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ANS-053 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 21 Feb '15

21 Feb '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-053 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: * ARISS School Proposal Window for the United States is now Open * Amateur Radios on ISS to be off in support of upcoming spacewalks * SSTV Activity from the ISS is scheduled February 22-23 - Update * Astronaut Ham Renews License, Plus Four New Astronaut Hams * John Grunsfeld, KC5ZTF, named to Astronaut Hall of Fame * JPL Plans 2401 MHz Lunar Ranging Experiment March 3 * New Educational Materials Available at NASA.gov * Design The Next AMSAT Satellite! * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-053.01 ANS-053 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 053.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE February 22, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-053.01 ARISS School Proposal Window for the United States is now Open February 17, 2015 - ARISS is now accepting proposals for U.S. schools wishing to schedule contacts between their students and the International Space Station for the next cycle. Details on submitting proposals can be found below in the attached ARRL News Release. Message to US Educators Amateur Radio on the International Space Station Contact Opportunity Call for Proposals Proposal Window February 15 - April 15, 2015 The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS. ARISS anticipates that the contact would be held between *January 1, 2016 and June 30, 2016*. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan. The deadline to submit a proposal is April 15, 2015. Proposal information and documents can be found at www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact. The Opportunity Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students and educators to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session. An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in contact dates and times. Amateur Radio organizations around the world, NASA, and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe sponsor this educational opportunity by providing the equipment and operational support to enable direct communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world via Amateur Radio. In the US, the program is managed by AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) and ARRL (American Radio Relay League) in partnership with NASA. More Information Interested parties can find more information about the program at www.ariss.org and www.arrl.org/ARISS. For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Sessions go to www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact. Please direct any questions to ariss(a)arrl.org. [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Amateur radios on ISS to be off in support of upcoming spacewalks Astronauts Wilmore, Virts and Cristoforetti will be performing three spacewalks over the next few weeks and will impact some of the amateur radio operations on the International Space Station (ISS). Spacewalks have been scheduled for February 21, 24 and March 1 and will have the amateur radios turned off to assure the safety of the crewmembers working outside of the ISS. The first spacewalk is now set to begin Saturday at 7:10 a.m. EST with NASA TV live coverage starting at 6 a.m. The second and third spacewalks are planned for Feb. 25 and March 1, both beginning at 7:10 a.m. The announcement can be reviewed: http://tinyurl.com/ANS053-EVA-Schedule The series of spacewalks will prepare cables and communications gear for new docking ports that will allow future crews launched from Florida on U.S. commercial spacecraft to dock to the space station. The spacewalks will be the 185th, 186th and 187th in support of space station assembly and maintenance. There is always a possibility that the schedule for the EVAs could change. The amateur radios will be turned off to accommodate any adjustments to the EVA schedule. [ANS thanks NASA, Kenneth - N5VHO for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- SSTV Activity from the ISS is scheduled February 22-23 - Update Continuous SSTV transmission was planned from Saturday 21 February at about 10.00 UTC till Monday 23 February 21.30 UTC. Due to onboard activities, the transmission is differed. It will *possibly* take place beginning Sunday February 22 after 10:00 UTC and end Monday February 23 at the crew's sleep time. It is expected that 12 different photos will be sent on 145.800 MHz FM, using the SSTV mode PD180, with 3 minutes off periods between transmissions. One of the photos will show the commemorative diploma created by PZK, the national Polish Amateur Radio society, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the birth of first cosmonaut J.A.Gagarine. More about this diploma in due time. The equipment used will be the Kenwood D710 transceiver located in the Russian Service Module. The pictures to be downlinked will be Series 1 images allowing the world-wide community of hams and schools to receive previously sent pictures, but replacing one with new additional image added specially for this event. The transmit frequency will be 145.800 MHz. Received images can be uploaded to the ARISS Image gallery found at http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php The ARISS team is developing plans for transmitting new images to space enthusiasts around the world in upcoming months. *Editor's note: Adjustments to the the proposed EVAs mentioned in the previous story could have an impact on the above schedule. [ANS thanks Gaston, ON4WF, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Astronaut Ham Renews License, Plus Four New Astronaut Hams Michael Fincke, KE5AIT recently renewed his Amateur Radio license through February 18, 2025. Fincke served on Expedition 9 (April 18 to October 23, 2004), Expedition 18 (October 12, 2008 to April 8, 2009), and STS-134 (May 16 to June 1, 2011). He currently holds the American record for the most time in space, 381.6 days. Fincke's biography can be viewed at: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/fincke.html Four astronauts recently passed their Technician Class license exams. Thomas Pesquet, KG5FYG Jack Fischer, KG5FYH David Saint-Jacques, KG5FYI Kathleen Rubins, PHD., KG5FYJ Pesquet was selected as an ESA astronaut in May 2009. He joined ESA in September 2009 and completed basic training in November 2010. He will be leaving our planet for six months November 2016 as a flight engineer for Expeditions 50 and 51, returning in May 2017. Pesquet's biography can be viewed at: http://tinyurl.com/ANS053-Thomas-Pesquet-Bio Fischer was selected in July 2009 as a member of the 20th NASA astronaut class. He completed astronaut candidate training in July 2011. Fischer's biography can be viewed at: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/fischer-jack.html Saint-Jacques was selected in May 2009 by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and has moved to Houston to be one of 14 members of the 20th NASA astronaut class. Saint-Jacques' biography can be viewed at: http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronauts/biosaintjacques.asp Dr. Rubins was selected in July 2009 as 1 of 14 members of NASA Astronaut Group 20. She has been selected as flight engineer-2 for ISS Expedition 48/49 launching on Soyuz TMA-20M in May 2016 Dr. Rubins' biography can be viewed at: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/rubins-k.html [ANS thanks Kenneth N5VHO, NASA, ESA and CSA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- John Grunsfeld, KC5ZTF, named to Astronaut Hall of Fame Astronaut and Amateur Radio operator John Grunsfeld, KC5ZTF, will be installed into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in May of 2015, along with Rhea Seddon, Steven Lindsey, and Kent Rominger. They join the likes of previous inductees including Alan Shepard, Neil Armstrong, and John Young in a ceremony on May 30 at Kennedy Space Center's Visitor Complex (KSCVC). Each year the selection process is managed by the Foundation, and inductees are selected from a pool of nominations, with the finalists selected by a panel of Hall of Fame astronauts, NASA leaders, flight directors, historians and journalists. According to Collect Space, "To be eligible, astronauts must be U.S citizens and have made their first spaceflight at least 17 years prior to their induction year. In addition, nominees need to be a NASA-trained commander, pilot or mission specialist who orbited the Earth at least once." The 2015 inductees are the 14th class, and combined the group has flown a total of 18 shuttle missions over 26 years. With the addition of this year's inductees, the total number of astronauts admitted to the Hall of Fame will be 91. John Grunsfeld, KC5ZTF, current NASA associate administrator for science, is a veteran of five spaceflights, and logged over 58 days in space with 60 hours of EVA time spread over eight different spacewalks. First flying in 1995 as part of STS-67, a dedicated astronomy mission, Grunsfeld served as a mission specialist. Launching from Kennedy Space Center aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, STS-67 was the second on three flights for the Astro 2 observatory -- an ultraviolet telescope. During this record-setting 16-day mission, the crew conducted 'round the clock observations of faint astronomical objects as well as the polarization of UV light from distant galaxies. His second flight, STS-81 was the fifth shuttle flight to dock with the Mir space station. Launching aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis, Grunsfeld served as a flight engineer during this ten day mission. His next three flights, STS-103, STS-109, STS-125 would be servicing missions to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Over the course of these three mission, and several spacewalks, Grunsfeld helped upgrade and install new cameras, such as the wide-field camera on the telescope, ensuring it would be functional for years to come. His final flight was also the final flight to Hubble. During his last spacewalk, Grunsfeld said this about the mission, "We've been on a tremendous adventure, and been a part of a challenging mission. Hubble isn't just another satellite, it's humanity's quest for knowledge." When asked about his experience as an astronaut and what it felt like to be nominated, Grunsfeld said, "The biggest honor is to be an astronaut. It is such a tremendous privilege to be able to represent humankind in our efforts to explore space." [ANS thanks Spaceflight Insider for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- JPL Plans 2401 MHz Lunar Ranging Experiment March 3 NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) will transmit a narrow band signal at about 2041 MHz illuminating a spot on the moon (probably centered on Tycho) about 1000km in diameter early in the morning of 3 March between about 0630 to 0900 UTC. JPL will be transmitting about 20kW from a 34 m aperture. They are planning to have three distinct transmission modes, two will be a CW carrier, and a third mode including a PN ranging code on the signal, probably changing every 45 minutes. The signal should be easy to detect with even a small receive antenna (at least the narrow band signal). If you have a wideband recorder, the ranging code should be easy to recover with post processing. Standard ranging code as defined in 810- 005 http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsndocs/810-005/214/214-1.pdf As with all PN ranging done by the Deep Space Network, the PN code rate is coherent to the transmit carrier, probably 1.9931640625 MHz (or half that) in this case. The current status of the NASA Deep Space Network is displayed online at: http://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html [ANS thanks Jim Lux via amateur-DSN(a)yahoogroups.com for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- New Educational Materials Available at NASA.gov Are you looking for a lesson plan that combines mathematics and space science? Do you need a set of images of objects in our solar system? Or maybe you're hunting for hands-on engineering projects to challenge your students. NASA Education has you covered! The following items are now available for downloading. NASA Education Brochure -- All Educators NASA Education has a vision to advance science, technology, engineering and mathematics education using NASA's unique capabilities. This brochure explains the four initiatives for achieving that vision. Learn how you can get involved. http://tinyurl.com/ANS053-NASA-Education-Brochure Space Math VIII Educator Guide - Grades 5-12 Students apply problem-solving, algebra, geometry or trigonometry skills to a selection of 49 real-world problems involving Earth and space science. Each word problem includes background information. One- page teachers' answer keys accompany the one-page assignments. http://tinyurl.com/ANS053-Space-Math Space Math IX Educator Guide -- Grades 5-12 This collection of activities is intended for students looking for additional challenges in the mathematics and physical science curriculum. The subjects of the problems include spacecraft, rovers and meteorites. Mathematical topics include algebra, geometry and calculus. Each word problem has background information. One-page teachers' answer keys accompany the one-page assignments. http://tinyurl.com/ANS053-Space-Math-IX Our Solar System Lithograph Set -- All Grade Levels This lithograph set features images of the planets, sun, asteroids, comets, meteors and meteorites, the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud, and moons of the solar system. General information, significant dates, interesting facts and brief descriptions of the images are included. http://tinyurl.com/ANS053-Solar-System-Lithograph NASA's BEST Next Generation Activity Guide - Technology Demonstration Missions - Grades 5-8 This activity guide includes nine hands-on engineering projects focusing on the engineering design process and real-world science, technology and mathematics. http://tinyurl.com/ANS053-Tech-Demo Year of the Solar System -- Real World Math -- Grades 6-12 This collection of activities allows students to use mathematical concepts from fractions to calculus as they learn about asteroids, comets, planets, craters, planetary rings and many more space science topics. http://tinyurl.com/ANS053-Real-World-Math Looking