AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-086
ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North
America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS 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.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor(a)amsat.org
In this edition:
* ARISS School Contact Milestone - 600th School Contact on March 17
* KA1SKY McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center Operating Events
* How's (Satellite) DX?
* AMSAT Awards Now Accepting Credit From RAC CANADAWARD
* Japan Space Agency Unveils New ISS CubeSat Deployment System
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
* MAKE Magazine Publishes NASA Make: Challenge Rules and Guidelines
* Falcon 9 To Launch SES-8 To GTO In 2013
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-086.01
ARISS School Contact Milestone - 600th School Contact on March 17
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 086.01
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 27, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-086.01
ARISS reached a milestone on Thursday, March 17 when it held its
600th contact between on-orbit astronaut Cady Coleman, KC5ZTH and
students from several schools in Plock and Liszyno, Poland.
The contact supported lessons about space and space exploration,
communication and technology. The Scout Amateur Radio Club SP5ZBA
handled the radio connection during which the astronaut fielded
19 space related questions. Nearly 120 people were in the audience
and came from Plock, Liszyno, Zuromin and Warsaw. There was exten-
sive media coverage that included newspapers, four scientific maga-
zines, one radio magazine, a television station, national radio
(two programs) and two internet portals.
Also on Thursday, March 17, Luitpold-Gymnasium Muenchen students in
Munich, Germany spoke with Paolo Nespoli, IZ0JPA on the ISS via an
ARISS contact. Nespoli answered 19 questions as an audience of over
110 students, teachers and visitors listened.
The contact was the highlight of studies emphasizing aeronautics,
scientific work and amateur radio. Several media outlets were present
including three radio stations (Bayerischer Rundfunk, Radio Charivari,
Radio Arabella), one television station (Bayerisches Fernsehen) and
four newspapers (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Abendzeitung, TZ-München, Münch-
ner Merkur). The Bavarian TV channel BR (Bayerisches Fernsehen) posted
a clip on its Web site: http://tinyurl.com/62vkve4 (www.br-online.de)
[ANS thanks Carol Jackson, KB3LKI and the ARISS weekly status report
for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-086.02
KA1SKY McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center Operating Events
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 086.02
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 27, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-086.02
Amateur Radio Operators at KA1SKY, Amateur Radio Club Station at
the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center (DC) in Concord, NH have
been working to enhance presentations and programs at the Center
through the vehicle of Amateur Radio.
Wayne Santos, N1CKM, Station Manager at KA1SKY would like to hear
from AMSAT members in New England who can assist with amateur radio
operations from the Discovery Center:
April 29-30 - Aerospacefest Weekend
May 5 - KA1SKY special event station in Commemoration of the 50th
Anniversary of the Alan Shepard Manned Space Flight.
Wayne said the Discovery Center also needs assistance to sched-
ule an ARISS contact. If you can help contact Wayne via e-mail
at N1CKM(a)arrl.net.
Information about the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center can be
found on-line at: http://www.starhop.com/
KA1SKY features a robust VHF/UHF/Sat station and has been successful
with EME and satellite contacts. The station enjoys a highly visible
place with many school groups and the public interested in the
station. Information about the station is posted at:
http://www.k1bke.org/planetarium/ka1sky.htmhttp://www.starhop.com/education-and-exploration/ka1sky.aspx
[ANS thanks Wayne, N1CKM at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center
for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-086.03
How's (Satellite) DX?
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 086.03
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 27, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-086.03
March 23 - April 2 ZF2AE/ZF8 Cayman Island
------------------------------------------
Adrian, AA5UK will be operating portable as ZF2AE from Grand
Cayman and as ZF2AE/ZF8 from Little Cayman from March 23th to
April 5th, 2011.
Most activity will be in the afternoons and evenings using two
FT-817s and an Elk Antenna. He plans to operate holiday style
on the FM and SSB satellites with some HF.
Activity will be from grids: EK99hi from March 23 - 24th, EK99xp
from March 25th - April 2nd (he plans to operate HF during part
of CQ WPX SSB contest while on Little Cayman: 40m to 10 m) and
EK99kh from April 2nd - April 5th.
Time permitting; he will try to make it to grid FK09. Frequently
check AMSAT-BB and http://twitter.com/AA5UK for last minute opera-
tional updates. QSL Direct with SASE, the Bureau, LOTW or eQSL.
