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ANS-361 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 27 Dec '15

27 Dec '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-361 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: * Fox-1Cliff and -1D Matching Contribution Offer * AMSAT SKN on OSCAR 2016 This Week * ARISS Celebrates 15 Years of School Contact * AMSAT Awards * EO-79 Transponder Activation * NASA Commercial Crew Program 2016 Children's Artwork Calendar SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-361.01 ANS-340 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 361.01 From AMSAT HQ Kensington, MD. December 27, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-361.01 Fox-1Cliff and -1D Matching Contribution Offer Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to AMSAT members and satellite enthusiasts everywhere! In this season of giving, we’ve had a generous offer for matching funds up to $1,000 for those that contribute to the Fox-1Cliff and -1D crowdsourcing campaign at https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/6pz92/ab/561Zd between now and December 31st. Make your donation twice as valuable by taking advantage of this opportunity and contributing before the end of the year, and help AMSAT fund the launch of the next two satellites in the Fox-1 series. Slated for launch in 2016 on the inaugural Spaceflight SHERPA mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9, Fox-1Cliff and -1D carry university experiments from Pennsylvania State-Erie, Vanderbilt, University of Iowa, cameras provided by Virginia Tech, as well as amateur radio voice repeaters capable of U/V or L/V operation. Donations of $100 or more are eligible for a special AMSAT Fox challenge coin, and $1,000 or more qualifies for a plaque with an actual solar panel cover from Fox-1Cliff or -1D. (We’ve nearly exhausted our coin supply and are waiting on resupply from the mint. Plaques will be distributed sometime after spacecraft integration. Please be patient for delivery of either premium.) AMSAT is a 501-(c)-(3) not-for-profit educational and scientific organization of amateur radio operators whose purpose is to design, construct, launch, and operate satellites in space and to provide the support needed to encourage amateurs to utilize these resources. Please consider a tax-deductible contribution to AMSAT to help underwrite the development and launch expenses of our Fox satellite program. Donors wishing to provide additional matching funds please contact Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA at ko4ma(a)amsat.org. [ANS thanks Drew, KO4MA, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT SKN on OSCAR 2016 This Week You are cordially invited to participate in Straight Key Night on OSCAR 2016, sponsored by AMSAT for all radio amateurs throughout the world. Operate CW through any amateur satellite from 0001 through 2400 UTC on 1 January 2016, using a manual, non-electronic key. Note that bugs are now allowed, as they are in similar ARRL and SKCC events. There is no need to send in a log, but please nominate someone you worked for Best Fist. Your nominee need not have the best fist of those you heard, just of those you worked. Send your nomination to w2rs(a)amsat.org.. A list of those nominated will be published in early February. This year’s event is being held in memory of Ben Stevenson, W2BXA (1914-2011). Licensed since 1929, Ben was one of the world’s top DXers on both HF and satellites. He led the DXCC Honor Roll for many years, and among his many awards were Satellite DXCC No. 1 and post-war Worked All Zones No. 1. Founding president of the North Jersey DX Association, Ben shared his knowledge and enthusiasm with one and all. [ANS thanks Ray, W2RS, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS Celebrates 15 Years of School Contacts 15 years ago today, on December 21, 2000, students at Burbank School in Burbank Illinois, U.S.A. lined us and readied themselves for a very historic event---the first school contact with the crew on the International Space Station. ARISS mentor and radio operator Charlie Sufana, AJ9N and his team of volunteers had aptly prepared the students, teachers and the public in attendance for their historic contact. As AOS approached, Charlie began calling NA1SS. Soon, Expedition 1 Commander Bill "Shep" Shepherd, KD5CDL answered back and the students immediately began asking Shep their questions. The rest is history. Burbank school teacher, Rita Wright, who later became KC9CDL, continues to be active in ARISS as a volunteer. Rita's 2004 AMSAT Symposium paper, "Remember, We're Pioneers!" chronicles the Burbank school's journey to the first ARISS contact and beyond. You are invited to download the paper at https://www.dropbox.com/s/q8cmd0eu9y0imsz/REMEMBER--Burbank%20School.pdf?dl… With this historic event in mind, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our volunteers from the ARISS operations team for their outstanding, long term support to ARISS. These folks---our mentors, telebridge operators and operations leaders---are the foundation of ARISS. They have made nearly 1000 ARISS contacts successful since Burbank, 15 years ago. Without them, the goals of ARISS: inspiration, exploration, education and experimentation, could not be achieved. Their guidance, mentoring and presentations, before, during and after the contact were crucial in achieving these goals. Thank you all!! As the ARISS team prepares for 2016, with many schools in the queue, prepared, ready and waiting for their upcoming contacts, ARISS is gearing up for another historic event---our 1000th school contact. Wow! 1000 ARISS contacts!! To celebrate this historic event, I would ask those that know of an ARISS student that has graduated and is now in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) field to please have them share their story with us. Please pass this along to others and have them send their stories to me at ka3hdo at verizon.net or to our web master at ariss at arrl.org. We would like to compile these for our space agency customers and to share the stories with the amateur radio community. [ANS thanks Frank, KA3HDO, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Awards Here are our newest award recipients and end of the year finale. Happy Holidays and Good DX to all AMSAT Satellite Communicators Award Adrian Liggins, VA3NNA John Pate, W1XQ Mission Bay ARC, KM3RKI Jim Leahy, N0VVV ------ AMSAT Communication Achievement Award Fernando Ramirez-Ferrer, NP4JV #568 ------ AMSAT Sexagesimal Award Clayton Coleman, W5PFG #172 ------ AMSAT Robert W. Barbee Jr., W4AMI Award Frank Westphal, K6FW #84 1,000 contacts John Papay, K8YSE/7 #85 1,000 contacts ------ AMSAT South Africa Communication Achievement Award Fernando Ramirez-Ferrer, NP4JV #US196 To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org or http://www.amsatnet.com/awards.html Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards [ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- EO-79 Transponder Activation On December 21, 2015 at 1038 UT, the EO-79 transponder was turned on for a prolonged period. The FUNcube transponder subsystem on QB50p1 (EO-79) had been provided by AMSAT- UK and AMSAT-NL and is a similar subsystem as on FUNcube-1, but without the telemetry downlink circuitry. The current software running on EO-79 does experience occasional reboots. When these reboots happen, the transponder is automatically turned off and will have to be turned back on by a command station. The FUNcube team has selected a few command stations to do so, but be advised the transponder may be off. TLEs: AMSAT keps name: EO-79 Celestrak keps Name: QB50P1 Celestrak file: cubesat.txt NORAD # 40025 COSPAR designator 2014-033-R Frequencies: *Uplink:* 435.035-435.065 MHz LSB [See note below] *Downlink:* 145.935-145.965 MHz USB EO-79 has been set to only beacon the normal AX.25 beacon every 30 seconds instead of 10 seconds. The beacon frequency is 145.815 MHz and consists of AX.25 frames on BPSK. More details about the downlink can be found on the ISIS Ham Radio page at http://isispace.nl/HAM/qb50p.html We kindly request you to share your experiences with the AMSAT Bulletin Board so everyone can benefit from operating tips and tricks, as well as being up-to-date on the status. We would also welcome any observation related to the transponder behaviour when the AX.25 beacon comes on. Just like FUNcube-1, the crystal oscillator circuits exhibit drift with temperature. This means manual tuning will probably work best. Mike Seguin N1JEZ notes: I found my downlink after setting my uplink +12 kHz from published spec SatPC32 tracking software Doppler SQF information used by Peter VK4NBL: EO-79,145950,435063,USB,LSB,REV,0,0 EO-79,145814.8,435070,CW,TELEMETRY,0,0 Lastly, the commanding team will not be available over Christmas, so the current activations are planned from today until Thursday 24th and from Monday 28th until Thursday 31st [ANS thanks Wouter, PA3WEG, and AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA Commercial Crew Program 2016 Children's Artwork Calendar Some of the best works of art come from children who are only limited by their imaginations, like the more than 150 young explorers from across the country who submitted artwork depicting human spaceflight as they see it. Sixteen masterpieces were chosen to be included in the NASA Commercial Crew Program 2016 Children's Artwork Calendar, which is now available for download in PDF format, at http://go.nasa.gov/1NVTww4. We offer a huge "thank you!" to all the explorers, ranging in age from four to 12, who submitted their work and hope that everyone will enjoy and use this calendar next year. [ANS thanks the NASA Commercial Crew Program 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