for more? NASA's new Educational Resource Search Tool can help you find lesson plans, posters, educator guides and other materials to supplement your science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculum. Search hundreds of resources by subject, grade level, type and keywords. To check out the new search tool and begin your educational resource hunt, visit http://www.nasa.gov/education/materials/ [ANS thanks NASA Education Express Message -- Feb. 19, 2015 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Design The Next AMSAT Satellite! At the 2014 AMSAT Space Symposium AMSAT Vice President - Engineering Jerry Buxton announced the plan for the next generation of AMSAT satellites. "The door is open for everyone, to submit their ideas. AMSAT Engineering has a long term strategy and this is the first step." The Engineering long term strategy includes the following goals * Advancement of amateur radio satellite technical and communications skills * Enhance international goodwill * Grow and sustain a skilled pool of amateur radio satellite engineers * Establish and maintain partnerships with educational institutions * Develop a means to use hardware common to all opportunities With respect to the last goal Jerry said "Within the bounds of the type of satellite it takes to achieve any of the various orbit opportunities, let's consider in those plans the possibility of developing a platform that can suit any and all orbits. Perhaps a modular CubeSat, using a common bus as we did in Fox-1, which gives great flexibility in building and flying different sizes and configurations of CubeSats with simple common-design hardware changes." Submissions should be thorough and contain the following information. The purpose of the proposal is not just in suggesting an idea; being an all-volunteer team AMSAT needs your help in carrying out the idea. Design Implementation - CubeSat platform Estimated timeline Cost - volunteer resources, commercial (COTS) units Launch - how does it get to orbit Strategy - how it fits into AMSAT's Engineering long term strategy As mentioned above the idea should be based on the CubeSat platform. This is the standard through which we will look for launches in the foreseeable future. In considering your proposal, Jerry encourages you to contact him, (n0jy(a)amsat.org using Subject: Design the Next AMSAT Satelleite), for more details on the criteria. A guidebook to the criteria is now available for download at http://tinyurl.com/ANS032-SatelliteGuide. In particular, if you plan to include a university as a partner to provide experiments or other support and you are not representing that university, please contact Jerry for assistance in working with our existing partners or establishing a new partnership. "Being amateur radio operators, it is easy for us to fall into a particular trap because of our history of communicating with other amateurs throughout the world" says Jerry. "Specifically, most people who are not already involved in the world of satellite technology are unaware of or simply overlook the provisions of the current ITAR and soon to be EAR export rules particularly with regard to deemed exports which requires governmental permission to discuss satellite projects with foreign nationals." While all amateurs are invited to submit ideas, U.S. amateurs must take particular care of they choose to become involved in a collaboration which includes individuals from other countries. It is permissible to receive ideas and proposals from outside the U.S., but it is not permitted for U.S. Persons to export or share design ideas with other countries unless they have taken the proper steps to insure compliance with ITAR and deemed export rules. Additionally, those wishing to work on proposals should use care in presenting themselves in their contacts. While the goal is for AMSAT to build and launch the satellite, it is not an AMSAT project until it is accepted by the AMSAT Board of Directors. It is acceptable to represent yourself as members of a project team that plans to submit a proposal to AMSAT for a future satellite project, as the AMSAT name is well known. "It is not our intention that ideas be submitted to AMSAT-NA which would be more appropriately handled by an AMSAT organization in a country where AMSAT is established. AMSAT-NA is seeking ideas from amateurs in North America and will certainly consider ideas from amateurs in countries which do not have an established AMSAT organization or relationships with an existing AMSAT organization." The deadline for submissions is May 30, 2015. After the submission date the ideas will be screened for completeness and then reviewed by a board consisting of the AMSAT Engineering Team, AMSAT Senior Officer and Board of Directors representatives, and aerospace industry members. The review board may modify or consolidate ideas and will consider which meet the criteria to become a project based on feasibility, cost, and the ability to bring value to the amateur satellite community. The review process is expected to be completed in September 2015. For those ideas selected to become a project which satisfy the requirements for an ELaNa launch, the idea authors will be asked to work with the AMSAT Engineering Team on an ELaNa proposal. The Engineering Team will then work on the details of execution for the selected project(s) and present a proposal to the AMSAT Board of Directors in October 2015 for final approval to begin work. Once approved, any ELaNa proposals will be submitted in November 2015 and the project(s) will move forward. Now is the time for YOU to begin working on the next AMSAT satellite! [ANS thanks AMSAT Engineering for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + A Successful contact was made between Scuola Secondaria di Primo Grado "Bachelet", Cernusco sul naviglio, Italy and Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti IZØUDF using callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2015-02- 05 10:37 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridged via W6SRJ. ARISS Mentor was IZ2GOJ. + A Successful contact was made between Scuola Media Locatelli- Oriani, Milano, Italy and Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti IZØUDF using callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2015-02-05 10:37 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridged via W6SRJ. ARISS Mentor was IZ2GOJ. + A Successful contact was made between W.T. Sampson (DoD school), Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti IZØUDF using callsign IR0ISS. The contact began 2015-02-11 15:58 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridged via IK1SLD. ARISS Mentor was AA4KN. + A Successful contact was made between Council Rock High School- South, Holland, PA and Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti IZØUDF using Callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2015-02-19 18:18:27 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was direct via K3DN. ARISS Mentor was KB9UPS. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule An ARISS contact is planned with Riversink Elementary School, Crawfordville, FL. The contact will be direct via K4WAK The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Samantha Cristoforetti IZØUDF Contact is scheduled for: Wed 2015-02-25 16:09:15 UTC The contact should be audible over the eastern U.S and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. Riversink Elementary School is a K-5 public school operating within the Wakulla County School District. It is a Title I school located in rural Crawfordville, Florida. Riversink first opened its doors in August of 2008. Teachers at Riversink believe that every student will reach his or her highest potential in a positive learning environment that encourages students to be respectful, responsible, and ready to learn. Students at Riversink are highly successful due, in part, to the collaborative efforts of the faculty and staff, along with strong parental support. The student body is made up of 470 students. The school has 37 teachers. Riversink's mission is to facilitate the development of all students to their fullest potential by providing research-based instructional strategies and promoting a love of learning and community pride in a safe, positive environment. A team of science and technology students and their teachers from Council Rock South High School, Richboro, PA will be speaking directly with astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) as it flies over the Philadelphia area. A group of experienced operators from the Warminster Amateur Radio Club will be at the school to assist the teachers and students as they use Ham Radio technology to make the contact. The school will be using a recently donated radio system and antennas to participate in the ARISS program (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) in which students talk directly with the astronauts and ask questions about living in space while the astronauts are actually there. Science teachers Jerry Fetter and Jeff Warmkessel have been with NASA's NEAT program (Network of Educator-Astronaut Teachers) since 2004 and got the idea of applying to the ARISS program when Fetter's Astronomy classes were talking about living in space. "They kept asking questions which only astronauts would know how to answers", said Fetter. "I remember thinking how great it would be if we could just ask them directly. To be able to ask the astronauts while they fly overhead is beyond my wildest plans!" Students in various STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs at Council Rock South High School have spent time considering which questions are important enough to ask an astronaut in the short amount of time available (approximately 12 minutes) as the ISS's flight path crosses over the area. Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. Dominic (5): When you come back to Earth after being on the ISS, are you able to walk or does it take time to get used to it? 2. Kyle (4): Are there laws in space? 3. Amelia (3): Other than floating, how is living in space different than living on the earth? 4. Brooks (2): How far have you traveled around the earth? 5. Makayla (1): How do you get to be an astronaut? 6. Jabari (K): What can you do in your free time on the space station? 7. Addison (K): How do you sleep in space? 8. Hannah (1): How long does it take to get to the ISS? 9. Chace (2): How do you power the ISS? 10. Payton (3): Has the space station ever been hit or almost hit by anything? 11. Jasmine (4): What happens if you get sick in space? 12. Harley (5): When you sweat on the space station, does it stick to your body or does it float away? 13. Dominic (5): What has been the most memorable moment you've had as an astronaut? 14. Kyle (4): What time zone do you use in space? 15. Amelia (3): What kind of work are you doing on the space station? 16. Brooks (2): What is it like to exercise on the space station? 17. Makayla (1): How do you eat in space? 18. Jabari (K) How does the space station move? 19. Addison (K): What do you miss the most about being on Earth? 20. Hannah (1): What belongings can you take with you to the space station? 21. Chace (2): What kinds of experiments are you working on? 22. Payton (3): When you grow plants in space, how do you water them? 23. Jasmine (4): How do you communicate with your family? 24. Harley (5): How does it feel to be the first Italian woman in space? [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + Hams in Space Since the earliest days of the Space Shuttle, many astronauts have become licensed radio amateurs to communicate to stations on earth while traveling in space and on the International Space Station. For a list of astronauts who hold or have held an amateur radio license visit http://www.ariss.org/hams-in-space.html + The January/February 2015 AMSAT Journal has been mailed. Look for your copy if you haven't already received it. + Dayton will host the 2015 AMSAT Space Symposium October 16-18 at the Crowne Plaza in downtown Dayton. More information will be posted on the AMSAT website www.amsat.org as it becomes available. + A great Russian 435-438 MHz WebSDR with labels for satellite frequencies is now available on line at: http://websdr.r4uab.ru/ + Need a 2015 calendar? How about one with out-of-this-world images? Download the ?#?ISS calendar here: http://tinyurl.com/ANS053-Calendar --------------------------------------------------------------------- /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-046 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 15 Feb '15

