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November 2015
- 3 participants
- 6 discussions
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-333
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:
* Nov/Dec Edition of AMSAT Journal Sent to Printer
* March 2016 Activation of St. Pierre & Miquelon
* 2016 High-Altitude Student Platform Opportunity
* ARISS Commemorative Events in the Planning
* S7 Sao Tome and Principe Dxpedition Includes LEO Satellites
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-333
ANS-333 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 333
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
[MONTH DAY, YEAR]
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-333
Nov/Dec Edition of AMSAT Journal Sent to Printer
AMSAT Journal editor Joe Kornowski, KB6IGK, reports that the
November-December editon of the Journal has been sent to to the
printers. Expect delivery mid to late December.
This is Kornowski's first Journal since accepting the Editorial post
last October. The atricles are well done and ‘meaty’ with lots of
information. The overall appearance looks great. There is much here
for every AMSAT member to enjoy.
The line up of articles include:
AMSAT Announcements
Apogee View, Barry Baines, WD4ASW,
Engineering Update, by Jerry Buxton, N0JY
Fox-1 Satellite Telemetry Part 1: On the Satellite by Burns Fisher,
W2BFJ
A Raspberry Pi Net Server/Client for Antenna Rotor by Tom Doyle, W9KE
Dual Band Low Noise Amplifier for 2 Meters and 70 Centimeters, by
Jim Kocsis, WA9PYH
ARISS “Out of This World” Update by Frank Bauer, KA3HDO
Close Encounters of the Law Enforcement Kind by Patrick Stoddard,
WD9EWK/VA7EWK
On the Grids: Working the United States/Mexico Border by Clayton L.
Coleman, W5PFG
[ANS thanks Joseph KB6IGK for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
March 2016 Activation of St. Pierre & Miquelon
Eric, KV1J, will once again be operating from the Island of Miquelon
(NA-032, DIFO FP-002, WLOTA 1417, Grid GN17) as FP/KV1J between March
16-29th (2016). Activity will be on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and
RTTY (but primarily SSB and RTTY). He will generally be on the
highest frequency band that is open (favoring 12/10m). He will be
active in the Russian DX and BARTG RTTY Contests (March 19-20th).
Also, look for him to be in the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 26-27th)
as a Single-Op/All-Band/Assisted entry. QSL via KV1J, direct or by
the Bureau. Also eQSL and LoTW. For more details and updates, check
out his Web page at:
http://www.kv1j.com/fp/Mar16.html
PLEASE NOTE:
Eric mentions, "I will also be on the analog Satellites when the WX
is good enough to operate from outside."
[ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1241 for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2016 High-Altitude Student Platform Opportunity
The Louisiana Space Grant Consortium, or LaSPACE, is accepting
applications from students at U.S. colleges and universities who want
to send experiments to the edge of space on a high-flying scientific
balloon.
The annual project, supported by the NASA Balloon Program Office and
LaSPACE, provides near-space access for 12 undergraduate and graduate
student experiments to be carried by a NASA high-altitude research
balloon. The flights typically last 15 to 20 hours and reach an
altitude of 23 miles.
Experiments may include compact satellites or prototypes.
The experiments are flown aboard the High-Altitude Student Platform,
or HASP, a balloon-born instrument stack launched from the Columbia
Scientific Balloon Facility's remote site in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.
The goals of the project are to provide a space test platform to
encourage student researchand stimulate the development of student
satellite payloads and other space-engineering products.
HASP seeks to enhance the technical skills and research abilities of
students in critical science, technology, engineering and mathematics
disciplines.
The deadline for applications is Dec. 18, 2015.
For application information and technical details about the program,
visit
http://laspace.lsu.edu/hasp.
Questions about the High-Altitude Student Platform opportunity
should be directed to T. Gregory Guzik at
guzik (at) phunds.phys.lsu.edu.
[ANS thanks NASA Education Express Message -- Nov. 25, 2015 for the
above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS Commemorative Events in the Planning
Over the next couple months, ARISS will be celebrating its 15th
anniversary of continuous operations on the ISS. On November 13, 2000
the crew conducted their first ham radio contacts on ISS and on
December 21, 2000 ARISS conducted their first school contact with the
Burbank School in Burbank, Illinois.
An SSTV commemoration of these historic events is tentatively planned for
mid to late December. It is possible that the transmission mode will be P120
instead of the P180 mode used in the past. This would allow for more
pictures to be transmitted per pass.
Because preparations are not final it is suggested that you stay tuned to
the AMSAT-BB and the AMSAT and ARISS web site for the latest information on
this event and others that ARISS plans to conduct over the next few months
[ANS thanks ARISS for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
S7 Sao Tome and Principe Dxpedition Includes LEO Satellites
S7, SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE. Operators Lee/WW2DX, Ray/W2RE and
Pat/N2IEN will be active as S9TM from Praia between November 28th and
December 1st.
The team is planning on taking a WRTC tri-band yagi for 10/15/20 as
well as a OCF for the lower bands. They will have an Expert 1.3K amp
with them for that station. The second station will be K3/KPA500 that
will be used on the 30/17/12m bands. A third station will be setup
for LEO satellites and they are going to attempt 2m EME, but this is
new territory for this group so don't set expectations too high. They
will be posting to Twitter
https://twitter.com/@ww2dx>
and possible live streaming using periscope.
QSL via LoTW and paper cards to NR6M.
[ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1242 for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS News
+ A Successful contact was made between Scuola Media Statale “G.
Marconi”, Soleto, Lecce, Italy and Astronaut Kimiya Yui KG5BPH using
Callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2015-11-23 09:21 UTC and lasted
about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridged via VK4KHZ.
ARISS Mentor was IKØWGF.
Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2015-11-26 01:00 UTC
Quick list of scheduled contacts and events:
Dragonskolan, Umeå, Sweden, telebridge via VE4ISS
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS
Contact was not successful: Wed 2015-11-25 09:44:25 UTC 78 deg
ARISS is working to determine what happened.
Nanasawa Kibounooka Elementary School, Atsugi, Japan, direct via
8N1NKSG
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Kimiya Yui KG5BPH
Contact is a go for: Wed 2015-12-02 09:33:51 UTC 61 deg
Yayoi Elementary School, Yatomi, Japan, direct via 8N2YAYOI
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Kimiya Yui KG5BPH
Contact is a go for: Fri 2015-12-04 09:25:46 UTC 57 deg
Ingushetia, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Sergey Volkov RU3DIS
Contact is a go for: Sat 2015-12-05 16:25 UTC
>From 2015-12-20 to 2016-01-04, 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.
Stay tuned to the AMSAT-BB, The AMSAT website {www.asmat.org) and
the ARISS website (www.ariss.org) for information on ARISS
commemorative events celebrating 15 years of Amateur Radio on the ISS.
[ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
Eduardo Erlemann PY2RN published a Panoramic view of AO-7
transponder, using FCDP+ for RX and TS-2000 for TX. Although he was
late on he bird after 1/2 pass that started at 18:40 UTC, forgot to
swap SDR# IQ in the first moment.
Max elevation was 64deg TX power 5 Watts all the time and RHCP most
of the time. About 2 min before end of recording it is possible to
hear what he believes is a CU station calling.
Find the recording at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCq0WaEZ9g8&feature=youtu.be
[ANS thank Eduardo PY2RN 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 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,
EMike McCardel, KC8YLD
kc8yld at amsat dot org
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-326
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:
* AO-85 Commissioned, Handed Over To AMSAT-NA Operations
* The Second Birthday of FUNcube-1 (AO-73)
* FM Repeater Test at IO-86 Satellite
* AMSAT-LU announces transponder satellite payload and launch
* Space Brazilian Agency With Amateur radio PY2SDR LABRE/AMSAT-BR
* United Launch Alliance Reveals Transformational CubeSat Launch Program
* Nayif-1 at UAE YouthConnect
* DeorbitSail Update and Initial Camera Image
* SPROUT SSTV and Digitalker active every Sunday
* AMSAT Events
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-326.01
ANS-326 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 326.01
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE November 22, 2015
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-326.01
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AO-85 Commissioned, Handed Over To AMSAT-NA Operations
AO-85 has been formally commissioned and turned over to AMSAT
Operations, who are now responsible for the scheduling and modes.
The following guidelines are provided for users:
Uplink power should be on the order of minimum 200 W EIRP for full
quieting at lower antenna elevation angles. Your mileage may vary.
With an Arrow, 5 W has been used successfully to make contacts.
Polarity is important. The satellite antennas are linear. So, if you
are using linearly polarized antennas, you will need to adjust
throughout the pass. Full duplex operation facilitates these
adjustments while transmitting and is highly recommended.
The downlink is very strong and should be heard well with almost any
antenna.
Downlink audio is 5 kHz deviation, as expected. Many will perceive
that the audio is "low." This is an effect of the filtering below 300
Hz, which provides for the DUV telemetry, coupled with any noise on
the uplink signal resulting from lack of full quieting or being off
frequency. That makes for less fidelity than a typical receiver in
terms of audio frequencies passed.
Transmit (downlink) frequency varies with temperature. Due to the
wide range of temperatures we are seeing in the eclipse cycle, the
transmitter can be anywhere from around 500 Hz low at 10°C to near 2
kHz low at 40°C.
Receive frequency has been generally agreed to be about 435.170 MHz,
although the AFC makes that hard to pin down and also helps with the
uplinks that are off frequency.
Probably the most notable observations about AO-85 are an apparent
lack of sensitivity and difficulty in turning on the repeater with
the 67 Hz CTCSS when it is not yet activated, or holding it on by the
presence of the CTCSS. We have determined a probable cause for the
sensitivity issue and while that can't be fixed on AO-85 we are
taking steps to prevent similar issues on the rest of the Fox-1
CubeSats. The tone detection threshold along with the receive
sensitivity issue makes it hard to bring up the repeater. This is
being addressed by adjusting the values for a valid tone detection in
the other Fox-1 CubeSats now that we have on orbit information about
temperatures and power budget. Full details will be in the Nov/Dec
AMSAT Journal.
It is important to remember that science is the reason behind the
Fox-1 satellites. Not only does science help with the launch cost, it
provides a great amount of educational value both from the science
payload and in amateur radio itself. The data-under-voice (DUV)
telemetry is an excellent way to provide the science without
sacrificing the use of the satellite for communications, which would
be the case if higher speed downlinks were needed. DUV provides
constant science as long as the repeater is in use, which in turn
provides more downlink data for the science - a mutually beneficial
combination.
Fox-1A is AMSAT-NA's first CubeSat. Many new techniques are
incorporated and lessons will be learned, as with any new "product."
The Fox-1 Project is a series of CubeSats. A total of five will be
built and flown. Launches are scheduled for three more, and a new
NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative proposal will be submitted for the
fifth. We will incorporate changes from what we learn in each launch,
to the extent possible, in subsequent Fox-1 CubeSats.
Of the four NASA sponsored CubeSats on the ELaNa XII launch October
8, we are sad to report that ARC1 was never heard from and BisonSat
was lost after a few weeks of operation. AMSAT extends our deepest
sympathy to the people who worked so hard on these projects. To our
members, we want to say that the Fox Team is very proud and pleased
that our first CubeSat is very successful and hopefully will be for
some time.