April 29 - May 1 XF2P from Isla de Lobos
----------------------------------------
Operation is planned on AO27, AO51 and SO50 satellites and all
HF bands, plus 6 meters CW, SSB and RTTY. They will also activate
the Lobos Island lighthouse. Operators include Ismael XE1AY; Gustavo
XE1KKK; Francisco Javier XE1P; Ricardo XE1RZL; Ricardo Raymundo
XE1SOV; Fernando XE1VGC; Jose XE1UYU; Martin XE1UZH; Modesto XE1UZU;
Juan Manuel XE2IA; Jose XE2IVG;and Ricardo XE3NMC. QSL via XE1AY.
May 1 - May 8 GS3PYE/P and GS6PYE/P Isle of Arran
-------------------------------------------------
Camb-Hams members Bob G1SAA, Terry G3VFC, Martin G3ZAY, Colin G4ERO,
Colin G8TMV, Mark M0MJH, Rob M0VFC, Steve M1ACB and Gavin M1BXF will
be active from a rented cottage near Balliekine, Isle of Arran with
most HF bands, 6 meters, 4 meters (SSB CW, JT65M, FSK441). Satellite
operation is planned, time permitting. QSL direct or via bureau to
M0VFC. Website: http://dx.camb-hams.com/
[ANS thanks Adrian, AA5UK, Cambi-Hams, and the ICPO Bulletin for the
XF2P information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-086.04
AMSAT Awards Now Accepting Credit From RAC CANADAWARD
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 086.04
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 27, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-086.04
AMSAT Director Contests and Awards, Bruce Paige, KK5DO announced,
"In keeping up with technology and limiting duplication of work,
AMSAT Awards will now accept a scanned copy the Radio Amateurs of
Canada (RAC) CANADAWARD for satellites as proof of working the 13
valid Canadian Provinces." They are:
VE1/VA1 Nova Scotia
VE2/VA2 Quebec
VE3/VA3 Ontario
VE4/VA4 Manitoba
VE5/VA5 Saskatchewan
VE6/VA6 Alberta
VE7/VA7 British Columbia
VE8 Northwest Territories
VE9 New Brunswick
VO1/2 Newfoundland and Labrador
VY0 Nanavut
VY1 Yukon
VY2 Prince Edward
Bruce says, "This will make it easier for everyone to submit either
or both, ARRL Worked All States / RAC CANADAWARD and not have to scan
all those cards to be checked for AMSAT satellite awards a second time.
[ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-086.05
Japan Space Agency Unveils New ISS CubeSat Deployment System
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 086.05
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 27, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-086.05
Information received via Masa, JN1GKZ and the Southgate ARC news site
report that the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has announ-
ced a new ISS CubeSat deployment system. JAXA's ISS small satellite
deployment system will use Japan's ISS Experiment module Kibo's air-
lock and robot arm.
Satellites are planned to be delivered to the ISS in a cushioned bag
by Progress or HTV supply ship. The satellites are then mounted in
the deployment pod. The deployment pod is put into the airlock where
it is grabbed by the robot arm. The arm then moves the pod into posi-
tion and deploys the satellites which will re-enter the atmosphere
after about 100 days.
JAXA has put out a call for Japanese satellites to demonstrate this
new system. The satellites can be 1U, 2U or 3U CubeSat. Total size
is 4U. Two to four satellites will be selected (eg 1U+3U, 1Ux2+2U,
1Ux4). The demonstration schedule is:
May 2011: satellites selection
May 2012: deliver satellites to JAXA
Sep 2012 or later: deployment using the new system
The press release material is on the JAXA's web site in Japanese.
http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2011/03/20110302_sac_smallsat.pdf
A Google English version of the press release is available:
http://tinyurl.com/JAXA-Kibo/
[ANS thanks Masa, JN1GKZ and the Southgate ARC news site for the
above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-086.06
Satellite Shorts From All Over
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 086.06
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 27, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-086.06
+ Congratulations to Allen, N5AFV on making his 50,000th satellite
contact on March 23; that's quite an accomplishment!
+ Congratulations to Al, XE2AT on reaching a milestone of 1000 grids
worked via satellite after 13 years of operating. Al wrote, "I hope
each of you will accept this as my sincere thanks and appreciation
for all your help and info. Many thanks to all rovers and maritime
mobile and a lot of people that passed along your QTH grid. Thanks
to all private mails and BB mails with a lot of kind words."