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ANS-354 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 20 Dec '15

20 Dec '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-354 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: * Special Membership Offer for Fox-1A launch expiring December 31 * 17 US Schools Move Forward Into the Next Stage of ARISS Selection * ARISS Commemorative Event Update * SA AMSAT Kletskous Cubesat Invites School Experiments to Fly to Space * Slow Scan TV Image Sent Through AO-85 * Yuri, UT1FG/MM, Itinerary During Trip Up the St. Lawrence River * Unscheduled Spacewalk Likely on Monday * SME-SAT video * Look Up and Spot the Station! Learn More With STEM on Station * NASA's Digital Learning Network Seeking Participants for International Event * Now Accepting Applications for NASA Summer Internships * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-354.01 ANS-354 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 354.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. December 20, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-354.01 Special Membership Offer for Fox-1A launch expiring December 31 We've welcomed dozens of new members since the AO-85 launch with our offer of "Getting Started With The Amateur Satellites" as a free PDF with membership in AMSAT, but this offer will come to an end on December 31st, 2015. Point your browser to http://store.amsat.org/catalog/index.php?cPath=32 and help AMSAT keep amateur radio in space, and get a free e-book as a thank you. >From http://www.amsat.org/?p=4591 AMSAT's Fox-1A is set to launch as part of the GRACE (Government Rideshare Advanced Concepts Experiment) auxillary payload on the NROL- 55 mission October 8, 2015 from Vandenburg AFB on an Atlas V vehicle. More details will be released when made available from our launch provider. NRO has released this factsheet about the mission: http://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp- content/uploads/2015/10/GRACE_CubeSat_FactSheet.pdf General information on Fox-1A is available in the downloadable AMSAT Fox Operating Guide http://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp- content/uploads/2015/05/FoxOperatingGuide_May2015_Hi.pdf (Editor's Note: The above two links were truncated to in order to fit required editorial format standards. Please copy and paste complete link, without spaces, into your browser of choice to view the information) FoxTelem software for decoding and submitting telemetry has been made available for download at http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=4532 As part of the preparations for the launch and activation of this new satellite, AMSAT is making our "Getting Started With The Amateur Satellites" book available for a limited time as a download with any paid new or renewal membership purchased via the AMSAT Store. This offer is only available with purchases completed online, and for only a limited time. A perennial favorite, Getting Started is updated every year with the latest amateur satellite information, and is the premier primer of satellite operation. The 132 page book is presented in PDF format, in full color, and covers all aspects of making your first contacts on a ham radio satellite. Please take advantage of this offer today by visiting the AMSAT store (http://store.amsat.org/catalog/) and selecting any membership option. While there, check out our other items, including the M2 LEOpack antenna system, AMSAT shirts, hats, and other swag. Thank you, and see you soon on Fox-1A! [ANS thanks Drew KO4MA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 US Schools Move Forward Into the Next Stage of ARISS Selection Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) and the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), US managing partners of Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS), are pleased to announce the schools/organizations selections for the second half of 2016. A total of 17 of the submitted proposals during the recent proposal window have been accepted to move forward into the next stage of planning to host a scheduled amateur radio contact with crew on the ISS during the July through December period of 2016. This is a significant step in ARISS' continuing effort to engage young people in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) activities and raise their awareness of space exploration, space communications and related areas of study and career possibilities. The ARISS program anticipates that NASA will be able to provide scheduling opportunities for these US host organizations during the July - December 2016 time period. These 17 schools/organizations must now complete an acceptable equipment plan that demonstrates their ability to execute the ham radio contact. Once theirequipment plan is approved by the ARISS technical team, the final selected schools/organizations will be scheduled as their availability and flexibility match up with the scheduling opportunities offered by NASA. The schools and organizations are: Boca Raton Christian School Boca Raton, FL The Children's Museum of Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN Frontiers of Flight Museum's "Moon Day 2016" Dallas, TX Howell L. Watkins Middle School Palm Beach Gardens, FL iSPACE Cincinnati, OH John Glenn Middle School Maplewood, MN Kopernik Observatory &Science Center Vestal, NY Lawrence Public Library Lawrence, KS Museum of Innovation and Science Schenectady, NY Northland Preparatory Academy Flagstaff, AZ Peoria Riverfront Museum Peoria, IL University of Nebraska's Peter Kiewit Institute Omaha, NE South Street School Danbury, CT Space Jam 10 Rantoul, IL United Space School Seabrook, TX U.S. Space & Rocket Center Huntsville, AL World Genesis Foundation (WGF) Goodyear, AZ Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States, and other international space agencies and international amateur radio organizations around the world. The primary purpose of ARISS is to organize scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and classrooms or informal education venues. With the help of experienced amateur radio volunteers from amateur radio clubs and coordination from the ARISS team, the ISS crew members speak directly with large group audiences in a variety of public forums such as school assemblies, science centers and museums, Scout camporees, jamborees and space camps, where students, teachers, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies and Amateur Radio. Find more information at www.ariss.org, www.amsat.org and www.arrl.org. [ANS thanks ARISS, The ARRL and AMSAT for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS Commemorative Event Update ARISS is 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 then 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 in the planning for December 26 and 27. The transmission mode will be PD120 instead of the P180 mode used in the past. This will allow for more pictures to be transmitted per pass. ARISS is also investigating the possibility of a repeat of the event in January. Pictures for transmission are currently under review and will be images that commemorate 15 years of school contacts using Amateur Radio on the International Space Station. Please note that the event, and any ARISS event, is dependent on other activities, schedules and crew responsibilities on the ISS and are subject to change at any time. While preparations are being finalized please check for new and the most current information on the AMSAT.org and ARISS.org web sites and the AMSAT-BB 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- SA