15 Feb '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-046 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: * Help Wanted: AMSAT Engineering Kicking Off Ground Station Development * More ISS Slow Scan TV Activity * Fox-1 Continues Preparation for Launch * Navassa K1N Dxpedition Active on FO-29 * AMSAT Orlando Hamcation Report SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-046.01 ANS-046 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 046.01 From AMSAT HQ Kensington, MD. February 15, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-046.01 Help Wanted: AMSAT Engineering Kicking Off Ground Station Development AMSAT Engineering is looking for hams interested in developing ground station equipment for future satellites. An inexpensive L-Band uplink converter is something that is of interest right now for LEO satellites as part of the recently approved technology funding. If you are interested in helping, please contact AMSAT Engineering by completing the form on the website to tell Jerry Buxton, N0JY, the Vice President of Engineering, how you can volunteer your time and skills to help AMSAT engineering build satellites and other required hardware/software. To volunteer please visit: http://ww2.amsat.org/?page_id=1121 [ANS thanks AMSAT Vice President Engineering, Jerry Buxton, N0JY for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- More ISS Slow Scan TV Activity The Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) has announced another round of amateur radio Slow Scan Television (SSTV) activity from the International Space Station (ISS) will take place later this month. Continuous operation, using the call sign RS0ISS, is expected from 1000 UT on Saturday, February 21 until 2130 UT on Monday, February 23. Twelve different images depicting space pioneer Yuri Gagarin — the first human to orbit Earth — will be sent on 145.800 MHz FM using the SSTV mode PD180, with a 3-minute off time between transmissions. The equipment used will be the Kenwood D710 transceiver located in the Russian Service Module. It is thought the equipment may be producing about 25 watts output which should provide a very strong signal. Plans are being discussed for transmitting new images from space enthusiasts around the world in the coming months. Additional details will be released. The images received by amateurs world-wide during previous transmissions can be seen at http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/ and you are invited to upload any pictures you receive during the upcoming transmissions. All you need to do to receive SSTV pictures direct from the space station is to connect the audio output of a scanner or amateur radio transceiver via a simple interface to the soundcard on a Windows PC or an Apple iOS device, and tune in to 145.800 MHz FM. You can even receive pictures by holding an iPhone next to the radio loudspeaker. On Windows PC’s the free application MMSSTV can be used to decode the signal, on Apple iOS devices you can use the SSTV app for compatible modes. The ISS puts out a strong signal on 145.800 MHz FM and a 2m handheld with a 1/4 wave antenna will be enough to receive it. The FM transmission uses the 5 kHz deviation which is standard in much of the world. Paul Turner G4IJE, co-developer of the SSTV PD modes, says regarding the MMSSTV PD180 mode: “Don’t forget to either enable “Always show RX viewer” or use the “Picture viewer” (magnifying glass icon) to show the picture at its real resolution of 640 x 496. If you just view as normal you will only see 320 x 248 resolution, which kind of defeats the object of using a high resolution mode.” Many more tips and links for various receiving options are available at http://amsat-uk.org/2015/02/11/more-iss-slow-scan-tv/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Fox-1 Continues Preparation for Launch Following the successful conclusion of vibration and thermal/vacuum testing Fox-1 now is stored in a clean environment waiting for launch. However, there is still work going on behind the scenes. AMSAT Vice-President Engineering, Jerry Buxton, N0JY says several required reports are being reviewed by the launch provider. We continue to make necessary updates if they request further information in order to be sure that all of the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed. The paperwork is an ongoing full workload in itself, both during the design and construction and even after Fox-1 was finished. For the remaining schedule, Fox-1 will have its Mission Readiness Review (MRR) at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo CA on February 24 by a review board of Cal Poly and NASA representatives. Next, Fox-1 will be delivered and integrated into the P-POD at Cal Poly during the week of March 16. Then the countdown begins. [ANS thanks AMSAT Vice-President Engineering, Jerry Buxton, N0JY for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Navassa K1N Dxpedition Active on FO-29 Thanks to AMSAT, the Navassa Island K1N DXpedition was equipped to work stations via the FO-29 Amateur Radio satellite. Vice President-Operations Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, said that AMSAT had provided the DXpedition with a Yaesu FT-817 transceiver and associated equipment to support operation on FO-29’s linear passband. AMSAT also gave the group pass predictions, an operational plan, and training. Several reports of successful contacts have been reported via messages on amsat-bb. In a message relayed by Mark, K0MDJ, from Glenn, W0GJ, the primary voice on FO-29 from Navassa reported, ""We have it down now ... takes four people: one antenna guy, one radio guy, one microphone guy, one logger ... plus a couple photographers. Glen also says they hope to be on every pass from now until they leave, so at least through Saturday." The Navassa team logs their contacts using Clublog: http://www.clublog.org/charts/?c=K1N If you can make a donation you can find the link on the DXpedition's web page: http://www.navassadx.com/ Mike, W4UOO, observed, "A tip of the Hat to Drew ... for delivering the gear and the How-To to some of the K1N team back in January and whatever else he did. There's a big thanks in here! What Great Marketing for Satellite operations. What great fun is being had ... all when it seems nearly impossible, suddenly you're talking to someone. It's great to see K1N/Satellite spots going by also! Love it." [ANS thanks the dozens of posts via amsat-bb for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Orlando Hamcation Report The 2015 Orlando Hamcation - Orlando, FL took place over the weekend of 13-15 Feb at the Central Florida Fairgrounds. AMSAT was represented all three days with a two booth are in the main commercial building. At the booth the ARISSat-1 working demo satellite and Fox-1 Engineering model were on display. The booth also provided a great location for people stop by and get information from VP of Operations Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, and Dave Jordan, AA4KN. John Papay, K8YSE, was operating the sats via his remote and rover stations along with other satellite demos. An AMSAT forum was held on Saturday with Board of Directors member Lou McFadin, K5DID, providing an update on all the on-going AMSAT activities including upcoming ARISS activities and the Fox-1 series of cubesats. A special treat for those attending the forum was a special prize drawing. M2 donated one of their new 2m/70cm "Leo-Pack" antenna systems which made its debut at Hamcation. [ANS thanks Dave, AA4KN and the AMSAT Hamcation Team 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-032 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 01 Feb '15

01 Feb '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-032 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-1 "In The Bag"! * 15 Schools Move Forward Into The Next Stage of ARISS Selection * iCubeSat 2015 - 4th Interplanetary CubeSat Workshop * January/February 2015 AMSAT Journal is Complete * Design The Next AMSAT Satellite! * SSTV transmissions from the International Space Station * Dick Flagg, AH6NM, Receives YASME Award * NASA OSSI Online Career Week * ELaNa-X Cubesats Launched From Vandenberg on January 31 * * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-032.01 ANS-032 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 032.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE February 1, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-032.01 Fox-1 "In The Bag"! Fox-1, the first Fox-1 series satellite (a.k.a. Fox-1A to the AMSAT Engineering Team) completed the final required testing January 16 through 23. The tests included the launch provider required "DITL" (Day In The Life) and "environmental testing" subjecting the CubeSat to Vibration and Thermal Vacuum Bakeout, the latter two sometimes referred together as "shake and bake". DITL is required to show that Fox-1 will not deploy her antennas nor transmit any signals prior to a minimum of 45 minutes after she is deployed from the PPOD into orbit. The test was conducted at the "Fox Labs" QTH of Jerry Buxton NØJY on January 16. Bob Fitzpatrick KB5SQG assisted on site with Jonathan Brandenburg KF5IDY and Kevin Bishop KG7NSD supporting via GoToMeeting. It was a somewhat suspense filled test waiting for 45 minutes hoping nothing will happen, followed by another 11 minutes hoping something will happen. Everything performed as expected and the test was a success, with transmit antenna deployment at 56 minutes 21 seconds, receive antenna deployment at 56 minutes 32 seconds, and first transmission at 59 minutes 12 seconds. On Monday January 19 Fox Engineering Team members Bob Davis KF4KSS, Burns Fisher W2BFJ, and Jerry Buxton NØJY traveled to Orlando FL to conduct the "shake and bake" at Qualtest. Upon arrival Fox-1 was tested, inspected, and integrated into the TestPOD at the hotel and then the team traveled to Qualtest. Assisted by Lou McFadin W5DID, photographed by Dave Jordan AA4KN and observed by Ed Krome K9EK the vibration testing took place on Wednesday January 21 with frequencies and amplitudes that simulate the ride Fox-1 will be experiencing on the Atlas V rocket during launch, tested in all three (X,Y,Z) axes. After the "shake" a Short Functional Test and Aliveness Test were conducted, and Fox-1 worked like a charm! Thursday January 21 Fox-1 was put into the thermal vacuum bell jar to be subjected to a 12 hour pre-soak at high altitude and temperature near the required test temperature in order to remove any rough contaminants that might harm the ion pump used during the "bake" procedure. Friday the 22nd Fox-1 went through the launch required Thermal Vacuum Bakeout which sustains a vacuum <1E-4 torr at a specified temperature for 6 hours in order to thoroughly remove any contaminants that might be left over from construction and handling and which could cause problems once the satellite and materials are exposed to the vacuum of space. Given the vacuum actually achieved during the process, we are very happy that Fox-1 was a "clean machine" even prior to the start of the procedure! Once the "bake" was complete Fox-1 was allowed to cool to near room temperature and then subjected to the same Short Functional Test and Aliveness Test as done on arrival in Florida and after the vibe test. Once again, Fox-1 worked as it should and was officially declared ready for launch! While it is somewhat anti-climactic, Fox-1 was then carefully placed in an anti-static bag and will remain there until delivery and integration into the PPOD which is scheduled for mid-March 2015. Battery will be charged by the umbilical but no other handling, changes, testing, or function can be performed as once she passed the environmental testing Fox-1 officially became "hands off". As previously announced launch is scheduled for late August 2015. Official photos and more information will be included in an upcoming AMSAT Journal. If you are on Facebook, the AMSAT North America Facebook page has some photos that were uploaded during the environmental testing. [ANS thanks NØJY and the Fox-1 Engineering Team for the information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 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 that 15 of the schools/organizations that submitted proposals during the recent proposal window have been accepted to move forward into the next stage of planning to host a scheduled contact with crew on the ISS during 2015. 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 Human Space Flight. ARISS-US was encouraged by the high level of interest in the education community evidenced by the significant number of submitted proposals and the quality of the submissions. The ARISS program anticipates that NASA will provide 12 scheduling opportunities for US host organizations for the May - December 2015 time period. These 15 schools/organizations must now complete an acceptable equipment plan that demonstrates their ability to execute the ham radio contact. Once their equipment 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. ARISS does not expect to be able to schedule all 15 schools on the list. The schools and organizations are: Bay View Elementary School, Burlington, WA Corpus Christi Catholic School, Chambersburg, PA Daggett Montessori School K-8, Fort Worth, TX Dearborn Public Schools, Dearborn, MI Grady High School Robotics Team, Atlanta, GA Kopernik Observatory & Science Center, Vestal, NY Maconaquah School Corporation, Bunker Hill, IN Moon Day/ Frontiers of Flight Museum, Dallas, TX New Mexico Military Institute, Roswell, NM Pima County 4H/Vail Vaquero's 4H Club, Tucson, AZ Space Jam 9, Rantoul, IL Ste. Genevieve du Bois Catholic Elementary School, Warson Woods, MO Tulsa Community College, NE Campus, Tulsa, OK United Space School, Seabrook, TX West Michigan Aviation Academy, Grand Rapids, MI [ANS thanks ARISS-US for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- iCubeSat 2015 - 4th Interplanetary CubeSat Workshop 26 - 27 May 2015, Imperial College London, United Kingdom iCubeSat 2015, the 4th Interplanetary CubeSat Workshop, will address the technical challenges, opportunities, and practicalities of interplanetary space exploration with CubeSats. The workshop provides a unique environment for open wide ranging practical collaboration between academic researchers, industry professionals, policy makers and students from around the world developing this new and rapidly growing field. Technical Program Talks and round tables will focus on three themes: technology, science, and open collaboration. The program will also include unconference sessions to provide additional opportunities to engage with the interplanetary CubeSat community and potential collaborators. Talks and supporting material will be streamed and archived on the conference website. A lively social program in and around summertime London will be arranged for participants and their guests. Abstract Submission and Dates Talks on astrodynamics, attitude control and determination systems, citizen science, communications, landers, launch opportunities, open source approaches, outreach, payloads, policy, power systems, propulsion, reentry systems, ride-shares, science missions, software, standardization, structures, systems engineering and other related topics are all welcome. 