+ Congratulations to K8YSE for hitting the 900th grid mark with his
contact with UT1FG/mm on AO-27 and grid 901st with ND9M/mm on
AO-27 on March 24.
+ Congratulations to Nick, KB1RVT on reaching grid #600 in two years
using only an Arrow Antenna.
+ Mineo Wakita, JE9PEL invites you to listen to the CW beacon on
CO-65 for a special message: HI HI DE JQ1YTC DIGI ON CUTE 1.7
GANBARE JAPAN CUTE 86 CA A4 67 3D 2B 27 A2 61 31 17
Mineo explains 'GANBARE' in Japanese means 'Show spirit' concerning
the Earthquake and Tsunami.
+ Astronauts Luca Parmitano (Expedition 36) and Chris Cassidy
(Expedition 35) both passed their amateur radio license exams
on March 8. Luca Parmitano was issued call sign KF5KDP and Chris
Cassidy received KF5KDR.
+ The SO67 schedule for South Africa and Australasia is now posted
on http://www.amsatsa.org.za. The next USA week will be 28 March -
10 April, a two week period. The schedule will then continue Europe
11 to 17 April, Central Asia 18 - 24, April and Australasia
25 April to 1 May.
+ Alcatel-Lucent has made the entire Bell System Technical Journal
archive available on-line at: http://bstj.bell-labs.com/
(via Jerry, W7QX)
+ http://tinyurl.com/62asmcc will bring you to page from which
you may download all the presentations of 1st IAA Conference
on University Satellite Missions and Cubesat Workshop in Rome.
(Gruppo di Astrodinamica Università degli Studi Sapienza)
+ Sundeep Shah, VU3SXE reports another video of the homebrew AZ EL
Rotor by VU2POP is posted at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWBh29MyqWU
+ F1NSR has made a video showing the AMSAT-UK VHF/UHF FUNcube SDR
Dongle being used for a contact on 23cm. Watch at:
http://tinyurl.com/4lryfxo (via Southgate ARC site)
+ EuroLuna OZ9LUNA have produced a video showing the testing of
their Romit1 CubeSat due for launch later this year. The Euroluna
team are currently developing a 2U cubesat Romit1, OZ9LUNA, as
part of their attempt to win the Google Lunar X PRIZE. Watch at:
http://tinyurl.com/49s6jyp (via Southgate ARC site)
+ A collection of amateur videos of the Discovery STS-133 launch and
landing has been posted at the UniverseToday web at:
http://tinyurl.com/6bzvd9k
+ NASA TV will cover the Expedition 27 launch for the next three
residents of the International Space Station. Russian cosmonaut
and Soyuz Commander Alexander Samokutyaev, NASA Flight Engineer
Ron Garan and Russian Flight Engineer Andrey Borisenko are sched-
uled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 5:18 p.m. CDT on
April 4 (4:18 a.m. Baikonur time on April 5). Streaming video
is available at http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
+ Ramon, XE1KK and Luis, LU6QI made a QSO on AO7 in SSB Mode B at
11.12 UTC on March 14, 2011 during the orbit #66247. The distance
between Ramon's location (EK09JI) and Luis (FF66TQ) is 6816.7 km.
On March 25 Luis made contact with Omar, XE1AO and Keith, N4ZQ)
via AO-7 with both distances a little more than 7000 km apart.
+ AMSAT's Keeper of the Keps, Ray Hoad, WA5QGD reported this week,
"I am pleased to announce that AMSAT's request to re-distribute
AFSPC Keplerian elements from Space-Track has been approved for
the period April 1, 2010 to April 1, 2012. Our USSTRATCOM ODR
(Orbital Data Request) to distribute the KEPs was approved on
March 8, 2010."
+ An interesting photo showing ISS transiting the sun near a group
of sunspots can be viewed at: http://tinyurl.com/4gcuble
(UniverseToday.com)
+ AMSAT area coordinator Clint Bradford, K6LCS, will be presenting
his 'Working Amateur Satellites With Your HT' session at the April 1,
2011 meeting of the Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach. All are
welcome to attend.
7PM, April 1, 2011 (no kidding!)