AMSAT Kletskous Cubesat Invites School Experiments to Fly to Space SA AMSAT is inviting Southern African leaners and school science groups to take their next science project into space on the first amateur radio satellite being designed and built by radio amateurs in South Africa. Named Kletskous (Afrikaans for Chatterbox) the CubeSat will carry a linear transponder for communication between amateurs, school science projects and a telemetry system. Kletskous measures 10x10x10 cm and will be powered by solar panels. Because of the small size, any science project to be considered for inclusion in the satellite has to be small and consume the minimum of power. The selected projects will be incorporated on one of the main printed circuit boards and connected to the telemetry system. This means that participants in the science projects will be able to download their own telemetry and evaluate how their project is performing and analysing the data collected inspace. The telemetry stream will also be made available on the SA AMSAT web pages giving access to the data to learners on the tablets and laptops. The mission of the new satellite is to give radio amateurs and educational institutions in Southern Africa easy access to a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite on as many of the available passes as possible and thus stimulate interest and activity in space, satellites and amateur radio. A secondary mission is to fly scientific payloads proposed and designed by learners or school science groups. Kletskous will be using the two metre and 70 cm amateur bands. The uplink is on 70 cm, and the downlink on 2 m. A linear transponder with a bandwidth of 20 kHz is utilised for both FM and SSB. A sub- carrier for a telemetry downlink will be included. For command and control purposes a separate 70 cm frequency will be used. Currently frequencies in the 435.100 to 435.140 MHz range are considered for the uplink and 145.860 to 145.980 MHz for the downlink. The above architecture will ensure that the transponder is accessible for general use while the satellite is being commanded and controlled by the ground station. School science payloads are being encouraged that measure things happening in space such the temperature inside or outside the satellite, sounds in space, radiation particle count and many more. Develop the project on a breadboard and test it on the bench, develop software for the project and then write up a proposal with as much information as possible. Include information about yourself or your group, include any photographs and contact details such as telephone number, email address, and physical location. Email the proposal to saamsat(a)intekom.co.za The closing date for proposal is 31 March 2016. Depending on the type and scope of the proposal, SA AMSAT will make the final decision and advise all entrants by 30 April 2016. Theentrants of the successful project or projects will be invited to make a short presentation at the 2016 SA AMSAT Space Symposium on 28 May 2016 planned to be held at the Innovation Hub in Pretoria. The SA AMSAT CubeSat project is funded by donations. To contribute or participate in the project see the SA AMSAT web page at: http://www.amsatsa.org.za/ [ANS thanks SA AMSAT for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Slow Scan TV Image Sent Through AO-85 On December 13 Brazilian radio amateur Roland, PY4ZBZ, received an SSTV image sent in Robot 36 via AO-85. AMSAT Vice President for Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY, said "I can tell you that in South America, they are having some fun, and that our analog-to-digital to analog IHU processing of the audio seems to work very well at SSTV frequencies!" Buxton told ARRL. "I don't know who uplinked the signal, but it was a ground-satellite-ground contact, nothing that originated on AO-85." Buxton went on to state that the transmission was "a very good demonstration of the capability of the FM repeater on the Fox-1 series satellites." The FM satellite uplink is at 435.170 MHz (67 Hz CTCSS tone required). The downlink is at 145.978 MHz. Both frequencies are subject to Doppler shift. Whereas is it not recommended to use satellites to transmit SSTV images this personal experiment by South American hams didn't seem to interfere with any other transmissions. AMSAT VP of Operations Drew Glasbrenner KO4MA stated "At some point we will set up a period to try it over the US, but until then please refrain from repeating this experiment." [ANS thanks AMSAT, Jerry, N0JY, and Drew KO4MA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- UT1FG/MM Itinerary During Trip Up the St. Lawrence River Yuri, UT1FG/MM, is heading up to the St. Lawrence and Montreal and will visit two ports there. He has shared a list of grids that he will likely travel through. Some of these grids have not been previously activated, however, keep in mind that not every grid will be workable due to the timing of the available satellite passes. He may be in some of these grids for a very short time. FL17 FL18 FL28 FL29 FM20 FM30 FM31 FM32 FM42 FM43 FM53 FM54 FM55 FM56 FM66 FM67 FM68 FM78 FM79 FM89 FN80 FN81 FN82 FN83 FN93 FN94 FN95 GN05 GN06 GN07 FN97 FN98 FN88 FN89 FN79 FN69 FN58 FN57 FN47 FN46 FN36 FN35 The ship is the Barnacle, a vessel on which he has previously sailed. [ANS thanks John K8YSE for the above iformation] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Unscheduled Spacewalk Likely on Monday Impacts that the amateur radio on the ISS will not return to service until after the EVA. The International Space Station’s mission managers are preparing for a likely unplanned spacewalk by Astronauts Scott Kelly and Tim Kopra no earlier than Monday, Dec. 21. Late Wednesday, the Mobile Transporter rail car on the station’s truss was being moved by robotic flight controllers at Mission Control, Houston, to a different worksite near the center of the truss for payload operations when it stopped moving. The cause of the stall is being evaluated, but experts believe it may be related to a stuck brake handle, said ISS Mission Integration and Operations Manager Kenny Todd. Flight controllers had planned to move the transporter away from the center of the truss to worksite 2. The cause of the stall that halted its movement just four inches (10 centimeters) away from where it began is still being evaluated. Progress 62 is scheduled to launch at 3:44 a.m. EST Monday, and dock on Wednesday to the Pirs docking compartment at 5:31 a.m. Wednesday. The ISS Mission Management Team met Friday morning and is targeting Monday for the spacewalk, but will meet again in a readiness review Sunday morning. Managers could elect to press ahead for Monday, or take an extra day and conduct the spacewalk Tuesday. ISS Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly and Flight Engineer Tim Kopra of NASA will conduct the spacewalk. It will be the 191st spacewalk in support of space station assembly and maintenance, the third in Kelly’s career and the second for Kopra. Kelly will be designated Extravehicular Activity crew member 1 (EV1) wearing the suit bearing the red stripes, and Kopra will be Extravehicular Activity crew member 2 (EV2) wearing the suit with no stripes. A start time for the spacewalk either Monday or Tuesday has not yet been set, but NASA TV coverage will begin 90 minutes prior to the start of the spacewalk. For amateur radio enthusiats should note that the EVA impacts the use of the amateur radio which will likely not return to service until after the EVA. [ANS thanks blogs.nasa.gov