1st June 2014 Registration opens at http://iCubeSat.org/registration/ 1st April 2015 Abstract upload deadline via http://iCubeSat.org/submit-an-abstract/ 15th April 2015 Notification of abstract acceptance 22nd May 2015 Presentation (and optional paper) upload deadline Please confirm your interest in presenting or attending as soon as possible (to assist us size the venue) by completing the registration form at http://iCubeSat.org/registration/ Exhibition CubeSat specialists and other vendors are invited to contact exhibit(a)iCubeSat.org for details of exhibition opportunities. Location The fourth Interplanetary CubeSat Workshop will be held on the Imperial College South Kensington campus, London, United Kingdom on Tuesday, May 26th and Wednesday May 27th, 2015. For more details please visit the conference website at www.iCubeSat.org [ANS thanks CubeSat mailing list for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- January/February 2015 AMSAT Journal is Complete The January/February 2015 AMSAT Journal is complete and has been sent to the print shop. In this issue you'll find .... + AMSAT Announcements - 2015 Symposium in Dayton, Ohio + Apogee View by Barry Baines, WD4ASW + Fox-1A Flight Model Passes Environmental Testing (with photos) + There's an App for That: Smart Phone Applications for Satellites by Mark D. Johns, K0MDJ + New Column: Orbital Debrief for January/February by Paul Stoetzer, N8HM + 4M: a Moon mission by Ghislain Ruy, LX2RG + Ballistically Reinforced Communications Satellite (BRICSat-P): The Enhancement of the APRS Amateur Radio Network Through Micropropulsion by Ensign Christopher Dinelli, et al + Report from the 2014 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting in Baltimore + Support our 2014 Prize Donors! + The AMSAT Space Symposium Photo Gallery + Recognition and Thanks to Our Dedicated Volunteers in 2014 Look for this issue to arrive in your mailbox in the next few weeks. As always, please send your articles, operating photos, and announcements to the Journal mailbox at journal(a)amsat.org or to k9jkm(a)comcast.net. [ANS thanks the AMSAT Journal Team, Bernhard, VA6BMJ; Douglas, KA2UPW/5; Howard, K3JPH; Joe, KB6IGK; JoAnne, K9JKM for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Design The Next AMSAT Satellite! At the 2014 AMSAT Space Symposium AMSAT Vice President - Engineering Jerry Buxton announced the plan for the next generation of AMSAT satellites. "The door is open for everyone, to submit their ideas. AMSAT Engineering has a long term strategy and this is the first step." The Engineering long term strategy includes the following goals * Advancement of amateur radio satellite technical and communications skills * Enhance international goodwill * Grow and sustain a skilled pool of amateur radio satellite engineers * Establish and maintain partnerships with educational institutions * Develop a means to use hardware common to all opportunities With respect to the last goal Jerry said "Within the bounds of the type of satellite it takes to achieve any of the various orbit opportunities, let's consider in those plans the possibility of developing a platform that can suit any and all orbits. Perhaps a modular CubeSat, using a common bus as we did in Fox-1, which gives great flexibility in building and flying different sizes and configurations of CubeSats with simple common-design hardware changes." Submissions should be thorough and contain the following information. The purpose of the proposal is not just in suggesting an idea; being an all-volunteer team AMSAT needs your help in carrying out the idea. Design Implementation - CubeSat platform Estimated timeline Cost - volunteer resources, commercial (COTS) units Launch - how does it get to orbit Strategy - how it fits into AMSAT's Engineering long term strategy As mentioned above the idea should be based on the CubeSat platform. This is the standard through which we will look for launches in the foreseeable future. In considering your proposal, Jerry encourages you to contact him, (n0jy(a)amsat.org using Subject: Design the Next AMSAT Satelleite), for more details on the criteria. A guidebook to the criteria is now available for download at http://tinyurl.com/ANS032-SatelliteGuide. In particular, if you plan to include a university as a partner to provide experiments or other support and you are not representing that university, please contact Jerry for assistance in working with our existing partners or establishing a new partnership. "Being amateur radio operators, it is easy for us to fall into a particular trap because of our history of communicating with other amateurs throughout the world" says Jerry. "Specifically, most people who are not already involved in the world of satellite technology are unaware of or simply overlook the provisions of the current ITAR and soon to be EAR export rules particularly with regard to deemed exports which requires governmental permission to discuss satellite projects with foreign nationals." While all amateurs are invited to submit ideas, U.S. amateurs must take particular care of they choose to become involved in a collaboration which includes individuals from other countries. It is permissible to receive ideas and proposals from outside the U.S., but it is not permitted for U.S. Persons to export or share design ideas with other countries unless they have taken the proper steps to insure compliance with ITAR and deemed export rules. Additionally, those wishing to work on proposals should use care in presenting themselves in their contacts. While the goal is for AMSAT to build and launch the satellite, it is not an AMSAT project until it is accepted by the AMSAT Board of Directors. It is acceptable to represent yourself as members of a project team that plans to submit a proposal to AMSAT for a future satellite project, as the AMSAT name is well known. "It is not our intention that ideas be submitted to AMSAT-NA which would be more appropriately handled by an AMSAT organization in a country where AMSAT is established. AMSAT-NA is seeking ideas from amateurs in North America and will certainly consider ideas from amateurs in countries which do not have an established AMSAT organization or relationships with an existing AMSAT organization." The deadline for submissions is May 30, 2015. After the submission date the ideas will be screened for completeness and then reviewed by a board consisting of the AMSAT Engineering Team, AMSAT Senior Officer and Board of Directors representatives, and aerospace industry members. The review board may modify or consolidate ideas and will consider which meet the criteria to become a project based on feasibility, cost, and the ability to bring value to the amateur satellite community. The review process is expected to be completed in September 2015. For those ideas selected to become a project which satisfy the requirements for an ELaNa launch, the idea authors will be asked to work with the AMSAT Engineering Team on an ELaNa proposal. The Engineering Team will then work on the details of execution for the selected project(s) and present a proposal to the AMSAT Board of Directors in October 2015 for final approval to begin work. Once approved, any ELaNa proposals will be submitted in November 2015 and the project(s) will move forward. Now is the time for YOU to begin working on the next AMSAT satellite! [ANS thanks AMSAT Engineering for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- SSTV transmissions from the International Space Station The Russian ARISS team plan to activated SSTV from the ISS on Saturday January 31 and will cintinue on Sunday February 1, 2015. Expected SSTV mode will be PD180 on 145.800 MHz with 3 minute off periods between transmissions. A total of 12 different photos will be sent during the operational period. This is the second series of pictures to be transmitted. Start time would be around 10.00 UTC on January 31 and 9.00 UTC on February 1. The transmissions should terminate around 21:30 UTC each day. [ANS thanks Gaston ON4WF for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Dick Flagg, AH6NM, Receives YASME Award Champion of integrating Amateur Radio and space science is honored for achievements ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) is pleased to share the news that the 2015 Yasme Excellence Award has been presented to Dick Flagg, AH6NM, for his contributions to the success of the ARISS program and other efforts in support of Amateur Radio and space science-related initiatives. The Yasme Award is given to outstanding individuals who have served the Amateur Radio community in areas of technical advancement, operating arts and good will. Recipients are chosen by the not-for- profit Yasme Foundation. ARISS, which gives students the opportunity to ask questions of astronauts on board the ISS (International Space Station) via Amateur Radio, aims to spark an interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects and careers among young people while simultaneously serving as an introduction to Amateur Radio. Flagg first supported the SAREX (Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment) program, the pre-cursor of ARISS, on the 1990 STS-35 mission, with Astronaut Dr. Ron Parise, WA4SIR (SK), on board. Flagg helped pioneer the telebridge concept for Dr. Parise's mission, which is now an operational capability for ARISS. The telebridge enables school students to talk to on-orbit crew members through amateur radio ground stations that are not co-located at the school but are linked to the school through a phone line connection. His pioneering work on the telebridge concept has allowed hundreds of schools to contact the ISS when conditions, such as ground obstructions or high buildings, would have prevented the contact. Flagg provided critical SAREX support by helping students communicate with Dr. Parise and other astronauts on STS-35 using the telebridge ground station he pioneered in Hawaii. Since then, Flagg has been involved in more than 115 contacts to the Shuttle and ISS from the ARISS Hawaii telebridge ground station located at Sacred Hearts Academy in Honolulu, an all- girls school where he emphasized STEM through student involvement in the contacts. The award also recognized Flagg's contributions to the NASA Radio Jove educational outreach program, which has introduced radio telescope kits to nearly 2,000 student groups and radio amateurs around the world. "While it was indeed an honor for me to receive this award from the Yasme Foundation," says Flagg, "I feel that I am accepting it for both the ARISS and Radio Jove teams. Congratulations to all of you." For more on the Yasme Foundation and the Yasme Award, visit www.yasme.org. For more on the ARISS program, visit www.ariss.org. You may also join ARISS on Facebook and follow it on Twitter: @ARISS_status. [ANS thanks Dave AA4KN and YASME for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA OSSI Online Career Week The NASA One Stop Shopping Initiative, or OSSI, is hosting the NASA OSSI Online Career Week Feb. 10-12, 2015. This online event will connect you with NASA, science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, employers and top graduate programs nationwide. Engage with representatives from all 10 NASA centers to learn about internship, scholarship and fellowship opportunities available at NASA. Interact with recruiters from top STEM employers, and explore internship and job opportunities in the private sector. Learn about highly ranked STEM graduate programs and network with admissions officers from the comfort of your home, dorm, smartphone or tablet. Register for one or all events and launch your career today! NASA OSSI Online Career Week Live Events -- NASA Internships, Fellowships and Scholarships Day -- Feb. 10, 2015 (1-5 p.m. EST) -- STEM Industry Day -- Feb. 11, 2015 (1-5 p.m. EST) -- STEM Graduate Programs Fair -- Feb. 12, 2015 (1-5 p.m. EST) Starting on February 9, you will be able to research participating organizations and explore opportunities listed. Complete your profile, and prepare a few questions for the centers, companies or graduate programs you are interested in. During the live events, you will engage in one-on-one text-based conversations directly with a recruiter or admissions officer at those organizations. You can share your background, experience and resume and ask questions. Maximize your time in the event by getting in line to chat with representatives from more than one center, company or university at a time. To attend, please register at http://nasaossi.brazenconnect.com/. For more information, please contact nasaossi at hsf dot net. [ANS thanks NASA Education Express Message for Jan. 29, 2015 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ELaNa-X Cubesats Launched From Vandenberg on January 31 Mike Rupprecht, DK3WN, reported on his SatBlog (http://www.dk3wn.info) that the Saturday, January 31 Delta II launch from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base carrying the Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, satellite also included a secondary payload with ELaNa cubesats. The main payload and secondary payload were deployed successfully. Cubesat Downlink ----------------- ------------------- Firebird-II FU3 437.405 MHz 19k2 FSK Firebird-II FU4 437.230 MHz 19k2 FSK GRIFEX 437.485 MHz 9k6 FSK Exocube (CP-10) 437.270 MHz 9k6 FSK (source DK3WN http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=54555) Jan, PE0SAT described his receiving and decoding configuration on his website: http://www.pe0sat.vgnet.nl/2015/grifex-active-and-decoded/ The University of Michigan released updated software to decode GRIFEX packets: http://exploration.engin.umich.edu/blog/?p=2555 Mike, DK3WN shows screen captures of receiving Firebird-II FU3 and FU4 at: http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=54977 [ANS thanks Mike, DK3WN and Jan, PE0SAT for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + A Successful contact was made between Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK)"Masakame event" Tokyo, Japan event and Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti IZØUDF using NA1SS. The contact began 2015-01- 24 14:21 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was direct via JK1ZRW. ARISS Mentor was 7M3TJZ. 8 questions were answered and approximately 200 people were in attendance. The event was covered by NHK TV station. + A Successful contact was made among Istituto Salesiano "G. Bearzi", Udine, Italy; Intercultura Onlus, Milano, Italy and Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti IZØUDF using NA1SS. The contact began 2015-01-31 08:38:59 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridged via K6DUE. ARISS Mentor was IKØWGF. 13 questions were answered. 400 were in attendance at Salesiano "G. Bearzi" and 100 at Intercultura Onlus. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule Scuola Media Locatelli-Oriani, Milano, Italy and Scuola Secondaria di Primo Grado "Bachelet", Cernusco sul naviglio, Italy are expected to make contact with Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti IZØUDF on 2015- 02-05 10:37:35 UTC. The contact is scheduled as a Telebridge via W6SRJ. The ISS downlink should be audible over portions of the Western United States. Presentation Scuola Media Locatelli-Oriani The middle school Locatelli Oriani is located in the center of Milan, just a few steps from the planetarium. It's part of the comprehensive institute Pisacane and Poerio: two buildings with primary school and middle school. All the activities, both from educational and didactical point of view are primarily focused on well-being of students. The educational proposal, following the ministerial indication, has been enriched by educational trips, schools trips, sports days, concerts, music, theatre and dance as well as themed initiatives in science, languages and art. Among these there are KET and PET (in-depth courses about foreign languages), summer holidays abroad, participation to the math games held by Bocconi university and "Scatti di scienza" (photographs and movies competition about science made by students). The school was involved also in Mission X 2012 and, together with Rai Scuola (the national TV), have been realized a documentary movie for the ministerial project "Salute". There is the student council, two students per class elected by the others. They meet monthly to discuss and propose new ideas and initiatives on how to improve the school and develop solidarity, community spirit and recognition of human and civil rights. Since several years the council is taking care of children remote adoption, together with humanitarian organizations. Presentation of Scuola Secondaria di Primo Grado "Bachelet" The school V. Bachelet is a natural continuation of the educational work begun in 1981 by some parents and teachers, founding the Elementary School "The Aurora", they were attempting to create a school in a cooperative solidarity-based education. Since 2006 the Institute Aurora-Bachelet is twinned with the Little Prince Primary School in Nairobi and since September 2012 is based in the brand new facility located in Via Buonarroti in Cernusco S/N. The students from the third classes followed, over the last few years, an articulated astronomy course marked by significant moments: realization of a book to celebrate the 40th Moon landing anniversary, visit the astronomical observatory in Cernusco S/N, see the live event between Pope Benedict XVI and the ISS, meet ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli, meet the professor Amalia Ercoli Finzi from Milan University, meet mr. Valerio Nassi and his hand-made space models and meet eng. Marco Molina (Selex ES) who introduced in several lessons the human space exploration and robotic space exploration (specially focused on Rosetta mission). Preparing for the school contact with ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, eng. Marco Molina introduced to students all the details about her Futura mission and provided an autographed Samantha's potrait picture. The schools will alternate questions during the contact. The English translation of the anticipated questions include: 1. Elena: We know that in space is possible to grow plants, but how do you put water and how do you prevent topsoil from floating around? 2. Diana: Is, the precise schedule on the ISS, a constraint or a needs for you? 3. Gaia: Thanks to microgravity, the ISS is a barrier-free environment: do you think space could be considered the new frontier especially for people with disabilities? 4. Maria: Looking at the Sun rising so many times a day is affecting in some way your body and mind? Which are the most important body modification you feel in microgravity? 5. Andrea: Are the computer used in space different from what we use on earth? Which operating system do they have? 6. Davide: How did you discover your passion for astronomy? Did you remember people or events that helped to? 7. Alessandro: Node 2 and 3 have been built in Italy. Do you feel home moving inside these modules? 8. Lia: How do you spend your free time, if you have it, on the ISS? 9. Rebecca: Would you take part in a trip to Mars and back? 10. Andrea: Which people and things do you miss most while living on ISS? How is the life in orbit with just a few people? Do you feel alone? 11. Filippo: We see that you share your experience from the beginning and you still do from there: do you plan to write a book at your return to Earth? 12. Laura: Despite your very long training, did you see things on the ISS that you would never imagined? 13. Filippo: What will you bring back to Earth both physically and mentally? 14. Daniela: Which activities and experiments are you performing on the ISS? 15. Alessia: What was the detail that impressed you most on the ISS? 16. Sergio: How and what do you eat in space? Which are your favourite foods and what is the flavour? 17. Vincenzo: Is it more difficult doing activities without the effect of weight? 18. Claudia: Did you see the historical landing of Rosetta on a comet? If yes, what was your feeling? 19. Loredana: Coming back to Earth, wow are you going to get back used again to weight and gravity, coming back to Earth? 20. Anishta: Do you think it would be possible living in space for normal people like us as students? 21. Anna: What was your feeling after the launch, as soon as you realized of being in space? 22. Matteo: Did you have troubles on the ISS up to now? If yes, what? [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N, David AA4KN for the above information] Television Report about ARISS, Produced by Italian RAI-3 TV The ARISS contact performed Friday January 9, 2015 with three Italian schools was reported extensively by the "Spaziolibero" television program, sponsored by the Italian parliament. Emanuele D'Andria I0ELE, President AMSAT Italia, Francesco De Paolis IK0WGF, secretary AMSAT Italia and Piero Tognolatti I0KPT did an outstanding job presenting ARISS and Amateur Radio to the general public. The program - in Italian - is presently available at: http://tinyurl.com/ANS032-ARISSonTV The video narration gives visibility to the ARISS program, ARISS school contacts and HAMTV. Congratulations to our Italian colleagues for outstanding public relations! [ANS thanks Gaston, ON4WF, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + Upcoming NASA Educator Professional Development Webinars NASA Educator Professional Development (EPD) presents free webinars open to all educators. Join NASA Education Specialists to learn about activities, lesson plans, educator guides and resources to bring NASA into your classroom. Visit the NASA EPD website for more information and to register for any upcoming webinars at https://paragon-tec.adobeconnect.com/admin/show-event-catalog [ANS thanks NEON - NASA Educators Online Network for the above information] + Test Flight for Privately Funded LightSail Spacecraft Lightsail flies in May... Planetary Society Blog Page: http://tinyurl.com/ANS032-BlogLightsail Planetary Society Press Release http://preview.tinyurl.com/ANS032-ReleaseLightsail [ANS thanks the Planetary Society for the above information] + This homebrew satellite antenna project looks quite do-able: http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=30585 [ANS thanks JoAnne K9JKM and DXZone 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-025 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 24 Jan '15

24 Jan '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-025 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: * Listen In To Radar Observations of Near-Earth Asteroid 2004 BL86 * SKN on OSCAR Best Fist Nominations Due * Upcoming ARISS Contact * Containerized Satellite Survey * Search for NASA Educational Resources With New Search Tool SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-025.01 ANS-025 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 025.01 From AMSAT HQ Kensington, MD. January 25, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-025.01 Listen In To Radar Observations of Near-Earth Asteroid 2004 BL86 On 2015 January 26, the near-Earth asteroid 2004 BL86 will pass within 0.008 AU of Earth (3.1 times as far away as the Moon). This will be the closest approach to Earth by this asteroid for at least the next 240 years. As part of an extensive campaign of radar observations to learn about BL86’s shape, spin state, and surface; and to refine knowledge of its trajectory; the Arecibo Observatory’s S-band planetary radar plans to illuminate the asteroid with a continuous-wave signal over 2015 January 27 03:45 – 04:00 UTC. Over that time, BL86’s radar echo will be received by elements of the Very Long Baseline Array and the Very Large Array in New Mexico. Anyone with an antenna and receiver capable of detecting the echo is welcome to listen in. BL86 will be above the horizon for most observers in North and South America, and for some parts of western Europe and western Africa. To readily detect its radar echo, observers should have an antenna with an effective collecting area of at least 10 square meters. BL86 will be moving rapidly across the sky. Over Jan 27 03:45 – 04:00, it will move by ~0.5º. The asteroid’s exact position on the sky will depend on where it is observed from as well as the time, but will be near (RA,Dec) = (130º,+17º). A current ephemeris can be obtained from JPL’s Horizons system: http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?horizons. The Arecibo transmission will be tuned to give a nominal echo center frequency of exactly 2380 MHz at geocenter. Without correction for Earth’s rotation, BL86’s radar echo will appear as slowly-drifting and within 15 kHz of 2380 MHz. Predicted echo frequency as a function of time for a given location can be obtained on-request by emailing Michael Busch (mbusch(a)seti.org). We expect an echo bandwidth of 6 Hz or less. Details of the BL86 radar observing campaign at the Arecibo Observatory, NASA’s Goldstone Solar System Radar facility, and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory are available at: http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroids/2004BL86/2004BL86_planning.html. [ANS thanks JPL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- SKN on OSCAR Best Fist Nominations Due Thanks to all who participated in AMSAT's Straight Key Night on OSCAR 2015. If you haven't already done so, please take a moment to nominate someone you worked for Best Fist. Your nominee need not have had the best fist of those you heard, only of those you worked. Send your nomination to w2rs(a)amsat.org [ANS thanks Ray, W2RS, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS Contact An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Masakame" event, Shibuya, Japan on 24 Jan. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 14:21 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between NA1SS and JK1ZRW. The contact should be audible over Japan and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) are televising a regular science program Masakame (means Good Heavens) for young people and their parents. Aa special program focusing ARISS program and Amateur radio satellites, etc. on 2015-02-28 on air, with video record of ARISS school contact. Members of contact are TV talent (who has a amateur radio license) and high school students (age 15 to 18). [ANS thanks David, AA4KN, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Containerized Satellite Survey Bungo Shiotani is a Ph.D. student working with Dr. Norman Fitz-Coy at the University of Florida. He is requesting your assistance with this survey to assess the potential impact that containerized satellite have on the debris population in low Earth orbit. The results will be used as part of his Ph.D. dissertation to create a statistical database and to quantify the growth of debris population. The hope is the outcome will increase the awareness to the community regarding the potential growth of debris population due to containerized satellites. Your identify will not be collected unless you choose to disclose it in the survey. Additionally, if you would like the results sent directly to you, please disclose your contact information when requested in the survey. Please respond to this survey by Friday, February 27th 2015. The survey should take less than 30 minutes to complete. Survey link: https://ufl.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_8CYyyDTFUGKHFbL Please forward this information to other members of the space community. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact: Bungo Shiotani Graduate Researcher bshiota(a)ufl.edu Dr. Norman Fitz-Coy Research Advisor nfc(a)ufl.edu [ANS thanks Bungo Shiotani for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Search for NASA Educational Resources With New Search Tool Are you looking for a lesson plan about the planet Jupiter? Do you need a poster with information about the Wright Brothers' first flight? Or maybe you're hunting for a website with information about NASA's deep space missions. NASA Education has a new tool to help you in your search! NASA's new Educational Resource Search Tool can help you find lesson plans, posters, educator guides and other materials to supplement your science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculum. Search hundreds of resources by subject, grade level, type and keywords. To check out the new search tool and begin your educational resource hunt, visit http://www.nasa.gov/education/materials/ [ANS thanks the NASA Education Express Message -- Jan. 22, 2015 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-011 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 11 Jan '15