Signal Hill Community Center
1780 E. Hill Street (off Cherry Ave, behind the PD)
Signal Hill CA 90755
+ Clint will be busy ... he will make his 'Working Amateur Satellites
With Your HT' presentation at the April 4, 2011 meeting of the
Corona Norco Amateur Radio Club (CNARC). All are welcome to attend.
7PM, Monday, April 4, 2011
Norco Fire Station
3902 Hillside Ave
Norco 92860-1515
[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-086.07
MAKE Magazine Publishes NASA Make: Challenge Rules and Guidelines
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 086.07
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 27, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-086.07
In a press release titled, "NASA Launches 2011 Nationwide Technology
Space Competition for Education", NASA says it's Emerging Commercial
Space Office (ECSO) is teaming with Make Magazine, and Teachers in
Space to help develop spaceflight kits that high school teachers and
students can build and fly on suborbital flights.
Competition rules are simple. Kits should use components that are
likely to be available at most high schools, and submitted experi-
ments must be self-contained and fit in a standard Cubesat container.
To make kits accessible to students nationwide, part of the challenge
is to be able to build these kits for under $100, the kind of funds
that could be raised by a school bake sale.
Make Magazine has now published the rules and guidelines for the 2011
NASA Make: Challenge at http://www.makezine.com/space/rules
Proposals for the NASA Make: Challenge should be submitted electronic-
ally to makespacekits(a)gmail.com by midnight (Pacific Daylight Savings
Time) April 30, 2011.
NOTE: The NASA Make: Challenge is open to all U.S. citizens. Proposers
under the age of 18 must include the permission of a parent or guardian
to participate.
The winner of the NASA Make: Challenge will win a trip to the Bay Area
Maker Faire on May 21 & 22. The winning project will also be published
in MAKE Magazine.
Make Magazine is planning a webcast for the week of March 28. This
will be an opportunity to learn from experts about developing experi-
ments that can fly in space. They will be available for questions as
well.
You can sign up for the Space Challenge mailing list at:
http://blog.makezine.com/space
The full NASA Press Release can be found on-line at:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2011/11-14AR.html
[ANS thanks NASA and Make Magazine for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-086.08
Falcon 9 To Launch SES-8 To GTO In 2013
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 086.08
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 27, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-086.08
A news item from SpaceDaily reported that Space Exploration Technol-
ogies (SpaceX) and SES, one of the largest satellite operators in the
world, announced an agreement to launch an SES satellite using the
Falcon 9 rocket. This will be the first geostationary satellite launch
using SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. The firm launch agreement with SpaceX
also includes an option for a second SES launch.
The SES-8 satellite is scheduled to launch in the first quarter of
2013 from SpaceX's Launch Complex 40 at the Air Force Station at Cape
Canaveral, Florida.
Full story can be found on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/4al2rk8
[ANS thanks SpaceDaily.com for the above information]
/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 Office. And with that
keep in mind the ham who endured a long losing stretch at the racetrack.
He decided to take up horseback riding but could not figure out how to
make his horse stop. He called out, "How do I make it stop!?" ... some-
one yelled back, "Put a bet on it!"
73,
This week's ANS Editor,
JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM
K9JKM at amsat dot org
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-065
ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North
America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS 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.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor(a)amsat.org
In this edition:
* AO-51 Configuration Plans Still Affected by Eclipses
* ARISSat-1 to be Activated Aboard ISS on April 12
* AMSAT Heading For Dayton Hamvention
* NASA Glory Satellite and Three CubeSats Lost Vandenberg Launch Failure
* Pakistan Developing Student CubeSat Projects
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
* NASA, Make Magazine Announce Competition to Fly Student Experiments
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-065.01
AO-51 Configuration Plans Still Affected by Eclipses
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 065.01
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 6, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-065.01
AO-51 Command Station, Mark Hammond, N8MH reported that AO-51 is
nearing the end of eclipse periods. Analysis of telemetery from the
satellite shows that AO-51 is still not experiencing full sunlight,
most likely due to spacecraft orientation and sun angle. On-board
temperatures are climbing and the Command Team continues to monitor
and tweak various power management parameters to take advantage of
the solar power that is available.
Helpful reports from users (about the transmitters turning OFF) and
telemetry confirm that AO-51 is still seeing a few minutes of "dark-
ness" every orbit.