[ANS thanks AMSAT's Vice President of Engineering, Jerry Buxton, N0JY
for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The Second Birthday of FUNcube-1 (AO-73)
The FUNcube-1 Ops Team reports:
FUNcube-1 was launched into space two years ago on November 21st 2013.
We are delighted to be able to report that more than 900 stations, including
many schools around the world, have received the telemetry from the
spacecraft
since launch. Our Data Warehouse is storing more than 750 MB of data from
almost 1 million data packets. We are very grateful to everyone who has been
contributing to the success of this mission. Please continue to keep the
data
flowing as it will provide a valuable resource for students in the future.
The stats continue – speeding along at around 17,500 mph, FUNcube-1,
which had
a launch mass of just 982 grams, has completed more than 10,500 orbits
of the
earth. This means a total distance travelled of more than 260 million miles.
All telemetry sensors continue to provide valid data, real time, whole orbit
and high resolution channels alike. The flight code is really robust and we
have only had three unexpected “events” since launch. Two of these we
believe
to have been caused by noise of the command receiver being incorrectly
interpreted as a command and only one appears to have been caused by a RAM
error. The battery and solar panels also continue to work perfectly and
provide
a very positive power budget.
We have sent out many Fitter messages for school and other similar events.
Earlier this week there was a demonstration at Thorne Green Top School in
Yorkshire.
Here is a report from Dave EI4HT/M0GIW:
Good Morning All
Firstly -thanks to all for your help, we had a great morning at Green
Top and
the highlight was FUNcube.
I started with a slide show talking about communications from cave
paintings
all the way up to smartphones, we looked at space communications and travel
from Sputnik to Astra and Apollo to the Millennium Falcon! We spoke about
satellites and how they are used every day and how we all got to watch
“I’m A
Celebrity” via Satellite last night from Australia.
I brought in lots of props too, some old Motorola MX330 radios, some PMR
446,
and a marine band radio .I also had a small model of a CubeSat that I
knocked
up over the weekend, I also passed around some NOAA images from last week’s
Abigail storm and I had a few QSL cards from ISS and MIR from years ago
when I
lived in Ireland.
The FUNcube pass was great, really strong signals, I had my turnstile
and FCD
set up and had audio through speakers and used the class projector to show
Satpc32 and the Dashboard.
There was a great buzz of excitement when we got the first packet and even
more when the Fitter messages came through. The kids were fascinated to
see the
signal arrive just as the software predicted and then hear the telemetry and
the decode.
After the pass we were able to look at the Warehouse online and print
off the
QSL card and certificate.
I didn’t get a chance to take many pics but Mrs Overson will update the
School Blog and she took lots of pics.
http://greentopschool.co.uk/blog
Once again thanks to all at FUNcube, looking forward to Tim Peake on the ISS
in the New Year and planning another visit to the School then.
Regards
Dave EI4HT / M0GIW
PS: I was back dropping my own kids off this morning and Mrs Overson told me
they have printed a QSL card and Certificate for each of the students
and they
have used them for their class journals.
As well providing a great educational resource, FUNcube-1 operates at night
and generally at weekends with the linear transponder active for radio
amateurs
to use for communications. The transponder continues to provide an excellent
service. As users will be aware, the transponder uplink frequencies vary
with
receiver temperature. The RX temp telemetry channel is the best one to
use for
tracking this effect. This does make it quite difficult to use full computer
control for transponder operations and we have already developed new
oscillator
circuits to improve this performance for future missions.
For the telemetry uplinked to the Data Warehouse, it is possible to download
special Certificate or QSL Card here
http://amsatuk.me.uk/on/funcube_qsl.php
and, for transponder users, the “73 on 73 award” continues at
http://amsat-uk.org/funcube/73-on-73-award/
The Nayif-1 CubeSat mission, which includes a full FUNcube payload, is
expected to be launched into a similar orbit in the first half of next
year and
will provide an additional level of service to the community.
Meanwhile we hope everyone will continue to have fun with FUNcube-1!
See:
http://funcube.org.uk/2015/11/20/the-second-birthday-of-funcube-1/
[ANS thanks Graham, G3VZV and the FUNcube-1 Ops Team for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
FM Repeater Test at IO-86 Satellite
A confirmation for the upcoming test of the FM Repeater on IO-86 Satellite
(LAPAN-A2/ORARI), has been announced and would be conducted this weekend:
- Saturday, 21 Nov 2015, at 02:30 UTC - 04:50UTC
- Sunday, 22 Nov 2015, at 02:55 – 05:00 UTC
Voice Repeater info:
- Uplink 145.880 Mhz tone 88,5
- Downlink 435.880 Mhz
AMSAT Keplerian data
0 IO-86
1 40931U 15052B 15316.15776324 .00001070 00000-0 60618-4 0 9994
2 40931 6.0030 69.3893 0012877 275.6206 84.2533 14.76374433 6653
As the satellite was designed for emcomm using handheld radio (the
reason of
the relatively high-power downlink), we would like all reports of
portable ops
(handheld radio using some sort of portable directional antenna,
i.e. CJU / IOio / Moxon / Arrow / etc).
Responses via the amsat-bb
[ANS thanks Suryono Adisoemarta – YD0NXX / N5SNN for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
AMSAT-LU announces transponder satellite payload and launch
(From AMSAT-LU Facebook page:)
Dear friends,
Since several years ago AMSAT Argentina is working to keep alive the
dream of
many amateur radio back into space with a satellite of its own, which is the
continuity of the legendary LuSat-1 of the años1990 and reaping the
benefits of
the technological advance of our days.
For this held various technical activities, developing experiments on board
the occasional platforms, all with the same objective: to preserve the human
group, enhance their capabilities and spread their resources by guiding
them to
the education and development of the activity.
In recent times, AMSAT Argentina has been working in many ways with the
company Satellogic, which already launched three satellites of low orbit:
Captain Beto, manolito and tita, two of them are now broadcast telemetry and
data in uhf and are identified in the Distinctive LU7AA.
Under an agreement signed between the two institutions AMSAT-LU provides
support to those missions operate one of the stations of control in uppsala,
Prov. Of BS. As.
Currently satellogic is facing the construction of a constellation of
satellites of observation of the earth and has invited AMSAT-LU to
participate
in the project of the next two satellites, the ÑUSAT 1 AND ÑUSAT 2,
riding on
one of them a Linear Transponder Analog Amateur Radio Antenna and its
corresponding.
The experiment which provides AMSAT was tested on several occasions in the
land, and also on board one of flights in a balloon launched from the
prov. Of
the Pampas. At that time was called carposat, showing a good performance in
spite of its low power and small size and weight.
On this occasion, the experiment of AMSAT LU - that has no name yet own
- will
be further reduced in its dimensions and mounted on a plaque radiadora
of 10 x
10 cm, in which also won't hold the necessary components for the Source
of food
and the duplexer. The package will be installed on the bus from the NUSAT,
which will provide the energy and will be part of a number of other
experiments
that will carry out this satellite.
The Transponder receives in the band of UHF and VHF Transmitted in, has a
bandwidth of 30 Khz and its output power is 200 mw.;
Frequencies of ascent 435.935 ~ 965 Lsb / CW,
Frequencies of descent 145.965 ~ 935 USB / CW.
Basic telemetry in 145.900 CW.
The launch is scheduled for April 2016 with a Chinese launcher in a
polar orbit
at 500 km. In Height and an inclination of 97 degrees with respect to the
equator.
This is an extraordinary opportunity to our institution, and for all the
Radioamateurs Argentines, be able to have a new satellite in orbit,
after after
so many years of successful LuSat-1.
So far, the funds needed for the preliminary activities of recent years, the
construction and the logistics, were provided by a small number of
members of
the board of directors and partners of AMSAT-LU. Now come the largest
economic
positions for the completion of the electronics and integration with the
satellite principal.
In order to comply with this circumstance, it has been proposed the
establishment of a list where it will include the names and distinctive
signs
of all those who are able and willing to work together, and then give them a
certificate alluding to his gesture.
The neighbors of the autonomous city or the great Buenos Aires, can perform
their collaboration personally during the monthly meetings of AMSAT-LU.
Also at
the headquarters of the RC Qrm Belgrano, permanent partners of AMSAT-LU.
If I'd
be interested in making donations from other sites away, we'll let you
know the
way to make their contribution.
Also, we would like to take this opportunity to invite all the partners of
AMSAT and amateur radio colleagues who are interested in suggest the
name and
the logo for our next satellite Argentine, write to us on the page of AMSAT
Argentina in Facebook or sending it by e-mail to
parapente(a)amsat.org.ar.
[ANS thanks Ignacio Mazzitelli, LU1ESY for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Space Brazilian Agency With Amateur radio PY2SDR LABRE/AMSAT-BR
Brasilia, November 20, 2015 - The Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) received on
Tuesday (17) the visit of amateur Edson Wander Pereira, the first to receive
and decode the data sent by Serpens-1 cubesat.
The nanossatélite was launched into orbit from the International Space
Station
(ISS), the 17th of last September. Ham Radio is in Brasilia
(DF) to attend the 7th Meeting of Science and Technology (ECT - FGA)
which ends
today (20) in the Range Campus of the University of Brasilia (UNB).
Pereira lives in Pardinho (SP) and his visit emphasized the importance of
dissemination of knowledge to amateurs and students who are interested in
nanossatélites.
"The experimental amateur radio is an activity that collaborates with the
nanossatélites projects. This joint action causes the development of
CubeSats
in schools and universities is promoted by having more data exchange
possibilities transmitted by these nanos, "says Pereira.
At the meeting with President of the Agency, José Raimundo Braga, Pereira
received from teacher Chantal Capeletti, of UNB and coordinator of Serpens
Program, a transmitter that can be used to send data to the satellite and
experiment with its payload.
This equipment is part of the mission ground follow-up and was produced in
limited numbers, but will be distributed to experimental radio amateurs
operating in the area and among the member institutions of the
nanossatélite
consortium.
See the story here
http://www.aeb.gov.br/radioamador-experimental-visita-aeb-apos-decodificar-
dados-do-serpens-1/
[ANS thanks Paulo, PV8DX for the above information]
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United Launch Alliance Reveals Transformational CubeSat Launch Program
Centennial, Colo., (Nov. 19, 2015) – As the most experienced launch company
in the nation, United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced today it is taking
CubeSat rideshares to the next level by launching a new, innovative program
offering universities the chance to compete for free CubeSat rides on future
launches.
“ULA will offer universities the chance to compete for at least six CubeSat
launch slots on two Atlas V missions, with a goal to eventually add
university
CubeSat slots to nearly every Atlas and Vulcan launch,” said Tory Bruno, ULA
president and CEO. “There is a growing need for universities to have
access and
availability to launch their CubeSats and this program will transform
the way
these universities get to space by making space more affordable and
accessible.”
"This is exactly the kind of collaborative innovation that we celebrate in
Colorado," said Lt. Gov. Joseph Garcia. “Here, we have a Colorado company
giving Colorado students at a Colorado university an unbelievable
opportunity
to send a satellite into space. What a great day for our state."
Rideshare is a flight-proven, innovative approach that provides customers a
low-cost way to achieve various mission objectives without the need for a
dedicated launch vehicle. CubeSats are miniaturized satellites originally
designed for use in conjunction with university educational projects and are
typically 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm (4 inches x 4 inches x 4 inches) and
approximately 1.3 kg (3 lbs).