11 Jan '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-011 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: * Dayton to Host 2015 AMSAT Space Symposium Oct 16-18 * Space Station Crew Available for Interviews Live from Orbiting Laboratory * NASA History Program Office Summer and Fall 2015 Internships * Dariusz Dabek, SP9TTX Earns 6th 73 on 73 Award * Next US ARISS Contact Proposal Window opens February 15 * FUNcube-2 on UKube-1 - Jan 2015 update * SHIN-EN2 Designated as Fuji Oscar 82 * FOX Challenge Coins Still Available * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-011.01 ANS-011 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 011.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE January 11, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-011.01 Dayton to Host 2015 AMSAT Space Symposium Oct 16-18 Mark Your Calendars !! AMSAT NA announces that the 2015 AMSAT Space Symposium will be held on Friday through Sunday, Oct 16, 17, 18, 2015 in Dayton, Ohio. Location will be at the Crowne Plaza , 33 East 5th Street, in Downtown, Dayton. The Crown Plaza is a 3.5 star Hotel which has been recently renovated. Some of the perks include + Free parking for attendees (with validation from the hotel). + Free transportation to and from the airport and within 5 miles of hotel for side trips. + Several restaurants are in close proximity and within walking distance. + Several alternate activities and attractions are in the Dayton area. Air Force Museum Mendelsons R&L, Historical Carillon Park America's Packard Museum Local PBS Station, Think TV + If you are staying longer in the Dayton area, there are several other points of interest close by. 2015 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting The annual AMSAT Space Symposium features: + Space Symposium with Amateur Satellite Presentations + Operating Techniques, News, & Plans from the Amateur Satellite World + Board of Directors Meeting open to AMSAT members + Opportunities to Meet Board Members and Officers + AMSAT-NA Annual General Membership Meeting + Annual Banquet, Keynote Speaker and Door Prizes !! Several members from The Dayton Amateur Radio Assn as well as many other local clubs will be participating in helping with this event. Additional information about the 2015 AMSAT Symposium will be posted on the AMSAT web site, www.amsat.org, as it becomes available. [ANS thanks Steve Coy K8UD and the AMSAT Office for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Space Station Crew Available for Interviews Live from Orbiting Laboratory Crew members of Expedition 42, currently aboard the International Space Station, are available for live interviews with media and social media during their mission aboard the orbital laboratory. Space station commander Barry Wilmore and Flight Engineer Terry Virts of NASA and European Space Agency Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti are on board the station along with their three Russian crewmates, performing scientific research, demonstrating technology and maintaining the complex. Interviews will be offered in windows of 10 minutes. Interview opportunities will be evaluated based on media audience size, and relevance to current station activities and individual astronauts aboard the space station. All three crewmembers may not be available for every interview. Interested media should contact Rob Navias at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston at rob.navias-1(a)nasa.gov and provide a two-hour window of availability between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday. The crew also is available for interactive, social media events that have the potential to reach significant audiences. All social media platforms will be considered, but interviewers must meet the same requirements as traditional media. No direct web connection to the space station is available for conducting social media interviews. To schedule a live social media interview, media should contact Megan Sumner at megan.c.sumner(a)nasa.gov, and provide a two-hour window of availability. Actual dates and times for each interview will be provided to approved media approximately two weeks before the interview date and are subject to change or cancellation based on operational activity aboard the station. Television clients will use NASA Television Media Channel 103 to conduct the interviews. Print, radio and internet media must conduct the interviews using a land-line telephone connection and have an additional telephone connection of any type for coordination. All interviews will be broadcast live on NASA TV. Further technical information will be provided to all media upon interview approval. The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology and human innovation that demonstrates new technologies and makes research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The space station has had continuous human occupation since November 2000. In that time, it has received more than 200 visitors and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in human space exploration. Satellite tuning information is available at: http://go.nasa.gov/1pOWUhR For information about the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station Source NASA Media Advisory M15-005: http://tinyurl.com/ANS011-ISSinterviews [ANS thanks NASA for the above information]] --------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA History Program Office Summer and Fall 2015 Internships The NASA History Program Office is seeking undergraduate and graduate students for summer and fall 2015 internships. The History Program Office maintains archival materials to answer research questions from NASA personnel, journalists, scholars, students at all levels and others from around the world. The division also edits and publishes several books and monographs each year. It maintains a large number of websites on NASA history. Students of all majors are welcome to apply. While detailed prior knowledge of the aeronautics and space fields is not necessary, a keen interest and some basic familiarity with these topics are needed. Strong research, writing and editing skills are essential. Experience with social media is a plus. Intern projects are flexible. Typical projects include handling a variety of information requests, writing posts for the NASA history Twitter and Facebook pages, editing historical manuscripts, doing research and writing biographical sketches, and identifying and captioning photos. Applications for summer 2015 internships are due Feb. 1, 2015. Fall 2015 internship applications are due June 1, 2015. For more information, visit http://history.nasa.gov/interncall.htm. If you have questions about this opportunity, please contact Bill Barry at bill dot barry at nasa.gov. [ANS thanks NASA Education Express Message for Jan. 8, 2015 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Dariusz Dabek, SP9TTX Earns 6th 73 on 73 Award Congratulations to Dariusz Dabek, SP9TTX, for becoming the sixth recipient of the 73 on 73 Award. He submitted a list of 78 stations worked via AO-73 between September 1, 2014 and January 3, 2015. Reviewing the recent log submissions for the award, it appears that the full time transponder activation over the holiday season attracted several new users to the satellite. Paul Stoetzer N8HM is sponsoring the award for contacts made via the AO-73 (FUNcube-1) amateur radio satellite. 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. There will be no cost for this award (donations to AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-NA's Fox program are encouraged though). No QSL cards are required. When you complete the requirements, email your log extract including the callsign of each station worked, time GMT, and date to n8hm(a)arrl.net as well as the address where you'd like the award certificate sent. For more information on the award see http://amsat-uk.org/funcube/73-on-73-award/ [ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer N8HM for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Next US ARISS Contact Proposal Window opens February 15 The next call for proposals for US entities to host an ARISS contact is coming up in February, 2015. Call for Proposals Proposal Window February 15 - April 15, 2015 The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS. ARISS anticipates that the contact would be held between January 1, 2016 and June 30, 2016. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan. The deadline to submit a proposal is April 15, 2015. The Opportunity Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students and educators to interact with the astronauts through a question-and- answer session. An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in contact dates and times. Amateur Radio organizations around the world, NASA, and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe sponsor this educational opportunity by providing the equipment and operational support to enable direct communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world via Amateur Radio. In the US, the program is managed by AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) and ARRL (American Radio Relay League) in partnership with NASA. More Information Interested parties can find more information about the program at www.ariss.org and www.arrl.org/ARISS. More details on expectations, audience, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Sessions are available at http://www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact Please direct any questions to ariss(a)arrl.org. [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- FUNcube-2 on UKube-1 - Jan 2015 update Limited testing of the FUNcube-2 435/145 MHz linear transponder on the UKube-1 spacecraft has been undertaken during the recent holiday period. This testing has shown that the transponder is able to work effectively and that it is capable of a similar performance to the transponder already operating on FUNcube-1. AMSAT-UK and the FUNcube team have now submitted a detailed report on the testing to the UK Space Agency, who are the owners and prime operators of the UKube-1 spacecraft. It is expected that a meeting will be held with them late January or early February to plan possible future testing and operations. Reception of UKube-1 FUNcube-2 Beacon http://tinyurl.com/ANS011-FuncubeBeacon [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- SHIN-EN2 Designated as Fuji Oscar 82 William A. (Bill) Tynan, W3XO, OSCAR Number Administrator has confered on SHIN-EN2 the designation Fuji OSCAR-82 or FO-82. In reply to Seiji Fukushima's, JH6RTO, request for an OSCAR number, Bill said, "I along with all in AMSAT-NA and the world's Amateur Radio satellite community congratulate you and all involved with Fuji OSCAR-82 and trust that it will fulfill all of its mission objectives. FO-82 joins an illustrious line of Fuji spacecraft built and launched by Japan." Shin-En2 is a 17 kg satellite measuring 490×490×475 mm built by students at Kagoshima University in Japan which will carry a 145 to 435 MHz linear transponder into a deep space orbit. The aims of the mission are: * To establish communication technologies with a long range as far as moon. * To establish a new technology of the ultra-light-weight satellite. Proposing a WSJT 29dBm UHF downlink and a 29dBm 20 kHz linear transponder and a CW beacon all on UHF with a VHF uplink for the transponder The orbit will be quite different from the previous satellites. Shin- En2 will have an elliptic orbit around the Sun and travel to a deep space orbit between Venus and Mars. Its inclination will be almost zero, which means Shin-En2 will stay in the Earth's equatorial plane. The distance from the Sun will be between 0.7 and 1.3 AU. An Astronomical Unit (AU) is 149,597,871 km. Shin-En2 IARU coordinated frequencies: * 437.505 MHz CW beacon * 437.385 MHz WSJT telemetry * Inverting SSB/CW transponder - 145.940-145.960 MHz uplink LSB - 435.280-435.260 MHz downlink USB Shin-En2 launched in the 4th quarter of 2014 with another amateur radio satellite, ARTSAT2:DESPATCH, on a H-IIA rocket with the asteroid explorer Hayabusa 2 as the main payload. Kagoshima University satellite development team http://tinyurl.com/Kagoshima-Satellite Shin-En2 English Website http://www.eee.kagoshima-u.ac.jp/~fuku-lab/sinen,english.html ARTSAT2:DESPATCH - Art and Ham Radio in Deep Space http://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/03/art-and-ham-radio-in-deep-space/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA and AMSAT-UK for the above Information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- FOX Challenge Coins Still Available It's a new year, and hopefully we have all recovered from the holidays. Here at AMSAT Fox fundraising HQ, we are busy packing up the new batch of coins that came in over the holidays, to ship to our generous donors. This year will see the launches of Fox-1A and -1C, both carrying university experiments and VHF/UHF ham radio repeaters. Help us keep ham radio in space with your donation and sharing our FundRazr link via social media. http://www.amsat.org/?p=3275 The Fox program is designed to provide a platform for university experiments in space, as well as provide FM repeater capability for radio amateurs worldwide. Fox-1A and 1C are set to launch in 2015, and Fox-1B (also known as RadFXSat) is awaiting NASA ELANA launch assignment. Further information on the Fox project can be found at http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=1113. [ANS thanks Drew KO4MA for the above Information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Successful ARISS Contacts with three Italian schools Contacts with 3 Italian schools Friday January 9, 2015 were successful. The events included students at Scuola Santa Teresa del Bambin Gesù, Roma, Italy, direct via IKØUSO, students at Istituto Salesiano Villa Sora, Frascati, Italy, direct via IWØCZC, and students at Scuola Pontificia Pio IX, Roma, Italy, via telebridge with IK1SLD. The contact was with Samantha Cristoforetti using the callsign IRØISS the contact began 10:14:09 UTC, which is 11:14:09 CEWT. The downlink was audible in Europe on 145.800MHz FM. Images of event taken at Scuola Pontificia Pio IX, Roma: https://www.flickr.com/gp/82104276@N02/xvhd78/ Audio of both contacts established per direct/telebridge today: http://www.amsat.it/audio/ARISS_January092015_1011UTC.mp3 http://www.amsat.it/audio/ARISS_January092015_1145UTC.mp3 Schools represented: Scuola Santa Teresa del Bambino Gesù The school "Santa Teresa del Bambino Gesù" is a catholic primary school in Rome, established to answer to the needs and demands for Catholic education by the local population. The school belongs to the Congregation of Missionary Carmelitane Sisters of Saint Therese of Jesus Child. The school is open to families that take care of the religious education and formation of their children. Preparation for the ISS radio contact has been underway for a long time, including educational projects on different scientific topics to support the special event. Istituto Salesiano Villa Sora Villa Sora is located on the side of the ancient Roman boulevard (now Via Tuscolana) in an area known as Tusculanus ager, which is full of sumptuous villas, including those of Cicero, Lucullus and Sulpicius Galba. This villa was built as a country house in the same grounds of Lucullus` villa in the mid-16th century and it was originally known as 'Torricella'. The earliest documentation of its history dates back to 1546, when the Chapel of Sancta Sanctorum of Rome owned the villa. The land currently measures over 6 acres and includes, in addition to the house and the school, a large park with several building lots. The school of Villa Sora has a notable historical tradition. Since 1925, it has a primary school and a liceo classico. The liceo scientifico was founded in 1966 and in 1986 its admission was opened to girls. In 1989, the middle school was created, and finally, in 2011, a new liceo economico sociale was founded. The middle school now has 200 students divided in three classes. The liceo classico has 180 students, the liceo scientifico 280 and the liceo economico sociale 80, for a total of 740 students. The space conversation was conducted in Italian. The following 20 questions were answered by Samantha Cristoforetti as well as greetings and wishes before LOS. This was amazing as Samantha responded very exhaustively and with many details. Translation: 1. The time of the re-entry into the atmosphere seems to be less evolved. There are studies underway to modify or change this stage? 