AO-51 was configured for "normal operational mode" on March 3, and
will remain in this configuration until further notice. That includes
the V/U repeater the Packet BBS with L-band uplink:
AO-51 Schedule as of March 3:
Mode V/U FM Voice Repeater (no PL tone needed)
Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM
Downlink 435.300 MHz FM
Mode L/U PacSat BBS
Uplink: 1268.703 MHz FSK 9k6 baud
Downlink 435.150 MHz FSK 9k6 baud
The Packet BBS will be open for use, but the Command Team asks for
your cooperation (by standing by and not entering the queue) if you
share the footprint with a command station (most often on the East
coast of the US). Should conditions improve, there will be an attempt
support some S-band operations--but for now that seems unlikely.
The latest AO-51 status and configuration news will be posted on the
amsat-bb and on the AO-51 Control Team News web page at:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/echo/CTNews.php
[ANS thanks Mark Hammond, N8MH for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-065.02
ARISSat-1 to be Activated Aboard ISS on April 12
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 065.02
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 6, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-065.02
The ARISSat-1 satellite, presently still inside the ISS, will be
turned on and use an external antenna on 12 April 2011 to celebrate
the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's first manned space flight.
AMSAT will support this event and issue certificates to those
stations reporting reception of the ARISSat-1 signals. Roscosmos
has announced that the satellite will be deployed into orbit during
the next EVA in July of this year.
Latest ARISSat-1 News
http://www.arissat1.org/v3/
Get your color ARISSat-1 Frequency Guide here.
http://tinyurl.com/4t497t2 (AMSAT web)
ARISSat-1 Presentation Slides (~1MB)
http://tinyurl.com/4n4pzkm (AMSAT web)
SouthGate streaming videos about the April 12 Yuri's Night plus
links to more resources can be found at:
http://tinyurl.com/49jnbg2 (SouthGate ARC)
[ANS thanks the ARISSat-1 Team for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-065.03
AMSAT Heading For Dayton Hamvention
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 065.03
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 6, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-065.03
The 2011 Dayton Hamvention will be held this year May 20-22. This
year featured AMSAT attractions include:
+ Operational ARISSat-1 Prototype
+ Astronaut Doug Wheelock, KF5BOC, will be attending as a special
guest of the ARRL and AMSAT. Doug will visit the AMSAT booth on
both Friday and Saturday.
+ AMSAT theme for 2011 is "Providing Education Through Amateur
Satellites"
The latest AMSAT at Hamvention news will always be posted at:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/hamvention/2011/Dayton.php
This is the 60th year of the Dayton Hamvention, sponsored by DARA
(Dayton Amateur Radio Association). As has been the case for the
many years the Hamvention will be at the Hara Arena Complex on the
north side of Dayton. Further information on Hamvention 2011,
including advance ticket sales and motel accommodations, can be
found at http://www.hamvention.org.
AMSAT will occupy the same booths (444-449) in Ball Arena, right
across from the ARRL area and just inside the door from the Satel-
lite Demonstration area. Plan to visit all of the AMSAT activities!
AMSAT Activities at Dayton
--------------------------
AMSAT has planned a number of great activities during Hamvention.
There will also be a number of new offerings at the AMSAT booth as
well as Specials, follow the link for Booth Activities to see them.
The AMSAT theme for 2011 is "Providing Education Through Amateur
Satellites". We will have multiple exhibits of the new AMSAT satel-
lites on display.
ARISSat-1
---------
ARISSat has been completed and is in orbit waiting for the July, 2011
EVA to deploy it into orbit. We will have on display an operational
prototype. Tune your HT to 145.950 MHz to hear the FM beacon.
AMSAT Thursday Night Get-together
---------------------------------
We will be at Tickets Pub & Eatery this year. The menu is great and
a nice change of pace. Check it out at TicketsPub.com
AMSAT Forum
-----------
The AMSAT Forum will be on Saturday May 21.
AMSAT/TAPR Banquet
------------------
The fifth annual AMSAT/TAPR Banquet will be Friday night May 20 at
the Kohler Presidental Banquet Center. The speaker for the event has
not been finalized.
Seating is limited and reservations are required. Go to the Dayton
Banquet 2011 link:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/hamvention/2011/Banquet.php to find
information about reservations and additional information.