“Since its inception, ULA has been committed to science, technology,
engineering and math (STEM) education initiatives and programs such as this
help to motivate, educate and develop our next generation of rocket
scientists
and space entrepreneurs,” said Bruno. “We are making the announcement today
with University of Colorado President Bruce Benson and University of
Colorado
Boulder Chancellor Philip DiStefano, key partners in STEM education, and are
pleased to offer the university the first free CubeSat launch slot in 2017.”
"CU-Boulder students have been building and operating small satellites
for 20
years, including the Colorado Student Space Weather CubeSat launched on
a ULA
Atlas rocket in 2012," DiStefano said. "The ability to provide science and
engineering students with the opportunity to fly the satellites they
build is
an invaluable motivational and educational tool. We are thrilled to partner
with ULA, a visionary organization that is helping to facilitate a
nationwide
STEM effort."
Interested universities should email ULACubeSats(a)ulalaunch.com by Dec. 18,
2015 to notify ULA they are interested in participating. In early 2016, ULA
will release a request for proposal (RFP) for the first competitive CubeSat
launch slots. The selected universities will be announced in August 2016.
In addition, ULA is offering the nation’s universities the chance to
help name
the new CubeSat program. Universities, educators and students can submit
names
for consideration to ULACubeSats(a)ulalaunch.com using a campus-issued email
address. Submissions are due by Dec.18, 2015. The winning name will be
announced early next year, and the institution will receive a free CubeSat
launch slot on a future mission.
As America’s ride to space, ULA has launched 102 missions, including 55
CubeSats, with 100 percent mission success.
About United Launch Alliance
With more than a century of combined heritage, United Launch Alliance is the
nation’s most experienced and reliable launch service provider. ULA has
successfully delivered more than 100 satellites to orbit that provide
critical
capabilities for troops in the field, aid meteorologists in tracking severe
weather, enable personal device-based GPS navigation and unlock the
mysteries
of our solar system.
For more information on ULA, visit the ULA website at
www.ulalaunch.com .
Join the conversation at
www.facebook.com/ulalaunch
twitter.com/ulalaunch and
instagram.com/ulalaunch.
See America’s Ride to Space Offers University Competition for Free STEM
CubeSat Rides on Future Launches
http://www.ulalaunch.com/ula-reveals-transformational-cubesat-launch.aspx?t…
=United+Launch+Alliance+Reveals+Transformational+CubeSat+Launch+Program+
http://www.ulalaunch.com/cubesats.aspx
See also:
http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/11/19/ula-says-it-will-launch-some-cubesats-…
-free/
[ANS thanks Jeff Yanko, WB3JFS on the AMSAT-BB for the above information]
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Nayif-1 at UAE YouthConnect
YouthConnect is an initiative led by the Expo 2020 UAE team and is catered
specifically for the Youth of today. The Nayif-1 team took part in the
event by
throwing a workshop titled “Introduction to Cubesatellites.”
YouthConnect is the first in a long-lasting and wide-ranging series highly
interactive forums designed by youth for youth. The inaugural event took
take
place on Saturday, November 14, 2015. This first interactive, full-day
forum,
part of a far wider programme to talk to the younger members of society, was
open to all UAE residents between the ages of 18-25.
“From our earliest days conceiving Expo”, says Her Excellency Reem Al
Hashimy,
UAE Minister of State and Director General of the Bureau Dubai Expo 2020 “we
were determined to put our youth at the heart of our plans. It is these
young
men and women who will be representing and leading our nation in the
years to
come. So it is important that they contribute to these events and decide
what
they want to see and do on the day.”
Nayif-1 was built by students at the American University of Sharjah, UAE, in
partnership with the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre. The nanosatellite
will
incorporate a novel autonomous attitude determination and control
system. This
will be the first flight of this system. Additionally it will carry a UHF to
VHF linear transponder that will have up to 0.5 watt output and which can be
used by Radio Amateurs worldwide for SSB and CW communications.
A launch is planned for the first half 2016 on the SpaceX Falcoln 9 SHERPA
mission with deployment into an elliptical, sun synchronous, Low Earth Orbit
(LEO) of about 450 by 720 km.
Follow Nayif-1 on Twitter
https://twitter.com/Nayifone
Frequency information
http://amsat-uk.org/satellites/communications/nayif-1/
YouthConnect at Expo 2020 Dubai
http://expo2020dubai.ae/en/news/article/expo_2020_dubai_unveils_youthconnect
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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DeorbitSail Update and Initial Camera Image
Chris Bridges 2E0OBC of the Surrey Space Centre provides this update on the
status of the DeorbitSail Cubesat.
Dear AMSAT Community,
We would like to express our gratitude for your cooperation in the
DeorbitSail
project, and update you on the status of the mission.
As you know the DOS mission was launched on 10th July. After 4 months of
operations, the satellite is healthy and stable, although unfortunately
we have
not been able to meet all of the mission objectives. Initial contact
with the
satellite was established relatively smoothly and we received a lot of good
data, both through our own ground station but also via the network of
you radio
amateurs who have been very generous with your time and help.
We achieved a power stable state early on, with good comms (uplink and
downlink) established within the first few days. We deployed the solar
panels
successfully, and managed to return to a good and stable power state after
deployment. The ADCS has been challenging from the start, and continues
to be
challenging – we have struggled to accurately determine the satellite tumble
rate and get it under control (more detail on that is included below).
We know
that the satellite has seen some very high spin rates for various reasons,
including some inherent design/magnetic characteristics which have become
apparent.
Despite many attempts, we have unfortunately not been able to deploy the
sail,
and having recently thoroughly analysed and investigated the possible
causes,
mission events and ground test data and history, we are now reaching the
conclusion that achieving successful sail deployment is very unlikely. Again
there is more detail on that in the main body of text below.
We thank you for your patience and would like to apologise for not keeping
you updated on mission progress as often as we’d hoped. The operations phase
has been a learning and sometimes stressful experience for all of the
team at
SSC, with a lot of head scratching and sleepless nights involved.
Here is some more detailed information regarding what progress and
achievements have been made during the operations to date.
• After the launch on the 10th of July, and the first week in orbit, with a
power safe and healthy satellite, the operation passed from the LEOP
phase to
the ADCS Commissioning phase. This second phase was estimated to last
between
three and four weeks; this proved to be optimistic.
• Although the spin up of the S/C was much higher than expected and
saturated
the sensors, the SU simulations and the available data suggested a large
Z-spin
rate on DOS which was confirmed by the B-field and MEMS magnetometry
measurements. To induce a bigger difference in the Moments of Inertia
(MoI) of
the two non-longitudinal axes, the decision was taken to deploy the solar
panels. This operation was performed the 10th of August.
• More than a month after the launch the satellite was really healthy, power
safe and with great comms through newly developed software defined radio and
database backend operations. Although the stabilization wasn’t achieved even
with the solar panel deployment, at one month from the launch the team
decide
to proceed with the sail deployment.
• This decision was agreed with DLR that confirmed that tumbling rates
were no
issue for the sail deployment, because the Moments of Inertia increase
rapidly
slowing down the tumble rate. DLR has performed a deployment test on
Gossamer
while tumbling before coming to this opinion.
• On the 15th of August, the first attempt for sail deployment was
performed,
the command was sent and the acknowledgement from the S/C was received,
but no
current was drawn from the boom deployer motor. Multiple experiments were
performed to try and determine the cause of sail deployment failure.
• At this point, after a thorough investigation, the most plausible
hypothesis
and justification seems to be a physical disconnection of the motor cables.
(Note that after the vibration test, it wasn’t possible to physically
inspect
the connection due to the design itself of the S/C)
Our simulations showed that with the actual configuration (deployed solar
panels, undeployed sail) the decay time should be 20 years circa.
The aim now is to exercise and exploit the parts of the satellite that are
working, and gain more confidence and experience with the SU ADCS
system, the
ISIS TRXUV and solar panels, and the SSC SDR groundstation and database
tools
to explore better the interaction of the panel circuitry with the attitude
stabilisation. That will allow us to improve our performances in the next
missions.
From here, the team have worked hard to take images of the Earth and
via SU’s
CubeSense camera – which we are delighted to show you today. This would
not be
possible without the dedication from the SSC team here and, of course, the
amateur telemetry you kindly send us. We are going to continue imaging and
testing at higher resolutions too so watch this space.
We thank you for all the support.
Chiara Massimiani, DOS Project manager & Prof Guglielmo Aglietti SSC
Director
and DOS PI
DeorbitSail
http://amsat-uk.org/satellites/telemetry/deorbitsail/
Surrey Space Centre
http://www.surrey.ac.uk/ssc/research/space_vehicle_control/deorbitsail/
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
SPROUT SSTV and Digitalker active every Sunday
Slow Scan TV (SSTV) images in Scottie 1 format will be transmitted from the
SPROUT satellite every Sunday (Japanese Standard Time) on 437.600 MHz FM
(+/- 9
kHz Doppler shift). The Digitalker will also be active.
SPROUT, a 20 x 20 x 22 cm amateur radio nano-satellite with a mass of
7.1 kg,
launched successfully with the L-band (1236.5 MHz/1257.5 MHz/1278.5 MHz)
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite ALOS-2 on May 24, 2014 at 0305 UT.
SPROUT is in a 654 km, 97.9 degree inclination Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO).
SPROUT (Space Research On Unique Technology) was built by students from
Nihon
University and its objectives are:
1. Operation of satellite by radio amateurs.
A FM Digitalker will enable the satellite to speak to amateurs around
the world.
The Voice Message Box will record transmissions from radio amateurs and play
them back.
Pre-loaded images from the Message Gallery can be transmitted using Slow
Scan
TV (SSTV).
Pictures of the Earth can be transmitted by SSTV and radio amateurs can
receive it using free software such as MMSSTV. As part of the Earth mapping
project the team ask radio amateurs to contribute pictures they have
received
from the satellite for display on the SPROUT website.
The satellite also has a packet radio Digipeater and Text Message Box
function.
2. Demonstration of the deployment of the combined membrane structure and
verification of the design method of the structure SPROUT has a triangular
membrane supported by two tubes like framework. They are folded and
stored in the satellite before the launch. After the launch, the
nitrogen gas
is injected into the tubes in space, and they extend, so that the membrane
deploys (called “combined membrane structure”).
3. Demonstration of attitude determination and control of a nanosatellite
using the sun sensors, gyros, geomagnetic sensor and magnetic torquers.