for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- SME-SAT video The Surrey Space Centre in Guildford has released a ‘Softstack’ Integration time-lapse video of the SME-SAT CubeSat. The mission objectives are: A: Outreach – The satellite will provide beacons for which amateur satellite users and ham radio users will be able to receive. B: Space qualification and performance characterisation of sensors. • High performance COTS Gyroscopes (x3). • High precision MEMS accelerometers. • 2 Aperture Star Camera, At a later point in the mission these will be used in conjunction with the ADCS to characterise the closed loop performance of the sensors. C: Performance characterisation of Nano-Control Moment Gyros (CMGs) for agility. The mission is equipped with 4-Nano-CMGs in a pyramid configuration for ADCS. This part of the mission will evaluate the performance of this system on the ADCS and agility of the satellite. D: Space qualification and performance characterisation of the EPS The EPS for this mission has heritage from the Delfi-C3 and other missions and includes additional improvements to be demonstrated on this mission. E: Smart Thermal Radiation Devices (STRD tiles) SME-SAT is equipped with a number of STRD tiles on the outside faces of the satellite for passive thermal management of the internal structure. F: Flux Gate Magnetometer The mission contains a scientific grade miniaturized flux gate magnetometer that sits on the end of a deployable boom to improve the performance of the sensor. This payload will be switched into the ADCS for evaluation of performance during parts of the mission but is not the primary magnetometer for ADCS. G: GPS SME-SAT also contains an experimental GPS system that will be switched into the ADCS loop at stages in the orbit to evaluate the performance of the system. The IARU coordinated frequency for the satellite’s 9k6 RC-BPSK AX.25 downlink is 437.150 MHz. More information here http://www.surrey.ac.uk/ssc/research/onboarddata/smesat/index.htm [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Look Up and Spot the Station! Learn More With STEM on Station The International Space Station orbits 250 miles above Earth and travels about 17,500 miles per hour. The space station is visible in the night sky and looks like a fast-moving plane, but it is dozens of times higher than any airplane and travels thousands of miles an hour faster. Learn more about how you can spot the space station and other ways you can bring the station into your classroom by visiting NASA's STEM on Station website. While you are there, stop by and learn more about the yearlong mission and how it is helping us on our #JourneytoMars. Opportunities, resources and more await at this space-station-focused site! To check out the website, visit http://www.nasa.gov/education/STEMstation. [ANS thanks the NASA Education Express Message -- Dec. 17, 2015 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA's Digital Learning Network Seeking Participants for International Event In February 2016, NASA's Digital Learning Network is teaming up with The Royal Institution and Faraday Studios for a series of Google Hangout events in connection with British astronaut Tim Peake's mission to the International Space Station. The live hourlong events will include selected classrooms from the United Kingdom and the U.S. These classes will pose questions to Dr. Kevin Fong (author of "Extreme Medicine"), Dr. Steven Jacobs (Mr. Wizard) and NASA experts. The events will be broadcast live on YouTube. The DLN currently is seeking U.S. middle and high schools (grades 5- 12) that would be interested in participating in these events interactively with our U.K. partners. Schools, if selected, would be required to conduct a test call in early January with a representative of the DLN to confirm participation. If you would like to have your school considered, please contact Caryn Long at caryn.long(a)nasa.gov. Inquiries must be received no later than Dec. 21, 2015. For more information about the lecture series, visit http://www.nasa.gov/dln/opportunities/. To learn more about NASA's Digital Learning Network, visit http://www.nasa.gov/dln. [ANS thanks the NASA Education Express Message -- Dec. 17, 2015 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Now Accepting Applications for NASA Summer Internships Now is your chance to apply for exciting hands-on summer internship opportunities available at all NASA centers. High school, undergraduate and graduate students are needed to help NASA scientists and engineers with ongoing scientific and engineering research, technology development and spaceflight operations activities. Internship opportunities also exist in nontechnical areas such as communications, budget, procurement, education and human resources. NASA internships are stipend-paid and offer students mentor-directed, degree-related, real-time tasks. If you think you have what it takes to be part of NASA's Journey to Mars, please visit https://intern.nasa.gov today to apply or to learn more about the numerous opportunities available to you. The deadline for summer applications is March 1, 2016! Please submit inquiries about the NASA Internships, Fellowships, and Scholarships One Stop Shopping Initiative, or NIFS OSSI, via https://intern.nasa.gov/oic/. [ANS thanks the NASA Education Express Message -- Dec. 17, 2015 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News >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. Look for SSTV image downlinks to commemorate ARISS' 15 years of school contacts on the ISS on December 26 and 27 (subject to change) See related story above. An EVA that needs to be scheduled to fix a problem with the mobile transporter cart, will most likely mean that the the amateur radio on the ISS will remail off until after after the EVA. http://tinyurl.com/ANS354-ISS-EVA [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + Fox-1A Operating Guide - updated with post launch information. A Hi- resolution PDF for hard copy printing is available. http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=2144 Hamfest brochure introducing AMSAT - trifold, print double-sided http://tinyurl.com/ANS354-AMSAT-Trifold [ANS thanks JoAnne K9JKM for the above information] + New ISS SSTV Video and "ISS SSTV Reception Hints" webpage To help promote the tentative December 26th International Space Station Slow Scan TV event (and others that are planned over the next year) John Brier, KG4AKV, made a new video of an ISS SSTV reception that he filmed last April. He also made an extensive webpage with information, resources, and hints on receiving ISS SSTV events, including the upcoming ones. Video: My First Perfect ISS SSTV Image! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7to9uX1sWC4 Webpage: ISS SSTV Reception Hints https://spacecomms.wordpress.com/iss-sstv-reception-hints/ + NASA Commercial Crew Program 2016 Children's Artwork Calendar Some of the best works of art come from children who are only limited by their imaginations, like the more than 150 young explorers from across the country who submitted artwork depicting human spaceflight as they see it. Sixteen masterpieces were chosen to be included in the NASA Commercial Crew Program 2016 Children's Artwork Calendar, which is now available for download in PDF format, at http://go.nasa.gov/1NVTww4. We offer a huge "thank you!" to all the explorers, ranging in age from four to 12, who submitted their work and hope that everyone will enjoy and use this calendar next year. [ANS thanks the NASA Commercial Crew Program 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

