Could be of some interest on the next STS-116 mission.

STS-116 to launch USNA/DARPA satellites

Pretty much overshadowed by the main mission to the ISS, STS-116 will launch two U.S. Naval Academy Student Project satellites after undocking from the ISS. These satellites are called ANDE (Atmospheric Neutral Density Experiment) and RAFT (Radar Fence Transponder).

The NRL science mission of ANDE is to measure the density of the upper atmosphere by precise tracking of the orbit decay by the Maui Laser Ranging Tracking Station. The Comm system provides important telemetry on the attitude and temperature of the spacecraft. The ANDE and RAFT satellites will carry amateur radio communications payloads (see frequencies below), but RAFT has something a bit extra.

RAFT carries a 216.980 MHz receiver/transmitter to demonstrate self-location techniques when it flies through the Space Surveillance Network radar fence across the southern USA. When this experiment is activated, users will hear a 1 second ping when it flies through the fence. This is an excellent way to see how sensitive your radio installation is.

Amateur Payloads:

ANDE Side A: 145.825 MHz Digipeater up/downlink 1200 baud packet

ANDE Side B: 145.825 MHz downlink (backup to side A only)

RAFT System: 145.825 MHz Digipeater up/downlink 1200 baud packet

RAFT PSK-31: 28.120 MHz HF PSK-31 uplink -downlink on 145.825 MHz

You can get more information on these satellites at the following links:

ANDE/RAFT Space Operations http://eng.usna.navy.mil/~bruninga/ande-raft-ops.html

ANDE (MAA) - Telemetry/Command and Comms http://eng.usna.navy.mil/~bruninga/ande.html

Various frequencies list http://www.monitoringtimes.com/

RAFT Satellite Project

The MARScom satellite is suppose to launch with this mission, but nothing hs been mentioned in any of the official STS-116 paperwork about that Cubesat. While its mission fate is unknown as of this writing, according to a 13 October 2006 Chief of NAVMARCORPSMARS message the satellite is at KSC and ready for launch.

You can view my complete description of the RAFT and MARScom payloads at MEMS-Based PICOSAT Inspector (MEPSI)

http://exploration.nasa.gov/programs/station/STP-H2-MEPSI.html

sources:http://mt-milcom.blogspot.com/ :http://monitor-post.blogspot.com/

_ADDITIONNAL MESSAGES__OF INTEREST______________________________

R 131200Z OCT 2006 FM NNN0ASA VA TO NNN0ALL INFO ZEN/AAA9A AZ ZEN/AGA3C IL BT UNCLAS SUBJ: CHNAVMARCORMARS INFO BCST 48-06 - MARSCOM SATELLITE 1. BOB, NNN0APR, HEAD OF THE NAVAL ACADEMY SATELLITE LAB, HAS INFORMED ME THAT MARSCOM, THE NAVY-MARINE CORPS MARS SATELLITE, IS AT THE KENNEDY SPACE CENTER AWAITING LAUNCH ON THE NEXT SHUTTLE ON ABOUT 5 DEC 2006. AT THAT TIME WE WILL HAVE OUR OWN SATELLITE IN ORBIT. WE HAVE A LITTLE OVER 50 DAYS TO DEVELOP A CADRE OF NAVMARCORMARS OPERATORS AND GROUND STATIONS. MORE INFO (INCLUDING A COUNTDOWN TO LAUNCH) IS AVAILABLE AT (ALL LOWER CASE): HTTP://WWW.EW.USNA.EDU/(TILDE)BRUNINGA/MARSCOM.HTML 2. MARSCOM WILL BE DIFFICULT TO HEAR AND TO CONTROL DUE TO USING HF SSB FOR THE DOWNLINK AND THE DOPPLER SHIFT. THE DOWNLINK TRANSMITTER TURNED OUT TO HAVE AN EFFECTIVE RADIATED POWER (ERP) OF UNDER 100 MILLIWATTS INSTEAD OF THE DESIRED 2 WATTS. WE ASSUME A 10 METER BEAM WILL BE NEEDED FOR THE COMMAND STATIONS. THE NAVAL ACADEMY HAS NO SUCH COMMAND STATIONS AT THIS TIME ... SO, WE NEED NAVMARCORMARS STATIONS THAT HAVE 148 MHZ FM UPLINK AND SSB 10M DOWNLINK, AND A 1200 BAUD TNC CONNECTED TO EACH. 3. MARSCOM, BECAUSE OF ITS LOW EARTH ORBIT, WILL DE-ORBIT IN UNDER SIX MONTHS. WE WILL NEED TO FIRM UP OUR PLANS ON WHAT WE WANT TO ACCOMPLISH DURING ITS 6-MONTH LIFE. THE NAVAL ACADEMY WILL BE CONTROLLING A TOTAL OF FOUR SATELLITES ALL LAUNCHED AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME ON THE SHUTTLE AND AN ATLAS. THEY ASK THAT MARS VOLUNTEERS ACT AS MARSCOM GROUND STATIONS, NET-CONTROL OPERATORS AND MISSION PLANNERS. 4. BECAUSE OF THE SHUTTLE PROGRAM DELAYS, IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I INITIALLY REQUESTED VOLUNTEERS FOR THIS PROGRAM. THEREFORE, I AM SOLICITING VOLUNTEERS ANEW TO TAKE ON THE ROLES LISTED ABOVE. EXPERIENCE WITH SATELLITES IS DESIRED, BUT NOT MANDATORY. THE LOW ERP ON THE HF DOWNLINK WILL MAKE THIS A REAL CHALLENGE. VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED ACROSS THE COUNTRY BECAUSE OF THE ANTICIPATED SMALL FOOTPRINT OF THE MARSCOM SATELLITE. 5. TO VOLUNTEER, PLEASE SUBMIT A REQUEST BY MARS MESSAGE TO YOUR STATE DIRECTOR, INFO YOUR REGION AND AREA DIRECTOR AND NNN0ASA VA. BE SURE TO INCLUDE A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF YOUR SATELLITE EXPERIENCE. 6. NAVMARCORMARS: PROUDLY SERVING THOSE WHO SERVE. BT NNNN

"-" The medium is the message...The content is the audience...;)

Luc Leblanc VE2DWE WAC basic,CW,Phone,Satellite Skype VE2DWE www.qsl.net/ve2dwe