Callsign: JQ1ZJQ
Size: 214x210x220 mm
Weight: 7.1 kg
Mode: 1200bps AFSK, 9600bps GMSK
CW downlink 437.525 MHz
FM packet downlink 437.525 MHz
Digipeater uplink 437.600 MHz
Digitalker downlink 437.600 MHz
SSTV downlink 437.600 MHz
SPROUT English website
http://sat.aero.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp/sprout-e/
SPROUT Japanese website
http://sat.aero.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp/sprout/
Nihon-Univ. Miyazaki Laboratory on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nihon-Univ-Miyazaki-Laboratory/4065666428188…
Telemetry Software
http://sat.aero.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp/sprout-e/2-Software-e.html
Telemetry format
http://sat.aero.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp/sprout-e/2-Formats%20of%20telemetry-e.html
SPROUT launch data page
http://sat.aero.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp/sprout-e/2-Launch%20data-e.html
TLE’s from the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) are also
available at
http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/tle-new.txt
Free Slow Scan TV (SSTV) software MMSSTV
http://hamsoft.ca/pages/mmsstv.php
The JE9PEL website has information on other satellites on this launch
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/jaxalos2.htm
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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AMSAT Events
Information about AMSAT activities at other important events around
the country. Examples of these events are radio club meetings where
AMSAT Area Coordinators give presentations, demonstrations of working
amateur satellites, and hamfests with an AMSAT presence (a table with
AMSAT literature and merchandise, sometimes also with presentations,
forums, and/or demonstrations).
*Saturday, 5 December 2015 – Superstition Superfest 2015 in Mesa AZ
*Saturday, 9 January 2016 – Thunderbird Hamfest 2016 in Phoenix AZ
*Friday and Saturday, 19-20 February 2016 – Yuma Hamfest and 2016 ARRL
Southwest Division Convention in Yuma AZ
*Saturday and Sunday, 12-13 March 2016 – ScienceCity science fair, on
the University of Arizona campus in Tucson AZ
*Saturday, 19 March 2016 – Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club Spring
Hamfest 2016 in Scottsdale AZ
*Saturday, 26 March 2016 – Tucson Spring Hamfest in Tucson AZ
[ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information]
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ARISS News
Successful Contacts
* Kiluutaq School, Umiujaq, Nunavik Quebec, Canada, telebridge via W6SRJ
The ISS callsign was NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut was Kimiya Yui KG5BPH
Contact was successful: Tue 2015-11-17 16:47:02 UTC 41 deg
We are students from Kiluutaq school. Our school is located in the
village of
Umiujaq. This is a small village of about 460 people in northern Quebec
(Canada). In winter, we use special clothes to go hunting. We hunt seals,
belugas, caribou, fish and foxes. In addition, every year we celebrate the
blueberry festival and we pick a lot of blueberries. Our village is very
special since we are talking 3 different languages: Inuttitut, English and
French. In our village there are two stores, a school, an arena, an
airport,a
health center and a community center.
Steve, VE3TBD reported:
Contact went well... very well in fact.
All questions answered - 13
140 students.
50 parents.
Astronaut was a little low at times but overall very good. I heard him well
but I know the many languages and cultures do influence how we hear things -
very interesting to have the French, English and native languages involved.
Our humanoid robot did a very god job of getting the students up for event.
Presentations were undertaken in both English and local language.
My thanks goes to the very excellent job by Radio Station W6SRJ, Moderator
Brian Jackson and all else connected and involved.
* A direct contact via OEØARISS with students at BORG Monsbergergasse,
Graz,
Austria, was successful Mon 2015-11-09 09:42:15 UTC 49 deg. Astronaut Kjell
Lindgren KO5MOS answered 11 questions for students.
The BORG Monsbergergasse is a grammar school in Graz, Monsbergergasse
16. Graz
is the second largest city in Austria, located in the southeast of the
country.
The school can easily be reached from everywhere in Graz using public
transport.
About 800 students attend the school and there are about 100 teachers. Our
students can choose between 5 different areas of interest: sports, science,
music, art and informatics. After four to five years the students
graduate from
school after taking their A-levels.
The school offers a fantastic infrastructure for the students. Apart
from the
classrooms there is a lab, a library and a cafeteria. There are special
computer rooms, four gyms and outside there are several courts for doing
sports. Besides there is a garden to relax in the breaks.
Upcoming Contacts
* Scuola Media Statale “G. Marconi”, Soleto, Lecce, Italy, And, Scuola
Secondaria di Primo Grado “Benedetto Croce”, Civate, Italy, telebridge via
VK4KHZ
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Kimiya Yui KG5BPH
Contact is a go for: Mon 2015-11-23 09:21:53 UTC 87 deg
The event will be webcast on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkFhGc2nes4
* Dragonskolan, Umeå, Sweden, telebridge via VE4ISS
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS
Contact is a go: Tue 2015-11-24 09:44:25 UTC 78 deg
Watch
http://www.ariss.org/upcoming-contacts.html
for information about upcoming contacts as they are scheduled.
[ANS thanks ARISS, and Charlie, AJ9N for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
* W5PFG Plans Satellite Operation From South Padre Island
IOTA NA-092 - (Satellite Op) Clayton, W5PFG, will operate portable from
South Padre Island, Texas, in EL16 between November 22-26th. He plans to
operate several passes a day from EL15, covering the southern-most tip of
Texas. An operation from EL06 is possible sometime in the beginning of that
week. You can follow his operation on Twitter <https://twitter.com/@w5pfg>
starting November 21st. It's possible he will operate once or twice while
enroute. Clayton will try to work as many different satellites as possible.
He tends to favor FO-29, typically 15-20 kHz above the center of the
transponder.
[ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1240 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 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,
Joe Spier, K6WAO
k6wao at amsat dot org
1
0
ANS 321 AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN - AO-85 Commissioned, Handed Over To AMSAT-NA Operations
by E.Mike McCardel 17 Nov '15
by E.Mike McCardel 17 Nov '15
17 Nov '15
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN
ANS-321
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:
* AO-85 Commissioned, Handed Over To AMSAT-NA Operations
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-321.01
ANS-321 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 321.01
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
November 17, 2015
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-321.01
AO-85 Commissioned, Handed Over To AMSAT-NA Operations
AO-85 has been formally commissioned and turned over to AMSAT
Operations, who are now responsible for the scheduling and modes.
The following guidelines are provided for users:
Uplink power should be on the order of minimum 200 W EIRP for full
quieting at lower antenna elevation angles. Your mileage may vary.
With an Arrow, 5 W has been used successfully to make contacts.
Polarity is important. The satellite antennas are linear. So, if you
are using linearly polarized antennas, you will need to adjust
throughout the pass. Full duplex operation facilitates these
adjustments while transmitting and is highly recommended.
The downlink is very strong and should be heard well with almost any
antenna.
Downlink audio is 5 kHz deviation, as expected. Many will perceive
that the audio is "low." This is an effect of the filtering below 300
Hz, which provides for the DUV telemetry, coupled with any noise on
the uplink signal resulting from lack of full quieting or being off
frequency. That makes for less fidelity than a typical receiver in
terms of audio frequencies passed.
Transmit (downlink) frequency varies with temperature. Due to the
wide range of temperatures we are seeing in the eclipse cycle, the
transmitter can be anywhere from around 500 Hz low at 10°C to near 2
kHz low at 40°C.
Receive frequency has been generally agreed to be about 435.170 MHz,
although the AFC makes that hard to pin down and also helps with the
uplinks that are off frequency.
Probably the most notable observations about AO-85 are an apparent
lack of sensitivity and difficulty in turning on the repeater with
the 67 Hz CTCSS when it is not yet activated, or holding it on by the
presence of the CTCSS. We have determined a probable cause for the
sensitivity issue and while that can't be fixed on AO-85 we are
taking steps to prevent similar issues on the rest of the Fox-1
CubeSats. The tone detection threshold along with the receive
sensitivity issue makes it hard to bring up the repeater. This is
being addressed by adjusting the values for a valid tone detection in
the other Fox-1 CubeSats now that we have on orbit information about
temperatures and power budget. Full details will be in the Nov/Dec
AMSAT Journal.
It is important to remember that science is the reason behind the
Fox-1 satellites. Not only does science help with the launch cost, it
provides a great amount of educational value both from the science
payload and in amateur radio itself. The data-under-voice (DUV)
telemetry is an excellent way to provide the science without
sacrificing the use of the satellite for communications, which would
be the case if higher speed downlinks were needed. DUV provides
constant science as long as the repeater is in use, which in turn
provides more downlink data for the science - a mutually beneficial
combination.
Fox-1A is AMSAT-NA's first CubeSat. Many new techniques are
incorporated and lessons will be learned, as with any new "product."
The Fox-1 Project is a series of CubeSats. A total of five will be
built and flown. Launches are scheduled for three more, and a new
NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative proposal will be submitted for the
fifth. We will incorporate changes from what we learn in each launch,
to the extent possible, in subsequent Fox-1 CubeSats.
Of the four NASA sponsored CubeSats on the ELaNa XII launch October
8, we are sad to report that ARC1 was never heard from and BisonSat
was lost after a few weeks of operation. AMSAT extends our deepest
sympathy to the people who worked so hard on these projects. To our
members, we want to say that the Fox Team is very proud and pleased
that our first CubeSat is very successful and hopefully will be for
some time.
[ANS thanks Jerry NoJY 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 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,
EMike McCardel, KC8YLD
kc8yld at amsat dot org
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-319
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:
* EO-79 CubeSat Update
* QB50 Frequency Table
* Newsline Interview With ISS First School Contact Teacher
* Signal Reports Requested From IO-86 FM Transponder Test
* ARISS Contact Featured in ARRL Radio Waves Newsletter
* McMurdo completes MEOSAR satellite ground station in New Zealand
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-319.01
ANS-319 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 319.01
From AMSAT HQ Kensington, MD.
November 15, 2015
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-319.01
EO-79 CubeSat Update
Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG has provided this update on the status and plans for
QB50p1 – EO-79.
Earlier testing campaigns indicate that the AMSAT-UK/AMSAT-NL transponder on
board of this spacecraft is in good health. We have activated the
transponder on
various occasions for testing purposes.
At the moment we believe the power system is capable of sustaining
transponder
operations indefinitely. ISIS (the satellite designer and operator)
still needs
to write and apply a software patch that would keep the transponder
running. The
current logic in the satellite will switch off the transponder if a
reset occurs
of the On Board Computer or power system.
Efforts are being made to allow usage of the transponder in the mean
time and
also allow select command stations to take the satellite out of safe
mode if it
does reset. ISIS will continue to monitor all telemetry and the satellites
health.
The precursor satellites have gathered valuable data about the sensor
payloads,
and the lessons learnt are being implemented in the flight units for the
QB50
main mission.
We will still have to wait until procedures are in place and the
activation is
cleared by the operator and owners of the satellite, but we are nearly
ready for
the activation of another transponder!
Transponder activations will be announced on the AMSAT Bulletin Board.
On behalf of AMSAT-NL and the ISIS operations team I would like to thank the
community for supporting our mission and thank you for your patience.
[ANS thanks Wouter, PA3WEG, for the above information]
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QB50 Frequency Table
Here is a link worth keeping an eye on as the QB50 launch in 2016 gets
closer. JE9PEL has a page documenting the frequencies of the 50 cubesats at:
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/qb50sats.htm
[ANS thanks Mineo Wakita, JE9PEL, for the above information]
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Newsline Interview With ISS First School Contact Teacher
This week’s Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1985 November 13, 2015 includes an
interview with Rita Wright, KC9CDL, the science teacher who was lucky
enough to
help her students be chosen to talk with ISS astronaut William M. “Shep”
Shepherd, KD5GSL, for the first school contact with the International Space
Station.
Amateur Radio Newsline has this week’s bulletins posted at:
http://www.arnewsline.org/news/2015/11/13/amateur-radio-newsline-report-198…
november-13-2015.html
Select ‘Script’ or ‘Audio’ to access the newscast as desired.