2. How long does it take to arrive on the international space station? 3. What is the equipment of the astronaut during extra vehicular activity? 4. What kind of material is made the surface that covers the lower part of the spacecraft re-entry? 5. How many km / h you travel to reach the international space station? 6. The extra vehicular activities that you will do will umbilical or free? What goals and how they will be held? 7. How does the deceleration during re-entry? 8. The control of the flight on the Soyuz is automatic or are you a pilot? 9. How does the return to the international space station after an extra vehicular activity? 10. After take-off part of the missile is dispersed in space? 11. Which angle is formed between the trajectory of the spacecraft and the Earth's surface during re-entry? What are the risks an angle of re-entry is not correct? 12. Samantha, you are the first Italian woman to do extra vehicular activity. What are your feelings and what your concerns about it? 13. What happens to take off when passing through the Earth's atmosphere? 14. During the return to earth, how much gravitational force suffer the astronauts? 15. There is the possibility of accidents during extra vehicular activity? 16. When it takes off there is a lot of turbulence? 17. Why do astronauts after the mission should go in quarantine? What happens at the neurological level? 18. How do you prepare for extra vehicular activity? What is the training and simulations? 19. It was more exciting to enter into the international space station or the time of takeoff? 20. How do you manage to fit into a specific point on the earth, without risk to human life and the environment? ARISS is an international educational outreach program partnering the participating space agencies, NASA, Russian Space Agency, ESA, CNES, JAXA, and CSA, with the AMSAT and IARU organizations from participating countries. ARISS offers an opportunity for students to experience the excitement of Amateur Radio by talking directly with crewmembers onboard the International Space Station. Teachers, parents and communities see, first hand, how Amateur Radio and crewmembers on ISS can energize youngsters' interest in science, technology and learning. [ANS thanks Gaston ON4WF and Francesco IK0WGF, ARISS for the above information] ARISS News Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule Richmond Heights Middle School, Miami, FL, anticipates a direct contact via W1HQL, scheduled for Thursday 2015-01-15 16:09:40 UTC. Because this is a reschedule due to the delay of the SpaceX resupply mission timing depends on the the school confirming availability. As of press time, ARISS was still awaiting word of the confirmation. The downlink should be audible across the SE USA. The contact will be held in English and is scheduled to be with Samantha Cristoforetti IZØUDF using the callsign NA1SS. RICHMOND HEIGHTS MIDDLE SCHOOL Richmond Heights Middle School opened its doors in 1963 in the Richmond Heights community in southwest Miami, Florida. The now 50 year old school, is located in a historic African American Community. An army captain by the name of Frank C. Martin believed it to be a wise investment as well as the right thing to do to establish a housing development in which Black veterans of WWII could purchase their own home. There are currently 636 students and a teaching staff of 41 faculty members. Along with its exemplary athletics program, full time gifted program, and Cambridge program, Richmond Heights Middle School offers a Zoology Magnet program to the students of Miami Dade County Public Schools. This is an extremely unique magnet program that is one of only three in the nation. The zoology magnet is a result of a partnership with Zoo Miami, the Zoological Society of Florida and Richmond Heights Middle School. It has been in existence since 1988. Students have the unique opportunity to visit the zoo to study the animals within their exhibits while engaging in STEM fields of study. BIOTECH @ RICHMOND HEIGHTS 9-12 HIGH SCHOOL BioTECH @ Richmond Heights 9-12 High School is the only Conservation Biology public magnet high school is the United States and boasts three campuses: our educational center at Richmond Campus, our Research Station at Zoo Miami, and our Botanical Outpost at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. BioTECH provides students with a challenging and advanced level math and science curriculum focused on Conservation Biology that exposes them to rigorous STEM coursework as well as research opportunities with practicing scientists in state-of- the-art laboratories. In classes taken on-site at Zoo Miami, students study the human impact on biological diversity, making BioTECH the only school in the country to offer a full research and teaching facility within zoo grounds. Research experiences are offered in collaboration with the local zoo and the local research and botanic garden. BioTECH is currently home to 130 students that travel within the boundaries of a 467 square mile area to attend this unique school. The school opened its doors in August 2014 with a total of 8 faculty members, 7 support staff members, and an arsenal of practicing scientists and conservation educators from Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Zoo Miami, Zoological Society of Florida, Everglades National Park, The Dumond Conservancy, and Biscayne National Park. The following is the list of the anticipated questions: 1. How would astronauts combat disease, say an accidental infection by a Salmonella culture, given the increased virulence of microbes in space? 2. What kind of work is the crew doing in support of the future missions to Mars? 3. We have a 3D printer in our school. What are the future implications of having a 3D printer on-board? What types of prints will you create? 4. Does experiencing a sunrise/sunset every 90 minutes change your sleep/wake cycles? 5. Do you feel physical exhaustion in space at the end of your work day? How long is your work day? 6. Without gravity, how do plants, such as Arabidopsis, determine orientation germination? Geotropism what do roots do? Do plants on the ISS grow in all different directions? 7. Do you feel stressed on the space station? How do you cope with stress on a space station and does it have more or less of an effect on your immune system in space? Measure muscle conditioning? 8. How are astronaut diets altered to accommodate the changes to the digestive system in microgravity? 9. All work and no play can be boring. What do you do for fun up in space? 10. How do you keep from feeling trapped in the space station? 11. What role did your education play in becoming an astronaut? 12. Which teacher influenced you the most in your life and why? [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + CQ To Combine Jan/Feb 2015 Issues (Hicksville, NY, January 9, 2015) -- CQ magazine today announced that it will be publishing a combined January/February 2015 issue and will be ceasing publication of its "CQ Plus" digital edition supplement as of the March 2015 issue. Both moves are intended to help restore the magazine's normal schedule for its print edition and to strengthen its foundations moving forward as it enters its eighth decade of publication, said Publisher Dick Ross, K2MGA. "These decisions were not made lightly," he added, "but in recognition of the realities of the publishing industry. It's a tough time to be in the magazine business, and we appreciate the patience and loyalty of both our readers and our advertisers." CQ will continue to publish both print and digital editions, but the digital edition will no longer contain the 50-60 additional pages each month that constituted "CQ Plus." Editor Rich Moseson, W2VU, noted that he hopes to include some former CQ Plus content within the pages of CQ, but says ham radio will remain the magazine's primary focus, as it has been for the past seven decades. CQ is marking its 70th anniversary of publication as of its January/February issue. As a consequence of the changes, CQ Plus Editor Richard Fisher, KI6SN, will be leaving the CQ staff after serving for many years as a columnist for, and then as editor of, Popular Communications, WorldRadio Online and CQ Plus. He was also CQ magazine's Emergency Communications Editor. "We will miss Richard's many contributions to CQ's products," noted Moseson, "and thank him for his many years of service to our readers." Subscribers to both the print and digital editions of CQ will have their subscriptions extended by one month due to the combined January/February issue. CQ <www.cq-amateur-radio.com> is the world's leading independent amateur radio magazine, serving the amateur radio community worldwide since 1945. It is published in three languages (English, Spanish and Portuguese) and in both print and digital formats. [ANS thanks Rich Moseson, W2VU, CQ Magazine for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive 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-004 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 04 Jan '15

04 Jan '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-004 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: * W5PFG/P Northern Maine Grid Expedition * Opportunities to Help at AMSAT User Services * Design The Next AMSAT Satellite! * 73 on 73 Award #5 - EC4TR * Geosynchronous Es'hail-2 with Amateur Payload Contracted for 2016 Launch * DESPATCH FO-81 Concludes Operations SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-004.01 ANS-004 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 004.01 From AMSAT HQ Kensington, MD. January 4, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-004.01 W5PFG/P Northern Maine Grid Expedition Weather permitting, a grid expedition to northern Maine will begin Saturday, January 10, 2015. Planned grids will be: FN53-54, FN57, FN65-67. The plan is to try to operate as many satellite passes and gridlines as possible in the same fashion as AC0RA's March 2014 trip. The trip will end up in FN42 by Sunday, January 11 evening. Twitter via @w5pfg will be the primary form of communications with follow-up afterwards with some pictures at www.w5pfg.us. [ANS thanks Clayton, W5PFG, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Opportunities to Help at AMSAT User Services AMSAT's User Services Department is recruiting for several volunteer positions to augment our dedicated and elite staff! The User Services Department provides support in several areas including: + AMSAT News Service + The AMSAT Journal magazine + AMSAT's web presence at www.amsat.org The AMSAT News Service ----------------------- We need two or more volunteers to step forward who can dedicate time on a rotating shift of news editors. The AMSAT News Service (ANS) sends out a weekly news bulletin of everything of interest to amateur radio in space. The entire ANS crew (currently 3 editors) helps round up the news and each ANS editor takes a week as editor to compile the week's ANS bulletins. We'll get you into the bulletin rotation and you'll take your turn as the ANS editor this week. The AMSAT Journal Magazine -------------------------- We need two or more volunteers who can help compile one of AMSAT's key membership benefits ... The AMSAT Journal Magazine. An assistant editor is needed to help our existing team of editors (currently 3) to locate articles and establish contact with potential authors. All you need is an eye for articles of interest to amateur radio in space. You'll compile input from AMSAT HQ, volunteer authors, and amateur radio news sources into articles for publication in our bi-monthly magazine. We also need one volunteer who is capable of assuming the position of editor-in-chief of the AMSAT Journal. You'll help develop article sources and using AMSAT provided software and templates compile the 32-page magazine for six issues per year. Our publishing system is the Adobe InDesign CS6 package. This can be learned quickly by any computer literate ham. InDesign is MS-Word on steroids. AMSAT's Web Presence -------------------- Help is needed on the front to locate and publish up to date content for the AMSAT web. We publish late breaking news of amateur radio in space. We also publish reference information to help operate on the satellites ... software, radios, antennas, operating techniques. Web content containing late-breaking operating news and reliable operator tips currently has several gaps needing to be filled. Our WordPress environment makes the web display easy but you'll be spending your volunteer time on the content. This is a job for 5 or more volunteers and needs to be filled immediately! AMSAT also is looking for a webmaster who will assume responsibility for the display of all content in a WordPress environment. The basic framework is in place but can definitely stand to be fine tuned and made into a world class display of amateur radio in space. For most hams on-line www.amsat.org is our "front door" and we are looking for the most capable help on this important user interface! Our team is the "voice of AMSAT". News, operator tips, and membership benefits are important products for AMSAT User Services. For questions or to volunteer please contact AMSAT's Vice President of User Services, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM at k9jkm(a)amsat.org [ANS thanks AMSAT Vice President of User Services, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Design The Next AMSAT Satellite! At the 2014 AMSAT Space Symposium AMSAT Vice President - Engineering Jerry Buxton announced the plan for the next generation of AMSAT satellites. "The door is open for everyone, to submit their ideas. AMSAT Engineering has a long term strategy