
TM13COL - France bonus station

[ANS thanks Steve Greene, KS1G (one of the K2B/Virginia activators) for the above information]

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MIR-SAT1 Designated as MIRSAT-OSCAR 112 (MO-112)

On June 22, 2021, MIR-SAT1 was deployed from the International Space Station by JAXA. MIR-SAT1 is a project of the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council and carries a digipeater and camera experiment. Further information is available at https://spacemauritius.com.

At the request of the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council, AMSAT hereby designates MIR-SAT1 as MIRSAT-OSCAR 112 (MO-112). We congratulate the owners and operators, thank them for their contribution to the amateur satellite community, and wish them a long mission and continued success on this and future projects.

ANS thanks Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations / OSCAR Number Administrator, for the above information.

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                   Join the 2021 President's Club!
          Score your 2" 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin.
                 This gold finished coin comes with
Full Color Certificate and Embroidered "Remove Before Flight" Key Tag
                           Donate today at
           https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
                       You won't want to miss it!
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Youth on the Air Camp 2021 to be On the Satellites

The first Youth on the Air (YOTA) camp for young radio amateurs in North, Central, and South America begins on July 11 in West Chester, Ohio. Among other activities, campers will be operating special event station W8Y from both the National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting in West Chester Township and from the camp hotel. The camp will run until July 16.

"We are at 23 campers," said Camp Director Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. "We are very excited to finally bring this program to the Americas. Our young people are bringing an incredible lineup of hands-on sessions for their peers. We hope this pilot gives us the information we need to replicate this camp over multiple locations for years to come. We also hope this brings a more robust community of young hams into amateur radio."

The long-awaited summer camp for up to 30 hams aged 15 through 25 had been set to take place in June 2020, but it had to be rescheduled until summer 2021 because of COVID-19 pandemic concerns. The camp for young hams in the Americas took its cue from the summer Youngsters on the Air camps held for the past few years in various IARU Region 1 countries.

W8Y will be on the air as campers complete projects, between sessions, and during free time. Dedicated operating times on HF will be Monday, July 12, 0100 - 0330 UTC; Tuesday, July 13, 0000 - 0330 UTC and 1800 - 2130 UTC. Dedicated satellite station operating times will be Thursday, July 15, 1400 - 1700 UTC, and Friday, July 16, 1500 - 1700 UTC.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact is currently set for either Wednesday, July 14, at 1503 UTC, or KM4BUN operates as K8O during YOTA Month 2020.

Thursday, July 15, at 1416 UTC. It will be streamed live on the Youth on the Air YouTube channel. The camp opening observance on Sunday, July 11, 2100 - 2230 UTC, will feature keynote speaker Tim Duffy, K3LR. The hour-long closing ceremony on Friday, July 16, will get under way at 1700 UTC. The YouTube channel will also feature a daily video highlighting the activities of the previous day.

ARRL and The Yasme Foundation donated project kits for the campers. X Tronics provided temperature-controlled soldering stations. The brochure on the Youth on the Air website includes more details about the camp. For additional information, contact Camp Director Neil Rapp, WB9VPG.

[ANS thanks ARRL for the above information]

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     Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows,
    and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through
           AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
                  Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
           https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/

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The AMSAT-SA Space Symposium on 10 July

The programme for the 2021 AMSAT SA Space Symposium has been published on the SARL and AMSAT SA websites.

Attendance for AMSAT SA and SARL members is free. There is a small charge for non-members.
The symposium will be held on the BlueJeans platform starting at 08:00 UTC on Saturday 10 July 2021.

The keynote address will be delivered by Val Munsami, the CEO of the South African National Space Agency. Dr Gary Immelman ZS6YI will talk about a novel way to get going on QO-100, amateur radios first geostationary satellite.

Dr Pierre Cilliers will talk about space weather activities at SANSA in Hermanus, Dr Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, lead of the HAMSci in the USA will present a paper entitled "The Ionosphere from your Backyard", Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP and Anton Janovsky, ZR6AIC will review the development of AfriCUBE and Burns Fisher, WB1FJ of AMSAT NA will talk about Raspberry Pi in my shack, a push-button user interface".