[ANS thanks the Amateur Radio Newsline for the above information]
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Signal Reports Requested From IO-86 FM Transponder Test
The FM transponder aboard IO-86/LAPAN-ORARI was activated for testing,
and was
available for amateur radio use on 14 November 2015 between 01:35 UTC -
03:40
UTC. This satellite is in a 6° inclination orbit so only stations in
equatorial
regions have access. Station in far southern United States may have access.
+ Uplink: 145.880Mhz with 88.5 Hz tone
+ Downlink: 435.880 Mhz
If you heard IO-86 or had any contacts please e-mail signal reports to
yd1eee(a)gmail.com
The two-line Keplerian elements are:
IO-86
1 40931U 15052B 15316.15776324 .00001070 00000-0 60618-4 0 9994
2 40931 6.0030 69.3893 0012877 275.6206 84.2533 14.76374433 6653
These are also included in the keps download available from www.amsat.org
[ANS thanks Dirgantara Rahadian. YE0EEE for the above information]
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ARISS Contact Featured in ARRL Radio Waves Newsletter
The American Radio Relay League's Fall 2015 issue of "Radio Waves", a
newsletter
for teachers, license instructors, and radio science education features
coverage
of the ARISS contact with Tulsa Community College. The PDF issue can be
accessed
at:
http://www.arrl.org/radio-waves
[ANS thanks the ARRL for the above information]
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McMurdo completes MEOSAR satellite ground station in New Zealand
The legacy of AMSAT OSCAR 6 & 7 in demonstrating satellite based Doppler
location of ground transmitters for search-and-rescue operations in the
1970s
set the stage for the Cospas-Sarsat system which is now entering into
the next
stage of evolution.
McMurdo's next-generation MEOSAR satellite ground station system
installation in
New Zealand will reduce rescue times in one of the world's most active
search
and rescue regions.
McMurdo has announced that it has completed the installation of a
six-antenna
next-generation Medium-Earth Orbit Search and Rescue (MEOSAR) satellite
ground
station system in New Zealand.
The project, which is part of a joint initiative with Maritime New
Zealand and
the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, is expected to significantly boost
search and rescue capability in the New Zealand and Australia search
regions and
marks the first implementation of MEOSAR in Asia Pacific. MEOSAR is the
next-
generation version of Cospas-Sarsat, the international search and rescue
satellite system that has helped to save 37,000 lives since 1982.
In a typical satellite-based search and rescue scenario, ships, aircraft or
individuals transmit distress signals from an emergency location beacon via
satellite to a fixed ground receiving station or local user terminal.
The ground
station receives and calculates the location of the distress signal and
creates
and sends an alert to the appropriate rescue authorities.
Today, the beacon-to-alert process depends on a limited number of Low Earth
Orbit (LEO) satellites and may take several hours before a position is
confirmed. With MEOSAR, beacon signals will be received more quickly and
beacon
locations identified with greater accuracy thereby reducing this time to
minutes.
The New Zealand MEOSAR system, and another being installed in Western
Australia,
will cover one of the largest search and rescue areas in the world -
from north
of Australia/New Zealand to the Equator and south to the South Pole, east to
half way across the Pacific, and west half way across the Indian Ocean. The
systems will undergo rigorous testing before being officially brought
online in
late 2017 by Cospas-Sarsat.
[ANS thanks SpaceDaily 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 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
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-312
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:
* AO-85 Testing November 8 and 9
* US Radio Amateurs Back in Space and SA AMSAT Kletskous Update
* SAREX Reflector Has Been Shut Down
* ISS Astronauts Link-Up with ITU WRC-15 in Geneva
* Help Wanted Astronauts
* QB50 project 2016
* BRICSAT-1 recovery challenge
* Hawaii Launch of Satellites Carrying Amateur Radio Payloads Fails
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-312
ANS-312 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 312
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
November 8, 2015
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-312
AO-85 Testing November 8 and 9
*Summary of AO-85 testing:*
* Please do not try to uplink to AO-85 during the following times
(all of which occur while AO-85 is over North America) even though
the transponder will be active and you may hear activity.
*Sunday November 8, 15:35 through 15:55 UTC*
*Sunday November 8, 17:15 through 17:35 UTC*
*Monday November 9, 00:05 through 00:25 UTC*
*Monday November 9, 01:45 through 02:10 UTC*
All dates and times are UTC, all passes are Sunday local time in
North America. Stations in North, Central, and northern South America
are asked to comply.
You are encouraged to copy telemetry with FoxTelem during these
times to forward to the server to help us analyze the test results.
*Details of this AO-85 testing:*
Sunday, November 8 and into early Monday, November 9 (UTC) the Fox-1
Engineering Team will be testing the COR (carrier operated relay)
mode of AO-85. COR is the backup to the IHU failing, if IHU fails AO-
85 should continue operating as a simple COR repeater with no CTCSS
necessary as long as there is power. In COR mode no telemetry or
voice ID is present because those are generated by the IHU.
Orbit 443 ascending, at approximately 15:35 UTC over North America we
will test a telemetry high/low reset command. Following the command
look for Ground Resets = 2 in the Computer window of FoxTelem. Once
that is confirmed, we will command the IHU OFF on the same pass.
Please keep the uplink clear in order to help us test and monitor
the telemetry.
Orbit 444 ascending, at approximately 17:15 UTC over North America
AMSAT command and engineering stations will test the COR mode on the
air to observe performance. Please keep the uplink clear so that we
may test without interference, to expedite the testing and allow for
good measurements. We may command IHU ON during the pass in order to
observe battery voltage in the telemetry. Please have FoxTelem
running even if there is no telemetry seen, it may turn on at any
time during this pass.
Orbit 448 descending, at approximately 00:05 UTC Monday over North
America we will command AO-85 IHU ON. Please keep the uplink clear in
order to help us test and monitor the telemetry after the IHU is
turned on.
Orbit 449 descending, at approximately 01:45 UTC Monday over North
America if we were unable to command IHU ON on orbit 448, we will
attempt to command again. Please keep the uplink clear in order to
help us test and monitor the telemetry after the IHU is turned on.
During the testing stations outside North, Central and northern South
America are invited to use the COR repeater mode and share your
assessment of AO-85 receive sensitivity and audio on amsat-bb.
Stations in North, Central, and northern South America may use the COR
repeater on orbits 445 through 447 and are also invited to share your
assessment of AO-85 receive sensitivity and audio on amsat-bb.
Please share this widely to help reach everyone who may be operating
AO-85.
The AO-85 team thanks you for your support.
[ANS thanks Jerry N0JY for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
US Radio Amateurs Back in Space and SA AMSAT Kletskous Update
The launch of the Fox 1A CubeSat on 8 October 2015 marked the return
of satellites built by AMSAT North America (Amateur Radio Satellite
Corporation). US amateurs were the first to build and launch
satellites just a few years after the Russians stunned the world with
Sputnik 1 in 1957. For several decades they led the pack and built
bigger and better satellite. That that came to an end some five years
ago when free rides into space dried up.
AMSAT had to refocus its activities and look at CubeSat as the best
alternative possible option as free and more affordable launches
became available. One of the options is the NASA ELaNa program.
NASA and the Launch Services Program are partnering with several
universities to launch small research satellites. These missions
provide NASA with valuable opportunities to test emerging
technologies and economical commercial off-the-shelf components that
may be useful in future space missions. NASA nanosatellites are
designed for a wide spectrum of space missions, including biology
experiments, testing advanced propulsion and communications
technologies.
CubeSats are only 10 x 10 x 10 cm and weigh under 1,3 kg. NASA’s
Kennedy Space Centre in Florida has adapted the Poly-Picosatellite
Orbital Deployer (PPOD) to put these CubeSats into orbit. This
deployment system was designed and is manufactured by the California
Polytechnic State University in partnership with Stanford University.
Fox-1A was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base as part of the
ELaNa-XII group of satellites. In addition, Fox-1C and Fox-1D are now
scheduled to fly together under contract with Spaceflight, which is
expected to launch in first quarter 2016. Fox 1B also known as
RadFXSat has been assigned a launch that is currently expected to take
place in November 2016 from Vandenberg Air Force Base as part of
ELaNa-XIV.
“The next 14 months will be rewarding ones for our volunteers, who
spent countless hours designing, documenting, collaborating,
fabricating, testing and integrating ourFox-1 design into flight
hardware,” AMSAT president Barry Baines said. “These satellites will
be used by radio amateurs, students, and scientists who will benefit
from amateur radio capabilities on board, educational opportunities
that our spacecraft can provide to the classroom, and the scientific
data that will be available from payloads on board provided by
university students and faculties,” he said.
Organizationally, AMSAT has benefited tremendously from the Fox-1
program as it provides the basis for training anew generation of
satellite builders who are now seasoned veterans, capable of tackling
more complex and challenging projects.
“AMSAT’s reputation as a satellite innovator is enhanced as the Fox-1
design allows seamless integration of scientific payloads that can
benefit from a reliable communications downlink capable of low speed
and high speed data transmissions,” Baines said.
Fox-1A is the first FM repeater satellite in a 1U CubeSat form
factor, capable of sending low speed telemetry as well as payload
data while the FM repeater is in normal amateur service.
Fox-1B will fly with the Vanderbilt University radiation experiments
expected in 2016. Fox-1C will launch on Spaceflight’s maiden mission
of the SHERPA multi-cubesat deployer planned for the 1st quarter of
2016. U- and L-band uplinks with the VHF band downlink will be
available. Fox-1D will launch with Fox-1C. It will include the
University of Iowa HERCI experiment. IA Virginia Tech camera will
also be included. U- and L- band uplinks with the VHF band downlink
will be available. Fox-1E “Evolution” will carry a Mode J linear
transponder. The transponder is planned to be 30 kHz wide and will
also have a 1200 bps BPSK telemetry beacon.
South African AMSAT’s (SA AMSAT) CubeSat, named Kletskous
(chatterbox) is making good progress with the third generation space
frame to be completed before the end of the year. Good progress is
being made with all the subsystems and it is expected that by the end
of February 2016, a breadboard layout will be tested. The breadboard
layout is also referred to as flatsat as all the subsystems are wired
together on the test bench and tested as a fully operational satellite.
SA AMSAT is also planning to include experimental projects and is
inviting high school learners and tertiary education students to
submit proposals for their science project to be included in
Kletskous and make use of the transponder facilities to have the data
of their projects downloaded as part of the telemetry stream. Because
of the size of a CubeSat and the limited power budget available,
proposals must be for projects which have few components and require
little power.
For more details about Kletskous visit
www.amsatsa.org.za.
Proposals should be submitted to saamsat(a)intekom.co.za and reach the
Kletskous team by 28 February 2016.
See:
http://www.ee.co.za/article/us-radio-amateurs-back-space.html
[ANS thanks Hans, ZS6AKV for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
SAREX Reflector Has Been Shut Down
As previously announced the SAREX Reflector was shut down November
1. What follows is Frank Bauer's KA3HDO, AMSAT V.P. for Human
Spaceflight Programs and the ARISS International Chair, final
comments to the SAREX Reflector.
"SAREX Reflector Participants:
As previously announced, on November 1, 2015 we are shutting down
the SAREX Reflector for future message postings. This posting
represents the SAREX reflector’s last message.