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ANS-347 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Joseph Spier 13 Dec '15

13 Dec '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-347 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: * Upcoming ARISS Commemorative SSTV Event mid to late December * STMSat-1 has made it to the Space Station * ATVQ Magazine Documents Mir SSTV History * Commemorative ANZAC Operations Include Satellite Activation * UK students to have direct contact with astronaut Tim Peake during Principia mission * NASA TV to cover launch of Tim Peake KG5BVI * WRC-15: Amateur Bands Unsuitable for Non-Amateur Satellites * AMSAT Events * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-347.01 ANS-347 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 347.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE December 13, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-347.01 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS Commemorative SSTV Event mid to late December 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. More information at http://www.ariss.org/ when available [ANS thanks ARISS & Trevor, M5AKA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- STMSat-1 has made it to the ISS Cygnus cargo vessel carrying STMSat-1 has made it to the space station! At 6:19am Wednesday morning, the Space Station robotic arm grasped the ORB-4 cargo element and mated it to the ISS. The ISS will be it's home until on or about February 15th. On or about that day, the STMSat-1 will be launched with other CubeSats via a pea pod ejector and launched into low earth orbit. At that point, the timer starts for the programmed deployment of the antennas, the solar array, and the earth observation camera. Godspeed STMSat-1. Please open the link below for additional information on the events of the day. http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/12/09/u-s-resupply-of-space-station- successfully-resumes/ http://jewelbots.tumblr.com/post/134465599599/how-did-400-grade-school- students-built-a [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK & Spaceflightnow.com for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ATVQ Magazine Documents Mir SSTV History December 12 marked the 17th anniversary of the beginning of the MIR SSTV Station which was active in sending pictures over a period of about 2 years and 4 months. For those interested in this historical event and would like more background information, the Spring, 2015 issue of the Amateur Television Quarterly Magazine (ATVQ), has an article, "How Did Mir SSTV come into Existence?" Back issue copies of ATVQ and cyber copies of the article are available on-line at http://www.atvquarterly.com/ or by contacting ATVQ via e-mail at WA6SVT(a)aol.com. [ANS thanks Farrell Winder, W8ZCF, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Commemorative ANZAC Operations Include Satellite Activation The ANZAC 100 program has entered its "last hurrah" phase, with plenty of on air action now as ANZAC-suffixed callsigns commemorate the departure from Gallipoli on December 20, 1915. The multi-mode event by VI3ANZAC is in full swing, headed by Tony Hambling VK3VTH. In honor of the Royal Australian Navy Bridge Train, a large team lead by Mike Charteris VK4QS is being heard through VI4ANZAC. In the west VI6ANZAC organized by Chris Grice VK6PII has members of the Ham College. The major operations are this weekend at the RAAF Museum Bull Creek in the Cobra Helicopter display, and next weekend at the Ham College new shack in a scout hall. Chris VK6PII advises that VI6ANZAC will be on HF using SSB and sometimes CW, and plans to activate an FM satellite as well. While VI8ANZAC is now on air, and is to finish at the Charles Darwin National Park with Stuie VK8NSB and Rowan VK8RD, heard on HF using SSB & CW. More details of each of these events are on the WIA website, wia.org.au On next week's broadcast we will conclude with the special closing address from the WIA President, Phil Wait VK2ASD. That is expected to talk about the significance of the ANZAC legend, and the highly successful WIA ANZAC 100 program that began with pre-cursors at Queenscliff, Darwin and Albany. These have been 50 events in the past eight months, joined by commemorative callsigns in Turkey and Belgium. Now the ANZAC-suffixed callsigns "last hurrah" on air until December 20, are working the world. [ANS thanks the VK1WIA-news from the Wireless Institute of Australia for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- UK students to have direct contact with astronaut Tim Peake during Principia mission Working with the UK Space Agency, ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) is giving a number of UK schools the opportunity to speak directly to Tim Peake, the first British ESA astronaut, during his mission on board the International Space Station (ISS). This will enable live interaction between pupils and Tim and is anticipated to be one of the highlights of the Principia STEM outreach program. During his 6 month mission to the ISS, starting in December 2015, Tim will be undertaking a wide range of science experiments, some of which have been designed by students from around the UK. Additionally he has committed to take part in a large range of educational outreach activities with schools and colleges around the country. Jeremy Curtis, Head of Education at the UK Space Agency, said: “Both Tim’s space mission and amateur radio have the power to inspire young people and encourage them into STEM subjects. By bringing them together we can boost their reach and give young people around the UK the chance to be involved in a space mission and a hands-on project that will teach them new skills.” The pre-arranged schools contacts will take place between January and April 2016 and students will be able to put a number of questions directly to Tim using amateur radio VHF and UHF radio equipment specially installed at the school for the occasion. The 3.8 meter dish owned by Satellite Applications Catapult is being loaned to the project to track the ISS and will ensure real time video will be available during the schools’ contacts scheduled for early next year. The dish is almost in the shadow of the 29 meter dish “Arthur” built in 1962 to receive the first transatlantic television signals from the Telstar-1 spacecraft. For Tim Peake’s mission, the ARISS team of licensed UK Radio Amateurs is planning a world first by also receiving live video from the ISS during the contact. Using the HamTV transmitter, which has recently been commissioned on board the ISS, Tim will be the first astronaut to use this equipment during a two way schools contact. As well as building a vehicle based receive system, which will be installed at the school on the day of the contact, the team recently visited Goonhilly Earth Station in Cornwall to commission a dish to receive the 2.4 GHz HamTV transmissions from the