More details about the presentation will be released in the coming week. Keep an eye on http://www.amsatsa.org.za/

[ANS thanks Southgate ARC for the above information]

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AMSAT's GOLF Program is about getting back to higher orbits, and it all
begins with GOLF-TEE – a technology demonstrator for deployable solar
panels, propulsion, and attitude control. Come along for the ride. The
journey will be worth it!

                  https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF

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VUCC Awards-Endorsements for July 1, 2021

Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period June 1, 2021 through July 1, 2021. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month!

Congratulations to Christy KB6LTY on achieving the AMSAT GridMaster!

CALL          June    July      

K8YSE/7       842     872
KK5DO         781     793
NS3L          695     697
WD9EWK (DM43) 650     655
N9IP          635     640
PS8ET         550     600
VE6WK         404     512
VE1VOX        400     507
KF6JOQ        453     503
WB7VUF        404     455
W8LR          425     453
AK8CW DM37    425     451
KS1G          427     451
K5TA          400     450
KC7JPC        New     399
VE4MM         New     350
VE1CWJ        New     335
KN2K          253     300
N7ZO          275     300
AB1OC         267     285
EA2AA         251     280
N8URE (FM19)  263     279
KK4CF         100     200
K3HPA         150     176
RA3DNC        142     156
N8MR          115     154
KC1MMC        New     150
N1KM          New     150
VE3KY         128     150
WA7HQD        149     150
WD9EWK (DM54) 125     145
KC2JED        New     132
DL1DUO        New     130
HC2FG         New     130
WD9EWK (DM45) 106     127
DF2PI         New     116
N2VAJ         New     103
KE7RTB        New     100

If you find errors or omissions. please contact me off-list at <mycall>@<mycall>.com and I'll revise the announcement. This list was developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for the two months. It's a visual comparison so omissions are possible. Apologies if your call was not mentioned.

Thanks to all those who are roving to grids that are rarely on the birds. They are doing a lot of the work!

[ANS thanks Ron Parsons, W5RKN, for the above information]

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    Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
            Get your AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff
                    from our Zazzle store!
        25% of the purchase price of each product goes
            towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
              https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear

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Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for June 30, 2021

MIR-SAT1 (Mauritian Infra-Red Satellite 1) was launched from the Japanese ISS Kibo module at 10:55 UTC on 6-22-2021.

MIR-SAT1 has been identified as NORAD Cat ID 48868 as per Pierros Papadeas, SV1QVE and Nico Janssen, PA0DLO.

The current TLE for MIR-SAT1 per Space-Track are as follows:

MIR-SAT1
1 48868U 98067SP  21179.69602259  .00013025  00000-0  23878-3 0  9995
2 48868  51.6439 285.7711 0003006 182.6608 177.4342 15.49640979  1031
 
[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above information]

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NASA to Air Departure of SpaceX Cargo Dragon from Space Station

NASA’s SpaceX Dragon cargo freighter, loaded with approximately 5,000 pounds of scientific experiments and other cargo from the International Space Station, will depart Tuesday, July 6, bound for a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean Thursday, July 8, completing the company’s 22nd commercial resupply services mission for NASA.

Live coverage of the departure will begin at 14:45z Tuesday, July 6, on NASA Television, the agency’s website, and the NASA app. NASA will not provide coverage of the splashdown.

Ground controllers at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, will command Dragon to undock from the space-facing port on the station’s Harmony module at 15:00z, with NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough monitoring aboard the station. The cargo craft will physically separate from the station five minutes later before firing its thrusters to move a safe distance away prior to a deorbit burn that will begin its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. Dragon is expected to make its parachute-assisted splashdown around 04:00z Thursday, July 8.

Splashing down off the coast of Florida enables quick transportation of the science aboard the capsule to NASA’s Space Station Processing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and back into the hands of the researchers. This shorter transportation time frame allows researchers to collect data with minimal sample exposure to gravity.