It is not clear when the SAREX reflector was first started, but from
a query to Paul Williamson, who started all the AMSAT reflectors, it
has been in operation since at least 1992.
Over the years, many of you have used this forum to gather and share
information on our “frequent flyer” SAREX missions on the Shuttle,
our operations on the Space Station Mir and, since 2000, our
operations on ISS. But times have changed since the early 1990s.
For starters, we have moved from the SAREX activities on the Shuttle
to ARISS on the International Space Station. AMSAT, ARRL and the
ARISS international team of volunteers have also transitioned our
ARISS communications to you and are providing you many ways to get
information on ARISS. This includes the ARISS Web Site
www.ariss.org, the ISS Fan Club web site www.issfanclub.com and the
AMSAT web site, www.amsat.org. The ARISS team noticed that many on
the AMSAT BB reflector were not seeing late-breaking opportunities
for ARISS connections (School, SSTV, QSOs) unless these messages were
cross-posted between SAREX and BB. So the decision was made by me to
move all the SAREX real-time traffic over to BB and to end the SAREX
reflector postings on this date.
Before we hit “send” and closeout this reflector, I encourage you to
sign up and continue to get these messages on AMSAT-BB. If you feel
there is too much traffic on BB, you can always sign up for the
digest mode, which combines many messages and sends them out
periodically (usually daily). And don’t forget that the SAREX
archives will still be available on the AMSAT web site, so you can
research past messages.
On behalf of AMSAT-NA and the ARISS International Team, I want to
thank you for your sustained participation in this phenomenal amateur
radio human spaceflight journey. Moreover, we look forward to your
further participation and volunteer support in the future.
While there are many ARISS volunteers to thank for their outstanding
support, I want to send a particular shout out to Charlie Sufana,
AJ9N, who has provided all SAREX reflector participants frequent
updates on ARISS status. Thanks Charlie!
As I close this final e-mail, I want to announce that over the next
couple months, ARISS will be celebrating its 15ths anniversary of
continuous operations on the ISS, starting with November 13, 2015
when we conducted our first ham radio contacts on ISS and on December
21, 2000 when we conducted our first school contact with the Burbank
School in Burbank, Illinois. Stay tuned on BB and our web site for
ham radio activities that we will be conducting over the year to
commemorate these historic events.
73,
Frank H. Bauer, KA3HDO
AMSAT V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs
ARISS International Chair"
[ANS thanks SAREX and Frank KA3HDO for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ISS Astronauts Link-Up with ITU WRC-15 in Geneva
The ITU World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15) is taking
place in Geneva from November 2-27. On Tuesday, November 3 at 1241 UT
there was an amateur radio link-up between WRC-15 and two astronauts
on the International Space Station (ISS).
The contact took place using the permanent amateur radio station at
the ITU. The station’s normal call sign is 4U1ITU but during the
conference the special call sign 4U1WRC is being used.
Students from Institut Florimont were able to use the ITU station to
talk to astronauts Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS and Kimiya Yui KG5BPH who
were using the amateur radio station in the ISS Columbus module,
call sign OR4ISS.
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program
established the first permanent amateur radio presence in space 15
years ago. The inaugural ARISS contact took place on December 21,
2000, between a member of the ISS Expedition 1 crew and youngsters at
Luther Burbank Elementary School near Chicago. Several pupils and a
teacher got to chat using amateur radio with “Space Station Alpha”
Commander William “Shep” Shepherd KD5GSL.
The ARISS program lets students worldwide experience the excitement
of talking directly with crew members of the International Space
Station, inspiring them to pursue interests in careers in science,
technology, engineering and math, and engaging them with radio
science technology through amateur radio.
A video of the contact event can be viewed at:
https://youtu.be/ahdDiuFk2-Y
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and WRC15 for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Help Wanted Astronauts
NASA Press Release: Job Openings for Astronauts
In anticipation of returning human spaceflight launches to American
soil, and in preparation for the agency's journey to Mars, NASA
announced it will soon begin accepting applications for the next
class of astronaut candidates. With more human spacecraft in
development in the United States today than at any other time in
history, future astronauts will launch once again from the Space
Coast of Florida on American-made commercial spacecraft, and carry
out deep-space exploration missions that will advance a future human
mission to Mars.
The agency will accept applications from Dec. 14 through mid-
February and expects to announce candidates selected in mid-2017.
Applications for consideration as a NASA Astronaut will be accepted
at:
http://www.usajobs.gov
The next class of astronauts may fly on any of four different U.S.
vessels during their careers: the International Space Station, two
commercial crew spacecraft currently in development by U.S.
companies, and NASA's Orion deep-space exploration vehicle.
>From pilots and engineers, to scientists and medical doctors, NASA
selects qualified astronaut candidates from a diverse pool of U.S.
citizens with a wide variety of backgrounds.
"This next group of American space explorers will inspire the Mars
generation to reach for new heights, and help us realize the goal of
putting boot prints on the Red Planet," said NASA Administrator
Charles Bolden. "Those selected for this service will fly on U.S.
made spacecraft from American soil, advance critical science and
research aboard the International Space Station, and help push the
boundaries of technology in the proving ground of deep space."
The space agency is guiding an unprecedented transition to
commercial spacecraft for crew and cargo transport to the space
station. Flights in Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon
will facilitate adding a seventh crew member to each station mission,
effectively doubling the amount of time astronauts will be able to
devote to research in space.
Future station crew members will continue the vital work advanced
during the last 15 years of continuous human habitation aboard the
orbiting laboratory, expanding scientific knowledge and demonstrating
new technologies. This work will include building on the regular six-
month missions and this year's one-year mission, currently underway
aboard the station, which is striving for research breakthroughs not
possible on Earth that will enable long-duration human and robotic
exploration into deep space.
In addition, NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft,
now in development, will launch astronauts on missions to the proving
ground of lunar orbit where NASA will learn to conduct complex
operations in a deep space environment before moving on to longer
duration missions on its journey to Mars.
"This is an exciting time to be a part of America's human space
flight program," said Brian Kelly, director of Flight Operations at
NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "NASA has taken the next step
in the evolution of our nation's human spaceflight program - and our
U.S. astronauts will be at the forefront of these new and challenging
space flight missions. We encourage all qualified applicants to learn
more about the opportunities for astronauts at NASA and apply to join
our flight operations team."
To date, NASA has selected more than 300 astronauts to fly on its
increasingly challenging missions to explore space and benefit life
on Earth. There are 47 astronauts in the active astronaut corps, and
more will be needed to crew future missions to the space station and
destinations in deep space.
Astronaut candidates must have earned a bachelor's degree from an
accredited institution in engineering, biological science, physical
science or mathematics. An advanced degree is desirable. Candidates
also must have at least three years of related, progressively
responsible professional experience, or at least 1,000 hours of pilot-
in-command time in jet aircraft. Astronaut candidates must pass the
NASA long-duration spaceflight physical.
For more information about a career as a NASA astronaut, and
application requirements, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/astronauts
[ANS thanks NASA for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
QB50 project 2016
As reported to the AMSAT-BB, Mineo Wakita JE9PEL informs us "For the
purpose of the demonstration and development of CubeSats of the
technology of the universities around the world, it is scheduled to
be launched all 50 satellites by Ukraine Tsiklon-4 rocket on February
1, 2016. There are still also uncertainties, but I, JE9PEL
investigated the current frequencies and summarized it in an Excel
file. I'm going to issue in the future this revised version."
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/51106qb5.png
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/51106qb5.xls
http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/calendar/#1602
[ANS thanks Mineo JE9PEL for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
BRICSAT-1 recovery challenge
If anyone has 9600 baud satellite capability and is looking for a
challenge, you could be successful in recovering BRICSAT (NO83).
BRICSAT simply has a negative power budget. When it wakes up, it
should be possible to get in the command to tell it to turn off
unnecessary loads and then let it achieve full recovery. As is, it
wakes up, sends a few feeble 20 second packets and dies again.
Bricsat has another excellent PSK31 transpodner on it too. You can
detect BRICSAT when it awakes by the 20 second packet on the downlink
OR by the occasional PSK31 beacon on 435.350 MHz (+/- Doppler). Do
not be confused by PSAT which also has a PSK31 tranpsonder on the
same frequency. But they have different audio tones for the beacon.
> Downlink: 437.975 MHz, 9600 baud
> Uplink: 145.825 MHz, 9600 baud
> Latest “guess” at the TLE (not sure if this is BRICSat)
> 1 90722U 15294.38156592 +.00051032 +00000-0 +11686-2 0 0166
> 2 90722 054.9895 030.6075 0226665 199.3544 159.8861 15.1979213102332
The commands are simple keyboard dumb terminal commands.
If you think you want to take on this challenge, contact us.
(bruninga at usna.edu)
[ANS thanks Bob WB4APR and Jin KB3UKS for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hawaii Launch of Satellites Carrying Amateur Radio Payloads Fails
The November 4 inaugural launch of an experimental US military
vehicle carrying several satellites with Amateur Radio payloads into
orbit failed in mid-flight shortly after taking off at 0345 UTC from
Hawaii. The experimental Super Strypi launch vehicle, carrying a
collection of small satellites into orbit as part of the ORS-4
mission for the Department of Defense, was fired from a truss-mounted
rail system from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, off Barking
Sands on Kauai. According to Spaceflightnow.com, the Super Strypi
rocket is designed for low-cost, quick-reaction satellite launches.
Destroyed in the demonstration flight were 13 small research
spacecraft clustered on the mission for NASA researchers and
university students.
None of the satellites carried Amateur Radio transponders, but
several were equipped to transmit beacon signals and telemetry on 2
meter, 70 centimeter, and 13 centimeter amateur frequencies. The
satellites lost included Argus, EDSN, HawaiiSat-1, ORS-Squared,
PrintSat, STACEM, STU-1, and Supernova-Beta. PrintSat carried a 3D
printed structure and was designed to measure the performance of the
material over the course of its 3 year mission.
Spaceflightnow.com said the experimental launcher apparently lost
control and broke up downrange from the launch site. The November 4
maiden flight took place following several delays. The test flight
was one of two planned demonstrations of the launcher.
View the Super Strypi & ORS-4 Launch On PMRF 3 November 201 at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsMegDZ_VFQ
Spaceflightnow's detailed coverage of the event can be found at
http://tinyurl.com/ANS312-Spaceflightnow
[ANS thanks ARRL Newsletter for the above information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISS News
+ The scheduled contact with Dragonskolan, Umeå, Sweden was postponed
because the scheduled astronaut was tied up in other activities. The
contact will be rescheduled for a later date.
+ A Successful contact was made between ITU World Radio
Communication Conference 2015 WRC-15, Geneva, Switzerland and
Astronaut Kimiya Yui KG5BPH using Callsign OR4ISS.
The contact began 2015-11-03 11:47 UTC and lasted about nine
and a half minutes. Contact was direct via 4U1WRC.
ARISS Mentor was ON4WF.
+ A Successful contact was made between Eleanor Palmer School,
London, United Kingdom and Astronaut Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS using
Callsign NA1SS.
The contact began 2015-11-03 11:47 UTC and lasted about nine
and a half minutes. Contact telebridged via VK6MJ.
ARISS Mentor was MØXTD.
Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
BORG Monsbergergasse, Graz, Austria, direct via OEØARISS. The ISS
callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS. The scheduled
astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS
Contact is a go for: Mon 2015-11-09 09:42:15 UTC
Ste. Genevieve du Bois Catholic Elementary School, Warson Woods,
Missouri, direct via NØKBA. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled
to be NA1SS. The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS
The contact is a go for: Thu 2015-11-12 16:25:16 UTC
[ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above
information]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Satellite Shorts From All Over
Very nice coverage, and features Keith, W5IU, with the ARISS contact
with Daggett Montessori School in Ft. Worth, Texas:
http://tinyurl.com/ANS312-DaggettMontessori
[ANS thanks JoAnne K9JKM and the Star-Telegram for the above
information]
ARISS Contact Documentary
WKTV did a really nice job producing a documentary of the October 23
ARISS contact with West Michigan Aviation Academy.
Here is a link to the youtube video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkOvN9CKB9M&authuser=0
[ANS thanks Les Brown, Chief Pilot, West Michigan Aviation Academy
and WKTV ro 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 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,
EMike McCardel, KC8YLD
kc8yld at amsat dot org
1
0
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-305
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:
* Super Strypi (SPARK) Launch Planned for November 2, 2015
* Duchifat 1 status update
* UKube-1 CubeSat Completes Mission
* Fort Worth students talk to ISS
* Tim Peake KG5BVI and the ISS Astro Pi’s
* Radio amateurs to help London children talk to ISS
* AMSAT Events
* ARISS News
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-305.01
ANS-305 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 305.01
>From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE November 1, 2015
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-305.01
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Super Strypi (SPARK) Launch Planned for November 1, 2015
The following satellites are planned to be launched on 2, Nov 2015.
Argus, EDSN, HawaiiSat-1, ORS-Squared, PrintSat, STACEM, STU-1,
Supernova-Beta
Site is Pacific Missile Range - Kokole Point, Kauai, Hawaii
Satellite Downlink Beacon Mode
---------------------- ----------------- ------- ------------
Argus 2403.000-2403.400 437.290 1200bps AFSK
EDSN 2401.200-2431.200 437.100 1200bps AFSK
HawaiiSat1 (HiakaSat1) 145.9805 437.2705 9600bps GFSK
ORS-Squared 437.325 . 9600bps GMSK
PrintSat 437.325 . 9600bps GMSK
STACEM . . ?
STU-1 2402.000-2445.000 436.360 9600bps GMSK
Supernova-Beta 437.570 . 1200bps AFSK
---------------------- ----------------- ------- ------------
HawaiiSat-1
1 99999U 00000 15306.00000000 .00002809 00000-0 69295-4 0 00007
2 99999 094.6040 077.7732 0056131 182.2912 079.1822 15.38919159000464
http://spaceflight101.com/spacerockets/spark-super-strypi/
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/sparksat.htm
http://www.cubesat.org
[ANS thanks Mineo Wakita, JE9PEL for the above information]
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Duchifat 1 status update
We're happy to report that the satellite is still operational and doing
very well.
We've already received 20 stations using Duchifat 1, and all said stations
are displayed on our map at
www.h-space-lab.org .
QSL cards are on their way, and a few have already been received.
It's a fantastic experience to be heard by the satellite, get immediate
digipeating response from it, and later see your position on the map on
the website, after a successful dump at our GS from the satellite.
If you try to contact it and encounter any difficulty, please don't
hesitate to write to us at
4X4HSC(a)gmail.com
It's all very fun. We also hope people can share their experiences here.
73, and good luck.
[ANS thanks the Herzliya Science Center team posting on the AMSAT=BB for
the
above information]
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UKube-1 CubeSat Completes Mission
UKube-1, the UK Space Agency’s first national spacecraft, has now completed
its nominal mission following over 14 months of operations. Discussion is
underway with AMSAT-UK about the possibility of taking over UKube-1
operations
to continue its educational and outreach activities.
Launched in July 2014, UKube-1 is a technology demonstration mission with a
broad set of objectives aimed at attracting and training future
generations of
engineers, encouraging collaboration across sectors and institutions, fast
tracking space technology development and engaging with students.
As a 3 unit CubeSat (30x30x10cm), flying 4 main payloads, with all the key
subsystems of much larger satellites, UKube-1 remains one of the most
advanced
CubeSats ever built. Despite some technical challenges in orbit, the mission
has achieved a range of milestones including:
• delivery into the correct planned orbit (around 650km, sun-synchronous)
• successful deployment of solar panels and antenna
• good battery health
• slow spin rate measured
• uplink and downlink capabilities checked, including Large Data Transfer,
downlink at 3 speeds, and redundant communications mode
• all core payloads commissioned and data collected for each
• on-board camera technology successfully tested
• data downlinked from multiple ground stations across the globe
UKube-1 has also helped maintain the UK’s leading position in the CubeSat
sector. Participation in the mission placed Clyde Space in an excellent
position to capitalize on the fast growing global nanosatellite market. The
company has experienced 100% year on year growth, both in turnover and
employees, as a direct result from involvement in UKube-1, and is firmly
established as a global leader.
Mark McCrum, Bright Ascension Ltd, said:
“UKube-1 provided us with an invaluable opportunity to gain flight heritage
for our software technology and to get deeply involved in the operation of a
complex CubeSat mission. It gave a huge boost to our credibility as a space
software provider and has been instrumental in winning further work.”
Craig Clark, CEO Clyde Space Ltd, said:
“UKube-1 represents a pivotal achievement in the development and growth of
Clyde Space. The project moved the company from being a spacecraft
subsystems
supplier to providing full missions for our customers. To give some
context to
the extent that Ukube-1 has had to our business, Clyde Space has more than
quadrupled in size in the last 3 years and there are currently over 60
CubeSats
planned through production here in Glasgow over the next 18 months. The
return
on investment for Ukube-1 in terms of jobs and export sales for the UK
has been
outstanding and is a great example of industry and the UK Space Agency
working
together to put the UK at the forefront of global space technology.”
Professor Andrew Holland, Open University, added:
“Involvement in the UKube-1 mission, though our C3D instrument, has had a
positive effect on our research and technology program within the Space
Instrumentation Group at the Open University, as well as a positive
effect on
our technology partners in the project; XCAM Ltd and e2v Ltd. The
project has
helped the OU to build a new strand of instrument development within the
group,
raised awareness of the CubeSat platform as a potential vehicle to
accelerate
the development of scientific space instrumentation, and has provided
early in-
orbit-demonstration of technologies. The mission introduced us to new
academic
and industrial collaborators operating in the space sector and supported the
career development of the young engineers and scientists working on the
project.”
STFC’s RAL Space provided the Ground Station for the mission at Chilbolton
Observatory in Hampshire UK, and UKube-1 operations were commanded from
there.
Mission Manager Dr Helen Walker said:
“It has been a very exciting time, made possible only with the great support
from all the teams involved.”
Although the Agency-supported mission phase has ended, discussion is
underway
with AMSAT-UK about the possibility of taking over UKube-1 operations to
continue its educational and outreach activities until the satellite orbit
naturally degrades.
More information about UKube-1 can be found in the missions section of
the UK
Space Agency website
https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/ukube-1
Source
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ukube-1-completes-mission
UKube-1 carries a set of AMSAT-UK FUNcube boards which provide an
educational
beacon for use by schools and a linear transponder for amateur radio
communications.
UKube-1 nominal frequencies:
• 145.840 MHz Telemetry downlink
• 145.915 MHz FUNcube subsystem beacon
• 400 mW inverting SSB/CW linear transponder
– 435.080-435.060 MHz Uplink
– 145.930-145.950 MHz Downlink
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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Fort Worth students talk to ISS
Students at Daggett Montessori School in Fort Worth used amateur radio
to talk
to astronaut Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS, aboard the International Space Station.
Before the contact Cowtown Amateur Radio Club member Keith Pugh W5IU
explained
to the students how they are able to talk to the ISS.
The contact, which took place on Thursday, October 29, gave the students the
opportunity to ask questions about life in space. The Star-Telegram
newspaper
reports Grace Jordan, a seventh-grader, wondered about the effects of
microgravity on food digestion.
Kjell used the amateur radio station in the ESA ISS Columbus module callsign
NA1SS, while the students used the station K5COW set up by Cowtown Amateur
Radio Club in the school auditorium.
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) lets students
worldwide experience the excitement of talking directly with crew members of
the International Space Station, inspiring them to pursue interests in
careers
in science, technology, engineering and math, and engaging them with radio
science technology through amateur radio.
Watch Daggett Montessori MS Talk to Space Station 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uzIBucg2SE
Read the Star-Telegram story at
http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-
worth/article41837055.html
ARISS
http://ariss.org/
[ANS thanks ARISS and AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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Tim Peake KG5BVI and the ISS Astro Pi’s
AMSAT-UK members are leading on the Amateur Radio on the ISS (ARISS) Schools
contacts program for the upcoming Tim Peake Principia mission to the ISS. A
number of high profile school contacts are planned to be carried out and
this
activity is being coordinated with the UK Space Agency as part of the
overall
Principia Educational Outreach program.
Two specially augmented Raspberry Pi’s called Astro Pi‘s are planned to
fly on
an Orbital Sciences’ Cygnus cargo freighter to the ISS in early
December. They
will be used by UK astronaut Tim Peake KG5BVI during his Principia
mission on
the Space Station which is expected to commence in mid-December.
The Astro Pi’s are planned to run experimental Python programs written by
young people in schools across the country; the results will be returned
back
to Earth at the end of the mission. ARISS/AMSAT-UK members are actively
involved in discussions with the UK Space Agency, ESA, the Raspberry Pi
Foundation and others to establish the feasibility of re-purposing one
of the
Astro Pi units, either within or post Tim Peake’s mission, to provide an
alternative video source for the amateur radio HamTV transmitter in the ISS
Columbus module. Additional discussions are ongoing with all parties for
joint
educational activities into the future with the Astro Pi units being
networked
and potentially enhancing the capability of the amateur radio station on
board
Columbus.
The main mission of HamTV is to perform contacts between the astronauts
on the
ISS and school students, not only by voice as now, but also by
unidirectional
video from the ISS to the ground. ARISS has been working with Goonhilly and
hope to provide a video download facility via one of their large dishes
for the
schools contacts as well as attempting to receive the video at each
school as
part of the contact.
Principia mission
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Principia
School Shortlist for Tim Peake Space Station Contact
http://amsat-uk.org/2015/07/14/school-shortlist-tim-peake-iss/
HamTV
http://amsat-uk.org/satellites/hamtv-on-the-iss/
Astro Pi
http://astro-pi.org/
Twitter
https://twitter.com/astro_pi
[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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Radio amateurs to help London children talk to ISS
On Wednesday, November 4 pupils at the Eleanor Palmer Primary School in
Camden, London should have the opportunity to speak to an astronaut in space
thanks to an Amateur Radio Telebridge link via Australia. The audio will be
streamed via the web and Echolink.
An International Space Station school contact has been planned with
participants at Eleanor Palmer School, London, United Kingdom on Wednesday,
November 4. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 09:51 GMT.
It is
recommended that you start listening approximately 10 minutes before
this time.
The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds.