AMSAT Hotel
-----------
AMSAT has only a few rooms left in the reserved block at the Country
Inn & Suites in Fairborn, OH. Please contact Martha at the AMSAT
office for room price and availability during Hamvention. Priority
for rooms will be given to those volunteering to work in the AMSAT
booth for multiple 2 hour shifts during Hamvention. The phone
number for the AMSAT office is 301-589-6062. Other hotels in the
immediate area of the Country inn & Suites include the Fairfield
Inn, Ramada Inn, Hampton Inn, Fairborn Holiday Inn, Red Roof Inn
and the Homewood Suites if additional accommodations are needed.
[ANS thanks Gould Smith, WA4SXM for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-065.04
NASA Glory Satellite and Three CubeSats Lost Vandenberg Launch Failure
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 065.04
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 6, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-065.04
NASA announced on Friday that the March 4 launch from Vandenberg AFB
of a Taurus XL rocket carrying the Glory Satellite Mission and three
student cubesats from the University of Kentucky, University of Mon-
tana, and University of Colorado failed to reach orbit. Telemetry
indicated the fairing, the protective shell atop the Taurus XL rocket,
did not separate as expected about three minutes after launch.
+ Glory was a new NASA Earth-observing satellite intended to improve
our understanding of how the sun and tiny atmospheric particles
called aerosols affect Earth's climate.
+ KySat-1, University of Kentucky was designed to bring satellite
command, control, and communications into Kentucky classrooms
using mobile and portable stations.
+ Explorer-1 [Prime], University of Montana was designed to make
space weather observations of the Van Allen Radiation Belts.
+ Hermes, University of Colorado was designed to test high speed
communications from small satellites.
The NASA Press Release can be found on-line at:
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011/mar/HQ_11-050_N0_Glory.html
A news item of this launch failure is also available from the
UniverseToday.com website at: http://tinyurl.com/5rf3b7g
See also:
http://tinyurl.com/63htzgr (National Journal with streaming video)
http://tinyurl.com/4uvne77 (Lompoc Record news coverage)
http://tinyurl.com/4ksdare (LA Times)
http://spaceflightnow.com/taurus/glory/110304gloryfail/http://tinyurl.com/6fntsfw (SpaceFlightNow.com streaming video)
http://tinyurl.com/6c46mt5 (NASA Press conference on SpaceFlightNow)
[ANS thanks NASA and the news websites cited above for this
information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-065.05
Pakistan Developing Student CubeSat Projects
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 065.05
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 6, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-065.05
Pakistan's Institute of Space Technology (IST) has initiated a space
program aimed at designing, building, launching and succesfully oper-
ating a standard CubeSat.
The program is led by Communication Systems Engineering (CSE) Depart-
ment with support from Aeronautics & Astronautics as well as Materials
Department. As a Space technology institute and research center, one
of the objectives of IST is to design and develop miniature satellites
for technology evaluation and in-orbit demonstration and to provide
students with hands-on experience in space technologies, to meet the
work force requirement for the national space program. Institute of
Space Technology is the first academic institution of Pakistan to
initiate the small satellite development program.
New Pakistan Satellite ICube-1 Specifications include:
Beacon 436.8475 MHz, CW, 100mW
Downlink 437.490 MHz, FSK, AX.25, 1200bps, 600mW
Uplink 145.835 MHz, FSK, AX.25, 1200bps
Plans are for a launch in the 3rd quarter of 2011.
Full information can be found on ICube-1 web pages:
http://www.icube.org.pk/
Student Satellite Project
http://www.ist.edu.pk/student_satellite.html
Institute of Space Technology (IST)
http://www.ist.edu.pk/
[ANS thanks Pakistan IST and SouthGate ARC News Site for the
above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-065.06
Satellite Shorts From All Over
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 065.06
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 6, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-065.06
+ Happy 27th birthday this past week to Oscar 11 which was launched
on March 1, 1984. Clive, G3CWV noted in his UO-11 report that the
satellite wasn't transmitting on its birthday but did resume its
AFSK FM ASCII Telemetry on 145.826 MHz on March 3. The satellite
is now transmitting during eclipses, although signals are weaker
at those times. This indicates that there is still some capacity
remaining in the battery. Excellent signals have been reported from
stations located around the world, and good copy obtained from de-
coded telemetry frames. More information can be found on-line at:
http://www.g3cwv.co.uk/oscar11.htm.