Dragon launched June 3 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy, arriving at the station a little less than 16 hours later. The spacecraft delivered more than 7,300 pounds of research investigations, crew supplies, and vehicle hardware to the orbiting outpost. Dragon’s external cargo “trunk” carried six new ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs), two of which Expedition 65 crew members Kimbrough and Thomas Pesquet, an ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut, installed during three spacewalks June 16, 20, and 25.

Some of the scientific investigations Dragon will return to Earth include:

 * Lyophilization-2 examines how gravity affects freeze-dried materials and could result in improved freeze-drying processes for pharmaceutical and other industries. Freeze-drying also has potential use for long-term storage of medications and other resources on future exploration missions.
 * Molecular Muscle Experiment-2 tests a series of drugs to see whether they can improve health in space, possibly leading to new therapeutic targets for examination on Earth.
 * Oral Biofilms in Space studies how gravity affects the structure, composition, and activity of oral bacteria in the presence of common oral care agents. Findings could support development of novel treatments to fight oral diseases such as cavities, gingivitis, and periodontitis.

Learn more about SpaceX missions for NASA at: https://www.nasa.gov/spacex

[ANS thanks NASA for the above information]

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ARISS NEWS

Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2021-07-01 04:30 UTC

Quick list of scheduled contacts and events:

TBD, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz
The scheduled cosmotronaut is Pyotr Dubrov
Contact is a go for 2021-07-14 20:10 UTC

Watch for possible operation mode change sometime after ARRL Field Day.  Exact date and time TBD but it will probably be after the week of 2021-07-12 to 2021-07-18.

The latest information on the operation mode can be found at  https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html

The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html
 
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors for the above information]

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    AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur
    radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
            be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.

   Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/

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Upcoming Satellite Operations

Upcoming Roves:
Quick Hits:

WY7AA: FI will be in FN02 starting 6/6 for a few weeks. Operating Sats. holiday style. If you need FN01, FN02, FN03, FN12 please let me know and we can try to set something up. FN01,03, and 12 will likely each be one day roves. FM and SSB

ND0C and KE0WPA: In June @kylee_ke0wpa  and I, along with our resident photojournalist (Mom/Amy), will be taking a family excursion to the southwest and working some sats as time permits. Here are the less commonly worked grids from which we plan to operate. We will hit other grids too. DM67 6/15 – 6/17, DM56 6/18, DM45 6/19, DN63 7/2, DN64 7/2 & 7/3

N5LEX: CN98 last week of June.

VP2V/K3TRM: I will be operating from Tortola, British Virgin Islands as VP2V/K3TRM on July 4-17, 2021. Activity will be on 40-6M SSB & digital, and satellite.

DM62: K5TA, tentatively planning for DM62 ~9-July, when there are are several good passes mid-day, making it a doable day-trip.

EN57/67: @SeanKutzko KX9X and @Nancy_N9NCY will celebrate Sean’s birthday in the Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula July 15-19. Look for them on FM and SSB satellites, with the possibility of some Parks On The Air activity as well.

Major Roves:

WA7AA:
July 6-7 DN43 with a daytime rove to DN42/43/52/53 corner on 7/7
July 10 DN24 daytime passes
July 11 DN25 daytime passes
July 12 DN27 with a guest Gridmaster hopefully
July 13-16 DN28 holiday style
July 17 DN38 holiday style
July 18 DN47/48 daytime passes
July 21-23 DN54 holiday style
July 25-27 DN64 holiday style
July 30-31 DN63 holiday style

July 7, 10, 11, 18 will all be planned trips just for Sat passes FM and SSB.  I will try to publish passes ahead of time on Twitter and QRZ.  The remainder of the trip will be camping in remote areas with little to no internet or Twitter.  I will get info out as I can, but I won’t be able to setup skeds ahead of time.  Lots of POTA activations on Sats and HF as well.

Please submit any additions or corrections to Ke0pbr (at) gmail.com

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information]

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Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

Want to see AMSAT in action or learn more about amateur radio in space?

AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.

AMSAT Ambassador and ARRL registered instructor Clint Bradford, K6LCS, is certainly keeping busy! He reports a long list of completed online presentations. Think a 90-minute lively, informative, and fun “How to Work the Easy Satellites” Zoom presentation would be appropriate for your convention or club? Always includes are overviews of the ARRL, AMSAT, and ARISS … and pre-presentation questions are solicited and welcome. Send Clint an email or call!