ISS. During the contact at the schools the ARISS team will be providing information displays on the ISS position and have webcams showing both the local and Goonhilly dishes as they track the ISS. The hosting schools will be organizing presentations and displays before and after the contact and the ARISS team will be providing a live web cast of all the day’s events including the actual contact with Tim Peake. The live event webcast will be hosted by the British Amateur Television Club (BATC) on their web streaming service at https://principia.ariss.org/live/ The ARISS program is designed to maximize the impact of the Principia Mission outreach activities. It will directly engage students with media and communication technologies with the goal of inspiring them to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. UK Space Agency Principia site https://principia.org.uk/ School Shortlist for Tim Peake Space Station Contact http://amsat-uk.org/2015/07/14/school-shortlist-tim-peake-iss/ NASA TV to cover launch of Tim Peake KG5BVI http://amsat-uk.org/2015/12/08/nasa-tv-to-cover-launch-of-tim-peake-kg5bvi/ [ANS thanks UK Space Agency, ARISS, & AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA TV to cover launch of Tim Peake KG5BVI The next three crew members bound for the International Space Station are set to launch on Tuesday, December 15. NASA Television will provide full coverage of the launch beginning at 10:00 UT. UK astronaut Tim Peake KG5BVI, along with Yuri Malenchenko RK3DUP and Tim Kopra KE5UDN, will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:03 UT (5:03 p.m. Baikonur time) for a six-month stay on the orbital complex. The three will travel in a Soyuz spacecraft, rendezvous with the space station and dock to the Rassvet module at 17:24 UT NASA TV coverage of docking will begin at 16:45 UT. The hatches between the Soyuz and space station will be opened at about 19:25 UT, and the newly arrived crew members will be greeted by Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly of NASA and Flight Engineers Sergey Volkov RU3DIS and Mikhail Kornienko RN3BF of Roscosmos. NASA TV coverage of the hatch opening will begin at 19:00 UT. Kelly and Kornienko will return in March 2016 with Volkov after spending a year on the station collecting valuable biomedical data that will improve our understanding of the effects of long duration space travel and aid in NASA’s journey to Mars. Together, the Expedition 46 crew members will continue the several hundred experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science currently underway and scheduled to take place aboard humanity’s only orbiting laboratory. For the full schedule of prelaunch, launch and docking coverage, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv Follow Tim Peake KG5BVI on Twitter at https://twitter.com/astro_timpeake Follow the space station crew members on Instagram and Twitter at: http://instagram.com/iss and http://www.twitter.com/Space_Station [ANS thanks NASA, ARISS, & AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- WRC-15: Amateur Bands Unsuitable for Non-Amateur Satellites The World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) held in Geneva during November 2015 has recommended an agenda for the next WRC, to be held in 2019, to the Council of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). One of the agenda items is of particular interest to the small-satellite community. Agenda item 1.7 for WRC-19 reads: “to study the spectrum needs for telemetry, tracking and command in the space operation service for non-GSO satellites with short duration missions, to assess the suitability of existing allocations to the space operation service and, if necessary, to consider new allocations, in accordance with Resolution COM6/19 (WRC-15).” Resolution COM6/19, which eventually will be given a new number, specifies the frequency ranges that may be considered for possible new allocations. They are 150.05-174 MHz and 400.15-420 MHz. One of the factors that the conference considered in deciding on these particular frequency ranges was “that some non-amateur satellites have used frequencies for telemetry, tracking and command in the frequency bands 144-146 MHz and 435-438 MHz which are allocated to the amateur-satellite service, and that such use is not in accordance with Nos. 1.56 and 1.57.” Those two provisions of the ITU Radio Regulations define the amateur and amateur- satellite services respectively. The International Amateur Radio Union welcomed the exclusion from consideration of all existing frequency allocations to the amateur and amateur- satellite services. IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH, observed: “This is an excellent result for the amateur services and clearly shows that non-amateur satellite constructors need to consider spectrum other than the very limited and congested segments that are available for amateur satellites at 144 MHz and 435 MHz.” [ANS thanks IARU, ARRL, & AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News Successful Contacts * A direct contact via 8N2YAYOI with students at Yayoi Elementary School, Yatomi, Japan was successful Fri 2015-12-04 09:25:46 UTC 57 deg. Astronaut Kimiya Yui KG5BPH and answered 14 questions prepared by students. Watch a video of the contact which was conducted in Japanese at http://www.ariss.jp/yatomi/8n2yayoi.wmv * The telebridge contact with students at Dragonskolan, Umeå, Sweden was rescheduled via LU1CGB for Fri 2015-12-04 10:15:01 UTC 72 deg. Astronaut Kjell Lindgren, KO5MOS was able to answer 17 prepared questions for students. The contact was recorded by the school. View it on the school website at: http://www.skola.umea.se/dragonskolan Dragonskolan is one of the biggest upper secondary schools in Sweden and is located in central Umeå. Currently hosting 1820 students aged 16-19 and 300 staff; it has recently been renovated to meet modern needs in a stimulating learning environment. At Dragonskolan, we have an ethos where we believe we can offer our students three meaningful and enjoyable years. Our core values are “open and bright”, referring not only to the physical surroundings but also to the social climate. Dragonskolan is the biggest meeting place for young people in Umeå, A wide range of 3 year programs, college preparatory and vocational, are offered here, ranging from natural science to humanities and technological science. At the core of the school is the Dragonskolan Technology Center where everything is taught from industrial welding technology to electronics, automation, computer science, CAD and much more. With its close ties to the industry, the school keeps in pace with the latest industrial technology ensuring the students get the best education available within their chosen field. * A direct contact with students at an event titled, “the development of Gagarin from Space”, was sponsored by the Polytechnic Professional Councils of the City of