+ Congratulations to Scott N6PG on his first satellite contacts last
week via AO-51 with W7JPI, and ND9M/mm, and K0VK. Scott was using
a VX-8R and an Elk antenna. Scott has posted a video of the contact
at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foCs_eoIL1A
+ The Southeastern VHF Society has issued their last call for the
2011 SVHFS Conference Papers which need to be received by March 11.
Please send to N2CEI, Steve Kostro at:
SVHFS2011(a)downeastmicrowave.com.
They also have one or two more presentation slots open so if you
would like to make one; published paper not required. Contact Steve
with your presentation also. Deadline for hotel reservations is
March 29. A link for hotel reservations can be found on the confer-
ence page at: http://www.svhfs.org. 15th annual Southeastern VHF
Society Conference to be held in Huntsville, Alabama on April 29th
and 30th, 2011.
+ Alex OZ9AEC has produced three videos showing reception of weak
70cm Amateur Radio satellite signals using the AMSAT-UK FUNcube
SDR Dongle. Alex used the FUNcube Dongle with a standard 8 ele
Wimo X-yagi, preamp and ~40 meters of coax down to the shack to
receive these satellite signals in the 70cm satellite segment
435-438MHz. The beacons run about 100mw output. Watch at:
http://tinyurl.com/6f7hdag (SouthGate)
+ UniverseToday.com has posted a gallery of STS-133 launch photos at:
http://tinyurl.com/6gvbuqc Also at UniverseToday.com are high reso-
lution, pan-able images of the Space Shuttle:
http://tinyurl.com/4fma9x8
Rick, K7TEJ posted this link to a video of the STS-133 launch that
was captured from a passing airliner:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE_USPTmYXM
+ Bob, W7LRD plans to run a AMSAT information table at the Mike and
Key Amateur Radio Club 30th Electronics Show and Fleamarket on Sat-
urday, March 12, 2011 at Puyallup, Washington. Ticket Sales open at
8:00 AM; Doors open at 9:00 AM.
+ NASA has released a cool sound track of the sounds of thousands of
cometary dust particles pelting Stardust-NExT as it flew past Comet
Tempel at 9.8 km/sec, or 24,000 MPH. The audio was recorded by an
instrument aboard the spacecraft called the Dust Flux Monitor which
measures sound waves and electrical pulses from dust impacts.
Listen at: http://tinyurl.com/5rorrou (UniverseToday.com)
[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]
/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-065.07
NASA, Make Magazine Announce Competition to Fly Student Experiments
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 065.07
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 6, 2011
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-065.07
In a press release titled, "NASA Launches 2011 Nationwide Technology
Space Competition for Education", NASA says it's Emerging Commercial
Space Office (ECSO) is teaming with Make Magazine, and Teachers in
Space to help develop spaceflight kits that high school teachers and
students can build and fly on suborbital flights.
The NASA/Make competition is designed to inspire curiosity and create
interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)
among classroom teachers and their students. Contenders will be invit-
ed to submit ideas, concepts and prototypes for kits that teachers
and students can build for future spaceflights.
Competition rules are simple. Kits should use components that are
likely to be available at most high schools, and submitted experi-
ments must be self-contained and fit in a standard Cubesat container.
To make kits accessible to students nationwide, part of the challenge
is to be able to build these kits for under $100, the kind of funds
that could be raised by a school bake sale.
The first experiment kits to be selected will fly aboard the Excelsior
STEM mission, a commercial unmanned suborbital mission sponsored by
Teachers in Space and scheduled to fly in 2011. Experiment kits for
the Excelsior STEM mission will be assembled by teachers at a Suborb-
ital Flight Experiment Workshop to be held August 1-5, 2011 at the
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center's AERO Institute in Palmdale,
Calif.
The full NASA Press Release can be found on-line at:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2011/11-14AR.html
Make Magazine says more details about the challenge, including rules,
prizes, etc., will be coming soon. If you'd like to participate in the
MAKE Space Challenge, get on the mailing list! They will notify you
the details for challenge have been finalized and when the application
process opens. You can sign up for the Space Challenge mailing list
at: http://blog.makezine.com/space
[ANS thanks NASA and Make Magazine for the above information]
/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 Office. And, with that
please keep in mind that you realize you are getting old when your body
begins to make the same noises as your coffee maker.
73,
This week's ANS Editor,
JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM
K9JKM at amsat dot org