The contact will be a telebridge between astronaut Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS,
using the callsign NA1SS from the amateur radio station in the ISS Columbus
module, and Martin Diggens VK6MJ in Western Australia. The contact should be
audible over portions of Australia and adjacent areas. Interested
participants
are invited to listen in on the 145.800 MHz FM downlink.
Audio from this contact will be available via the amateur radio Echolink
system on node *AMSAT* (101377) and via the IRLP Node 9010 Discovery
Reflector.
Streaming Audio will be able on the web at
https://sites.google.com/site/arissaudio/
Audio on Echolink and web stream is generally started around 20 minutes
prior
to the contact taking place so that you can hear some of the preparation
that
occurs. IRLP will begin just prior to the ground station call to the
ISS.
Contact times are approximate. If the ISS executes a reboost or other
manoeuvre, the AOS (Acquisition Of Signal) time may alter by a few minutes
Eleanor Palmer Primary School, a non-selective community school, is
located in
central London in the United Kingdom. London is an exciting and dynamic
capital
city and its schools are the best in the country, attributed to the
social and
ethnic diversity, excellent local leadership and the quality of teaching.
Eleanor Palmer is a relatively small school of around 220 pupils with single
classes of 30 children per year. The youngest pupils are 3 years old and the
oldest 11 years old. Due to the central London location it is a highly
diverse
and inclusive school with staff and children from many different
backgrounds.
The pupils achieve highly as judged by national benchmarks. One of the core
aims of the school is to inspire in all pupils a love of learning and the
desire to continue to learn and they therefore seek to provide a rich
and broad
curriculum opening minds and creating opportunities. The school hope
that their
contact with the ISS will inspire pupils to go on to learn more about space
through the study of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.
Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:
1. What have you seen that is more beautiful than earth?
2. Who or what inspired you to choose this job?
3. Does being in space make you feel differently about earth?
4. What can you learn from the ISS that you cannot learn on earth?
5. Will normal people who are not astronauts be able to visit space in the
ISS one day?
6. How do you sleep?
7. Is it quiet up there in the ISS?
8. When you get back to earth, do you have to re-train your muscles?
9. Can you call home?
10. Do you all have to be scientists?
11. What do you think is the most important things children should know
about
space?
12. What time zone do you use?
13. Do you have plants on the ISS?
14. What has been your favourite experiment?
15. How does your brain respond to micro gravity?
16. How do you wash your clothes?
17. If you cry in space, with laughter, what happens to your tears?
18. What do you want to do when you come back to earth?
19. How do you get enough oxygen?
20. Is it more scary taking off from earth or returning to earth?
21. What is your energy source on the ISS?
22. What does it feel like to be in space?
23. Is it always dark in space?
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) lets students
worldwide experience the excitement of talking directly with crew members of
the International Space Station, inspiring them to pursue interests in
careers
in science, technology, engineering and math, and engaging them with radio
science technology through amateur radio.
http://www.ariss-eu.org/
A telebridge contact, where a dedicated ARISS amateur radio ground station,
located somewhere in the world, establishes the radio link with the ISS.
Voice
communications between the students and the astronauts are then patched over
regular telephone lines.
http://www.ariss-eu.org/ARISS%20Telebridge%20Guidelines.doc
What is Amateur Radio ?
http://www.essexham.co.uk/what-is-amateur-radio
Eleanor Palmer Primary School
http://www.eleanorpalmer.camden.sch.uk/news/countdown-to-iss-link-up/
Twitter @eleanorpalmersc
[ANS thanks ARISS and AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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AMSAT Events
Information about AMSAT activities at other important events around
the country. Examples of these events are radio club meetings where
AMSAT Area Coordinators give presentations, demonstrations of working
amateur satellites, and hamfests with an AMSAT presence (a table with
AMSAT literature and merchandise, sometimes also with presentations,
forums, and/or demonstrations).
*Saturday, 7 November 2015 – Oro Valley Amateur Radio Club Hamfest in
Marana AZ
*Saturday and Sunday, 7-8 November 2015 – Stone Mountain Hamfest and ARRL
Georgia Section Convention in Lawrenceville GA
*Monday, 16 November 2015 – Tri-City Amateur Radio Association meeting in
Goodyear AZ
*Saturday, 5 December 2015 – Superstition Superfest 2015 in Mesa AZ
[ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information]
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ARISS News
Successful Contacts
* A direct contact via K5COW with students at Daggett Montessori
School K-8,
Fort Worth, Texas, USA, was successful Thu 2015-10-29 14:12:56 UTC 31 deg.
Astronaut Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS responded to 10 questions from students.
Watch a video recording of the contact at
http://youtu.be/CIsWPZ3TbWU
Daggett Montessori, a “School of Choice” within the Fort Worth Independent
School District, was created thirty years ago and was one of the first
public
school Montessori programs in the nation. Based on the highly successful
Montessori methodology and philosophy, Daggett Montessori has
approximately 500
students, all selected through a blind lottery system. We are a Title I
school,
with close to 60% of our students economically disadvantaged.
As a kindergarten through eighth grade program, we provide a safe, nurturing
environment that focuses on long term relationships among staff,
students, and
parents. Our parents are actively involved in every aspect of school life.
Maria Montessori was the first woman to graduate from medical school in
Italy
so science is an area of particular focus in the Montessori curriculum. She
designed many of the lessons to instill a sense of awe about the natural
world.
Our parents are very involved in every aspect of school at Daggett
Montessori.
Of particular interest is our greenhouse with an aquaponics system in
which we
raise various herbs and vegetables. We also have multiple raised beds
in which
the children grow vegetables. Our parents provide gardening lessons on a
weekly basis. Our students were very excited to learn that lettuce is being
grown on the ISS!
* A direct contact via K8UTT with students at Dearborn Public Schools,
Dearborn, Michigan, USA was successful Tue 2015-10-27 16:01:59 UTC 57 deg.
Dearborn Public Schools is a public school district that serves a
community in
suburban Detroit, MI. This school district is part of a growing, vibrant
area
built upon quality education for nearly 19,600 students. Dearborn also has a
unique feature added to this growing, vibrant area. It is home to the
largest
Arabic-speaking population outside of the Middle East. One out of every two
students learns English as a second language. These qualities help to form
Dearborn Public Schools into the exceptional and diverse community of
learners
it is today!
Mary Varady, STEM Coordinator for the District has been working with local
Amateur Radio operators for almost a year to arrange the contact with the
International Space Station. In the spring of 2015, Dearborn Public Schools
Media Tech Specialist Gordon Scannell, an Amateur Radio operator,
presented the
details of the program to district teachers. Varady has been working with
principals to provide lessons and other activities tied to the event.
Scannell, along with other Amateur Radio volunteers have spent countless
hours
arranging the technical details for Tuesday’s event including such
activities
as installing a large temporary antenna on the roof of the Berry Center.
Students will be able to ask questions of the ISS crew during their
scheduled
time. Varady received more than 2,000 questions from students across the
district and then had the daunting task of narrowing them down to only the
best. In total, 18 students in grades first through eighth had their
questions
selected. In addition, students across the district will be able to tune in
and watch as the students gathered in the lecture hall talk with the crew of
the International Space Station.
However, an ARISS contact encompasses more than just students asking
questions
with the ISS crewmember. Additional components include student
activities such
as class lessons about space research, the International Space Station, and
radio technology. The ARISS contact is a “hands on” real world
application of
the science, technology, engineering and math being taught in the
classroom.
* A direct contact via RA1AJN between cosmonaut Sergey Volkov RU3DIS and
students at "About Gagarin From Space: Ham Radio Session with the Members of
Cosmonautics Federation and Students" in St Petersburg, Russia, was
successful
on 2015-10-27 11:35 UTC.
* A direct contact via W8ISS with students at West Michigan Aviation
Academy, Grand Rapids, MI, USA, was successful Fri 2015-10-23 17:58:48 UTC
49 deg.
Astronaut Kimiya Yui, KG5BPH answered 20 questions for students.
Local TV news stations reported on the event:
http://www.wzzm13.com/videos/news/local/2015/10/23/students-talk-to-astrona…
aboard-space-station/74486064/
http://woodtv.com/2015/10/23/w-mi-students-chat-with-astronauts-aboard-iss/
http://fox17online.com/2015/10/23/local-students-talk-to-an-astronaut-in-sp…
Listen to an audio recording of the contact at
http://www.k8tb.org/W8ISS%20Edited.mp3
The West Michigan Aviation Academy is a tuition-free public charter high
school founded by Dick DeVos upon encouragement from wife, Betsy.
Stemming from
their passion for both education and aviation, the school opened its
doors in
the fall of 2010 and is located on the grounds of the Gerald R. Ford
International Airport. Like other high schools, our curriculum includes
core
subjects. But as an aviation-themed high school the curriculum at WMAA is
designed for students who have a passion for aviation and/or an interest in
science, technology, engineering and mathematics. (STEM)
The Aviation program includes training for the Private Pilot certificate in
the student's senior year. The school owns our own Cessna 172 that is
provided
at direct operating costs to the students. Although they must pay for the
flight training the total cost is much lower than renting at the local
flight
school and ground instruction is provided for as part of their elective
classes. Currently we have 11 students in the program and hope to have
18 by
the time of the contact. We also try to get the kids out around the
airport to
experience the many different job opportunities available in aviation.
The Robotics program includes FIRST robotics programs and many of our
competitors are taking both engineering and aviation classes. Our
engineering
program provides for instruction in aerospace, robotics and electronic
fields.
We try to closely alley the Aviation and Engineering departments.
* A direct contact via 8NØSDF with students at Saku Children’s Science
Dome
for the Future, Saku City, Japan, was successful Thu 2015-10-22
09:52:21 UTC
54 deg. The interview with astronaut Kimiya Yui, KG5BPH was conducted in
Japanese.
Yui answered 10 questions for students.
Watch a video of the interview at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl6fkE14Rrw
The Saku Children’s Science Dome for the Future is a science museum that was
founded in 2001. It has a variety of exhibits on earth science, space,
biotechnology, the environment and more. Some of the attractions that
gain the
attention of the children are a life-size model of a dinosaur, a 170 seat
planetarium and a “mercury” display model presented by NASA. The center is
located near the birth place of Mr. Kimiya Yui. Mr. Yui himself has
visited the
center several times. The name of the center has the word “children’s”
in it,
yet all ages can learn from the Saku Children’s Science Dome for the Future.
* A direct contact via RA1AJN between cosmonaut Sergey Volkov RU3DIS and
students at "About Gagarin From Space: Ham Radio Session with the Members of
Cosmonautics Federation and Students" in St. Petersburg, Russia, was
successful
on 2015-10-20 14:30 UTC.
Upcoming Contacts
* Eleanor Palmer School, London, United Kingdom, telebridge via VK6MJ
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1S
The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS
Contact is a go for: Wed 2015-11-04 09:51:39 UTC 44 deg
* Dragonskolan, Umeå, Sweden, telebridge via VK6MJ
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS
The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS
Contact is a go for: Thu 2015-11-05 10:35:17 UTC 28 deg
Watch
http://www.ariss.org/upcoming-contacts.html
for information about upcoming contacts as they are scheduled.
[ANS thanks ARISS, and Charlie, AJ9N 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 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,
Joe Spier, K6WAO
k6wao at amsat dot org
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