Grozny, Russia on Sat 2015-12-05 16:25 UTC. The cosmonaut for the contact was Sergey Volkov RU3DIS. * A telebridge contact via LU1CGB with students at Konstanty Ildefons Galczynski Junior High School, Swietajno, Poland, was successful Tue 2015-12-08 08:19:31 UTC 62 deg. Astronaut Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS answered 14 questions prepared by students. An audio recording may be heard at: http://www.ariss.org/news.html Konstanty Ildefons Galczynski Junior High School in Swietajno, attended by approximately 170 pupils (aged 13-15), is situated in a picturesque Land of a Thousand Lakes in Szczytno County (Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in the northeastern part of Poland. The school consists of seven forms and it employs twenty well-qualified teachers. Mazurian Amateur Radio Club SP4YWM has been established here and it functions with the number of seventeen school members (among which there are three primary school pupils and one pre-school girl, all from Swietajno). In preparation for the amateur radio contact with the ISS, the students with the guidance of their teachers improved their English, got familiar with the life and work on the ISS. They had a great opportunity to learn everyday English in order to ask an astronaut questions during the ISS contact as well as the specialized language of science to visit space agencies pages. The students learned geography with the use of modern technologies and photographed the Earth from the camera on board the ISS (EarthKAM). The school cooperated with the Olsztyn Planetarium to organize an observation. The planetarium visited Swietajno to accompany one of the school events. Consequently, the Astronomical Mobile Laboratory called Astrolabium was at the school’s disposal. Last year the ARISS participants from Swietajno attended the 4th Polish-Wide Conference of Contributors and Sympathisers in ARISS held in the central part of Poland, where they focused on interesting topics concerning the ISS and learned how other Polish schools had prepared for ARISS contacts in the past. The pupils also performed an experiment in the near space as a part of the miniSAT project. They sent peas, bubble wrap and a watch to near space to the altitude of about 30 000 meters above the Earth. The conditions differ significantly between near space and the surface of the Earth: the pressure is much smaller, UV radiation is higher and the temperature is below zero degrees Celsius. People from all over Poland, including the pupils from Swietajno, took part in it. The balloon used in the event was marked “CP26”. The experiment in the near space was possible thanks to ham radio operators and other volunteers from a non-governmental organization called Copernicus Project Foundation (near Torun, Poland). Their two flagship projects are MiniSAT and Near Space Program in Poland and they have organized above 30 balloon flies to the near space since 2005. In March 2013 the school started public relations activities connected with the ham radio contact between an astronaut on the International Space Station and the students from Konstanty Ildefons Galczynski School. An official inauguration of the ARISS program in Swietajno had been prepared. TVP Olsztyn, Radio Olsztyn and other local mass media were present there and took part in an inaugural lecture on ARISS. As a continuation of EarthKAM program an exhibition of the photographs taken by the students was organized during the inauguration. Before that, Swietajno primary school pupils (between the ages of 5 and 12) had been invited to participate in the preparations to the ARISS contact. As a result, some of them are going to ask the astronaut their questions, together with their older friends from the junior high school. Upcoming Contacts >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. 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 * SpaceX to launch rocket Dec 19, six months after blast SpaceX on Thursday announced plans to launch its Falcon 9 on December 19, its first mission since a massive explosion after liftoff destroyed the rocket and its space station cargo six months ago. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on Twitter that the company is preparing for a static fire -- an engine test on the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida -- on December 16, followed by "launch about three days later." The Falcon rocket will carry 11 satellites for the US company Orbcomm into low- Earth orbit, a company spokesman said. The spokesman did not say when SpaceX planned to begin sending cargo to the International Space Station again. SpaceX's only competitor in the commercial resupply industry is Orbital ATK, which also suffered a major setback when its Antares rocket exploded after launching from Wallops Island, Virginia in October 2014. Orbital ATK launched on Sunday its unmanned Cygnus cargo ship to the ISS, this time aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket while it upgrades the Antares, which previously used a reconditioned Ukrainian rocket engine. The Falcon 9 exploded on June 28, just over two minutes after launching from Cape Canaveral with its Dragon cargo ship loaded with supplies for the astronauts living in space. Musk said the blast was due to a faulty strut. The accident was a blow to the California-based company, which was the first commercial outfit to send a cargo craft to space under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA. The Falcon 9 rocket that is scheduled to fly December 19 is a new version that is 30 percent more powerful and designed to improve the controlled landing of the rocket's first stage, a mission that SpaceX has been attempting to refine in the hope of one day making rockets as reusable as airplanes. SpaceX has tried multiple times to land its rocket upright on a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean, without success. For this next launch, SpaceX said it plans to attempt a touchdown on land for the first time. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, an Internet entrepreneur who like Musk also owns a rocket company, announced on November 24 that he had successfully landed his New Shepard rocket after a suborbital flight. While Bezos touted the achievement, Musk and other experts pointed out that it would have been much easier to control the landing of a rocket that flies lower in altitude than the first stage of the Falcon 9. Once rockets do become reusable, analysts say the practice will save millions of dollars in equipment and launch costs. see http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/SpaceX_to_launch_rocket_Dec_19_six_months_ after_blast_999.html [ANS thanks SpaceDaily.com for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive 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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ANS-340 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 06 Dec '15