Clint Bradford K6LCS
http://www.work-sat.com
909-999-SATS (7287)

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above information]

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Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ AMSAT is pleased to announce that the 39th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting will be held in late October at the Crowne Plaza Suites: MSP Airport - Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. The Crowne Plaza Suites is conveniently located adjacent to the American Blvd station on the Metro Blue Line, providing easy access to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, downtown Minneapolis, and the Mall of America. The AMSAT Board of Directors will meet prior to the Symposium. Further details, including final dates, hotel reservation details, tours, and other events will be shared in the coming months. (ANS thanks the 2021 Symposium Committee for the above information)

+ D-Orbit, a European launch services company, has announced that they have launched the first "amateur" satellite from the nation of Kuwait. The launch was carried out on June 30 by a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The satellite, named “QMR-KWT” means “Moon of Kuwait”, translated from Arabic, appears to have been built commercially. It will transmit 9600 bps GMSK, as well as Morse ID of LZ0KWT, and a recording of the Kuwait National Anthem on 436.5 MHz. There is no record of international frequency coordination with the IARU. More information at https://www.orbitalspace.org/qmr-kwt  (ANS thanks D-Orbit for the above information)

+ On the same June 30 SpaceX launch, which carried a total of 88 small satellites into orbit, was Painani-II, a 3U cubesat built by the University of the Mexican Army and Air Force. It will transmit telemetry, images, and AX25 packet on IARU-coordinated frequencies of 437.475 and 2410.300 MHz. (ANS thanks Spaceflight.com and IARU for the above information)

+ The ANS search engines have turned up myriad references to amateur satellites across the news media this week. Small town papers around the country picked up news releases from ham groups who were anxious to get the media contact bonus points added to their Field Day logs. It appears that many of these releases mention satellites for the "cool factor," even when no satellite operation actually took place. Misinformation was abundant in the published articles. But as they say, any publicity is good publicity! (ANS thanks Mark Johns, K0JM, for the above information)

+ The Mauritius Amateur Radio Society (MARS) is still anxious for telemetry reports from the MIR-SAT 1 satellite launched on June 22. MIR-SAT 1 transmits on 436.925 MHz and decoders are available for download at https://github.com/daniestevez/gr-satellites/blob/master/python/telemetry/mirsat1.py (Thanks to Daniel Estevez, EA4GPZ) or https://www.g0kla.com/pacsat/index.php (Thanks to Chris Thompson, AC2CZ). All received data should be uploaded to Satnogs.org, and award certificates may be received in exchange by applying to https://bit.ly/3qKyb0Q  (ANS thanks Jean Marc Momple, 3B8DU, for the above information)

+ The first three "taikonauts" (as Chinese astronauts are often known) aboard China's Tiangong space station are enjoying a menu of more than 120 dishes. Meals include shredded pork in garlic sauce, kung pao chicken, black pepper beef, pickled cabbage and many more. The foods are usually solid, boneless, in small pieces and selected to meet the astronauts' personal tastes. CCTV also reports that astronauts use condiments such as pork sauce and Sichuan pepper sauce to help adjust to the temporary loss of sense of taste experienced in microgravity. The space agency also boasted that the station is equipped with a microwave oven, so that the crew can enjoy their food hot. (ANS thanks space.com for the above information)

+ Wally Funk, age 82, a pilot with more than 19,600 flight hours and best known as one of the "Mercury 13" group of women who passed NASA astronaut medical exams in the 1960s, will be on the first crewed New Shepard flight July 20, along with billionaire Jeff Bezos. NASA made no effort to fly the Mercury 13 women, and did not formally select any female astronauts until Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in June 1983. Funk will now be the oldest person yet to fly into space. (ANS thanks Spacenews.com for the above information)


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/EX

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 additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Store.

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 student rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional student membership information.

73 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space,
This week's ANS Editor, Mark Johns, K0JM
k0jm at amsat dot org