06 Dec '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-340 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * AMSAT Ground Terminal Development Expands to Texas * AMSAT SKN on OSCAR 2016 In Memory of W2BXA * Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2015-12-02 20:30 UTC * WRC-15 Satellite News * Cubesat by an Elementary School Will be Aboard the Orbital-ATK Cygnus Launch * 73 on 73 Award Recipients SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-340.01 ANS-340 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 340.01 From AMSAT HQ Kensington, MD. December 6, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-340.01 AMSAT Ground Terminal Development Expands to Texas Hardware consisting of Ettus Research USRP X300 SDR, USRP B210 SDR, UBX40 USRP Daughterboard, GPDSO Kits, and antennas have been ordered from National Instruments Corp. for delivery to Bill Reed NX5R in Dallas TX to equip a second community for development of the AMSAT Ground Terminals. These terminals will be used for the Phase 4B and other digital/microwave satellites being developed by AMSAT and in partnership with Virginia Tech. Michelle Thompson W5NYV has been leading the effort in the San Diego CA area, which started up when the P4B project was announced earlier this year. Amateur radio operators in the Southern California area from AMSAT, Palomar Amateur Radio Club, and the San Diego Microwave Society have been implementing a terrestrial system to mimic the ground and space segments of a digital satellite communications link and developing code and hardware techniques for use in the P4B and future HEO opportunities that AMSAT is pursuing. Expanding the system to the Dallas area will allow more collaboration, development, and testing by AMSAT and North Texas Microwave Society amateurs with San Diego and other regions. The investment in equipment and community building will increase the number and quality of ideas in developing this next generation system of amateur radio satellite communications. Another development system is being planned for the east coast. AMSAT is actively recruiting individuals and groups that want to work together to establish increased regional technical activity in support of satellite service goals. Rick Hambly W2GPS has campaigned for the creation of this very type of activity on the east coast for many years. Successful east-coast expansion will add even more variability and expertise to the project. By involving amateurs who have expertise in both microwave and digital communications and in varying terrain and conditions, as well as including people with various backgrounds and experience, AMSAT plans to produce a ground terminal that will be useful with a variety of next generation satellites including Phase 4B, Phase 3E, the Heimdallr Lunar Cube Quest CubeSat, and an AMSAT developed HEO CubeSat. These are all projects currently being pursued by the AMSAT Engineering and ASCENT (Advanced Satellite Communications and Exploration of New Technology) Teams. “The development of a ground terminal along with satellite projects is part of a plan to offer a way for amateurs to buy, build, or access ideas to develop their own ground terminals which will be useful for many future AMSAT satellite mission for years to come” said AMSAT-NA Vice President of Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY. “The concept of common uplink (5 GHz) and downlink (10 GHz) frequencies with software defined transponders allows many different experimentation and communications opportunities ranging from simple texting to voice, streaming video, data exchange, and reliable EMCOMM access in remote areas, with bandwidths to support many satellites and users.” If you are interested in supporting the effort please visit http://ww2.amsat.org/?page_id=1121 to submit a request. While those who live in the San Diego, Dallas, or Maryland areas may find it easier to participate, volunteers from other areas are welcome to join and contribute remotely. [ANS thanks Jerry, NØJY, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT SKN on OSCAR 2016 In Memory of W2BXA You are cordially invited to participate in Straight Key Night on OSCAR 2016, sponsored by AMSAT for all radio amateurs throughout the world. Operate CW through any amateur satellite from 0001 through 2400 UTC on 1 January 2016, using a manual, non-electronic key. Note that bugs are now allowed, as they are in similar ARRL and SKCC events. There is no need to send in a log, but please nominate someone you worked for Best Fist. Your nominee need not have the best fist of those you heard, just of those you worked. Send your nomination to w2rs(a)amsat.org.. A list of those nominated will be published in early February. This year’s event is being held in memory of Ben Stevenson, W2BXA (1914-2011). Licensed since 1929, Ben was one of the world’s top DXers on both HF and satellites. He led the DXCC Honor Roll for many years, and among his many awards were Satellite DXCC No. 1 and post-war Worked All Zones No. 1. Founding president of the North Jersey DX Association, Ben shared his knowledge and enthusiasm with one and all. [ANS thanks Ray, W2RS, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2015-12-02 20:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: 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 was successful: 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 Dragonskolan, Umeå, Sweden, telebridge via LU1CGB The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS Contact is a go for: Fri 2015-12-04 10:15:01 UTC 72 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 Konstanty Ildefons Galczynski Junior High School, Swietajno, Poland, telebridge via LU1CGB The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS Contact is a go for: Tue 2015-12-08 08:19:31 UTC 62 deg [ANS thanks Charlie, AJ9N, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- WRC-15 Satellite News In his report for Day 16 of the WRC-15 conference Colin Thomas G3PSM says: Discussions took place on suggested frequency bands for possible new or an upgrade of existing allocations to the space operations service within the frequency ranges 150.05-174 MHz, 400.15-420 MHz [and 420-450 MHz] for short duration satellites. This potential future agenda item is an attempt to overcome the problem of non-amateur nano- and pico-satellites using the amateur service bands. No decision was reached and the document has been passed to plenary for decision. More reports about WRC-15 activities can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/blog/category/news/special-focus/wrc-15/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information --------------------------------------------------------------------- Cubesat by an Elementary School Will be Aboard the Orbital-ATK Cygnus Launch NASA will enable the deployment of three small research satellites, or CubeSats, selected through the CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) for two universities and one primary school as part of the ninth installment of the Educational Launch of Nanosatellite (ELaNa) missions. Full story at this URL: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/ELaNa_IX_mission_launches_first_cubesat_b… by_elementary_school_students_999.html [ANS thanks SpaceDaily for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 73 on 73 Award Recipients Paul Stoetzer N8HM reports more awards have been issued for contacts made via the AO-73 (FUNcube-1) amateur radio satellite. The 73 on 73 Award aims to promote activity on AO-73. The requirements are straight-forward: 1. Work 73 unique stations on AO-73. 2. Contacts must be made on or after September 1, 2014. 3. There are no geographic restrictions on your operating location. The latest recipients are: 20. David D’Aliesio IW0HLG – 31 May 2015 21. Kiyosi Hasegawa JA3FWT – 22 June 2015 22. Mariusz Kocot SQ9MES – 28 June 2015 23. Hector Luis Martinez W5CBF – 12 July 2015 24. George K. Carr II WA5KBH – 17 July 2015 25. Michel Ribot F6GLJ – 18 July 2015 26. Paul Stoetzer N8HM – 21 July 2015 27. Jeffrey Lamb NX9B – 2 August 2015 28. Imre Füzi HA1SE – 13 September 2015 29. Herman Blom PB0AHX – 1 November 2015 30. Joseba Andoni Barrio – 22 November 2015 Full information on how to apply is at http://amsat-uk.org/funcube/73-on-73-award/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK 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

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ANS-333 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 29 Nov '15

29 Nov '15

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

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ANS-326 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Joseph Spier 22 Nov '15

22 Nov '15

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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /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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ANS 321 AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN - AO-85 Commissioned, Handed Over To AMSAT-NA Operations
by E.Mike McCardel 18 Nov '15

18 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

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ANS-319 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 15 Nov '15

15 Nov '15

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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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

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ANS-312 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 08 Nov '15

08 Nov '15

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

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ANS-305 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Joseph Spier 01 Nov '15

01 Nov '15

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 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /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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