and this is the first step." The Engineering long term strategy includes the following goals: - Advancement of amateur radio satellite technical and communications skills - Enhance international goodwill - Grow and sustain a skilled pool of amateur radio satellite engineers - Establish and maintain partnerships with educational institutions - Develop a means to use hardware common to all opportunities With respect to the last goal Jerry said "Within the bounds of the type of satellite it takes to achieve any of the various orbit opportunities, let's consider in those plans the possibility of developing a platform that can suit any and all orbits. Perhaps a modular CubeSat, using a common bus as we did in Fox-1, which gives great flexibility in building and flying different sizes and configurations of CubeSats with simple common-design hardware changes." Submissions should be thorough and contain the following information. The purpose of the proposal is not just in suggesting an idea; being an all-volunteer team AMSAT needs your help in carrying out the idea. Design Implementation - CubeSat platform Estimated timeline Cost - volunteer resources, commercial (COTS) units Launch - how does it get to orbit Strategy - how it fits into AMSAT's Engineering long term strategy As mentioned above the idea should be based on the CubeSat platform. This is the standard through which we will look for launches in the foreseeable future. In considering your proposal, Jerry encourages you to contact him for more details on the criteria. A guidebook to the criteria is now available for download here. In particular, if you plan to include a university as a partner to provide experiments or other support and you are not representing that university, please contact Jerry for assistance in working with our existing partners or establishing a new partnership. "Being amateur radio operators, it is easy for us to fall into a particular trap because of our history of communicating with other amateurs throughout the world" says Jerry. "Specifically, most people who are not already involved in the world of satellite technology are unaware of or simply overlook the provisions of the current ITAR and soon to be EAR export rules particularly with regard to deemed exports which requires governmental permission to discuss satellite projects with foreign nationals." While all amateurs are invited to submit ideas, U.S. amateurs must take particular care of they choose to become involved in a collaboration which includes individuals from other countries. It is permissible to receive ideas and proposals from outside the U.S., but it is not permitted for U.S. Persons to export or share design ideas with other countries unless they have taken the proper steps to insure compliance with ITAR and deemed export rules. Additionally, those wishing to work on proposals should use care in presenting themselves in their contacts. While the goal is for AMSAT to build and launch the satellite, it is not an AMSAT project until it is accepted by the AMSAT Board of Directors. It is acceptable to represent yourself as members of a project team that plans to submit a proposal to AMSAT for a future satellite project, as the AMSAT name is well known. "It is not our intention that ideas be submitted to AMSAT-NA which would be more appropriately handled by an AMSAT organization in a country where AMSAT is established. AMSAT-NA is seeking ideas from amateurs in North America and will certainly consider ideas from amateurs in countries which do not have an established AMSAT organization or relationships with an existing AMSAT organization." The deadline for submissions is May 30, 2015. After the submission date the ideas will be screened for completeness and then reviewed by a board consisting of the AMSAT Engineering Team, AMSAT Senior Officer and Board of Directors representatives, and aerospace industry members. The review board may modify or consolidate ideas and will consider which meet the criteria to become a project based on feasibility, cost, and the ability to bring value to the amateur satellite community. The review process is expected to be completed in September 2015. For those ideas selected to become a project which satisfy the requirements for an ELaNa launch, the idea authors will be asked to work with the AMSAT Engineering Team on an ELaNa proposal. The Engineering Team will then work on the details of execution for the selected project(s) and present a proposal to the AMSAT Board of Directors in October 2015 for final approval to begin work. Once approved, any ELaNa proposals will be submitted in November 2015 and the project(s) will move forward. Now is the time for YOU to begin working on the next AMSAT satellite! [ANS thanks Jerry, N0JY, for the above information --------------------------------------------------------------------- 73 on 73 Award #5 - EC4TR Congratulations to Jose Luis Peña Sanchez, EC4TR, for becoming the fifth recipient of the 73 on 73 Award. He submitted a list of 73 stations worked via AO-73 between September 1, 2014 and December 31, 2014. For more information on the award see http://amsat-uk.org/funcube/73-on-73-award/ [ANS thanks Paul, N8HM, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Geosynchronous Es'hail-2 with Amateur Payload Contracted for 2016 Launch The new satellite will be positioned at 26° East. In September 2014, a contract with MELCO was signed to build the satellite based on the DS-2000 bus. In December 2014, a launch contract was signed with SpaceX to launch the satellite on a Falcon-9 v1.1 booster in late 2016. Es'hail 2 will also provide the first Amateur Radio geostationary communication capability linking Brazil and India. It will carry two "Phase 4" Amateur Radio transponders. The payload will consist of a 250 kHz linear transponder intended for conventional analogue operations in addition to another transponder which will have an 8 MHz bandwidth. The latter transponder is intended for experimental digital modulation schemes and DVB amateur television. The uplinks will be in the 2.400-2.450 GHz and the downlinks in the 10.450-10.500 GHz amateur satellite service allocations. Both transponders will have broad beam antennas to provide full coverage over about third of the earth’s surface. The Qatar Amateur Radio Society and Qatar Satellite Company are cooperating on the amateur radio project. AMSAT-DL is providing technical support to the project. [ANS thanks Gunter Krebs for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- DESPATCH FO-81 Concludes Operations The following update was provided by Akihiro Kubota. One month has past since Deep Space Sculpture "ARTSAT2:DESPATCH(FO-81)" was put into an Earth-escape orbit as a piggyback payload of H-IIA F26 launched at December 3, 2014 from Tanegashima Space Center, JAXA. It is estimated to have stopped sending radio waves since the battery of DESPATCH already ran out (We predicted that the battery will work for 27 days according to the running time of the transmitter). Today January 3, the main control station, Tama Art University Ground Station, decided to conclude the operation of DESPATCH. Many people supported and cooperated us throughout the design and development of DESPATCH. In addition, many excellent many ham radio operator received and reported super weak radio waves of DESPATCH from deep space. To have this opportunity, I would like once again to thank all of them very much. Reception reports of DESPATCH are summarized on the following page. Reception Reports https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WP- FzXHe8axAzNy44SGbKpJqIRKWHAcIP9vXnaHMb6g/edit#gid=0 Finally, we had two reception reports at 4.7 million kilo-meters from the Earth (more than 12 times of the distance to the Moon). They were far beyond what we expected. They are the the longest communication distance in the world between two amateur radio stations. Orbital elements of DESPATCH is as follows (J2000 heliocentric ecliptic coordinates). - Semi-major axis a : 1.003881127 [AU] - Eccentricity e : 0.08741828512 - Inclination i : 6.796995362 [deg] - Argument of perihelion w : 96.90057903 [deg] - Longitude of the ascending node W : 250.5520871 [deg] - Mean anomaly at epoch M : 101.6280436 [deg] - Epoch : 2457023.50000 [JD] (Time of perihelion : 2456919.7870655278675 [JD]) cf. Orbital elements of EARTH : http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/earthfact.html Celestial sphere position and orbital trajectory of DESPATCH can be checked anytime on the following web pages. - Celestial Sphere http://artsat.jp/project/despatch/celestial - Orbital Position http://artsat.jp/project/despatch/orbit Transmission of the radio wave from DESPATCH has ended. However, the life of DESPATCH as a sculpture around the sun is almost eternal. We calculated the orbit (the distance from the Earth) of DESPATCH for 500 years from now. http://artsat.jp/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/500years.png http://artsat.jp/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/500years_large.png DESPATCH will continue to orbit around the sun as an artificial asteroid. By examining the calculated results for the local minimum value of the distance between the Earth, DESPATCH will approaches to less than 1 million km from Earth after about 350 years. Possibly it will approach more closer to the Earth due to the interaction with unpredictable other celestial bodies. We are glad if you think of DESPATCH as the most distant artwork in the world sometimes in the future. ARTSAT project will continue to the future. We already started the conceptual design of next ARTSAT3. We kindly ask for your continuous support and cooperation for the project. [ANS thanks Akihiro Kubota 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-215 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Joseph Spier 28 Dec '14

28 Dec '14

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-215 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: * July/August 2014 AMSAT Journal is Ready and at the Print Shop * AMSAT ARRL Centennial Videos Added to www.AMSAT.org * AMSAT-UK Space Colloquium Videos Now Available * Enhanced FUNcube-1 Dashboard App now available * AMSAT Events * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-215.01 ANS-215 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 215.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE August 3, 2014 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-215.01 --------------------------------------------------------------------- July/August 2014 AMSAT Journal is Ready and at the Print Shop JoAnne, K9JKM reports that the July/August 2014 AMSAT Journal has been sent to the print shop. Look for your copy in your mailbox in a couple of weeks depending on the post office. Thanks to all of our contributors and Editors: Bernhard, VA6BMJ; Douglas, KA2UPW/5; James, K3JPH for their help getting this issue ready. In this issue you will find ... + AMSAT Announcements: Call for 2014 AMSAT Space Symposium Papers + Apogee View by Barry Baines - WD4ASW + Fox-1C to Launch on Spaceflight's SHERPA in 3Q 2015 + Get Ready for Fox-1 Hamfest Handout + AMSAT at ARRL Centennial Celebration in Hartford + Board of Directors Meeting Minutes and 2014 AMSAT BOD Election Notice by Alan Biddle - WA4SCA + AMSAT at Dayton 2014 by Keith Baker - KB1SF/VA3KSF + AMSAT Engineering 2014 - Virtual Teamwork by Jerry Buxton - N0JY + AMSAT at Ham-Com 2014 + New President's Club Donor Drive Announcement + Star Comm Group Satellite Operating Awards by Damon Runion - WA4HFN + June 19 DNEPR Launch Lofts 37 Satellites + AMSAT Field Day 2014 by Bruce Paige - KK5DO + UKube-1 With FUNcube-2 Transponder Aboard Launched on July 8 by Graham Shirville - G3VZV A color preview of the cover page has been posted to the AMSAT North America Facebook page. The AMSAT Journal welcomes all your input about Amateur Radio in space. We'll do all the final formatting and layout for you. All we need are your article in text, MS-Word, or OpenOffice format. Please send photos separately as JPG or BMP files in as high resolution as possible. We have a writer's guide posted at http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=1709 -and-feel free to contact the editor directly with your questions. Sample articles from previous issues are posted at: http://ww2.amsat.org/?page_id=2074 The AMSAT Journal is sent to all members bi-monthly. We report on all aspects of Amateur Radio in space including launches, equipment, operating techniques, antennas, activities, and membership news. Not yet a member? You can find out how to join at: http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=1095 Please send your articles, photos, and news to journal(a)amsat.org or k9jkm(a)amsat.org. [ANS thanks the AMSAT Journal Editor Team for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT ARRL Centennial Videos Added to www.AMSAT.org The following are videos of Patrick WD9EWK demonstrating working satellites during the ARRL Centennial. Two of the 3 use audio Patrick recorded, with a slideshow complete with pictures and descriptions of the audio and other stuff related to AMSAT at Hartford. This is a slideshow from the AO-7 demonstration Patrick gave, after our training seminar wrapped up on the Thursday of that weekend (17 July): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5TjXbuLv5s This is a slideshow from the NA1SS contact on Saturday (19 July) morning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoFbhPXsUx0 This is an actual video from the AO-7 demonstration at the end of the convention on Saturday (19 July). Thanks Peter W2JV for running the camera for this video!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHd91H_t88o See the AMSAT Presentations at the 2014 ARRL Centennial webpage: http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=2914 [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-UK Space Colloquium Videos Now Available Thanks to the hard work of volunteers from the British Amateur Television Club (BATC) videos of the presentations given to the AMSAT- UK International Space Colloquium held in Guildford on July 26-27, 2014 are now available to view online or download to your PC. Links to the presentation videos, PDF’s of the slides and the schedule are at http://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/colloquium-2014/presentation-videos/ You can also access them by following these steps: • Go to http://www.batc.tv/ • Click on the ‘Film Archive’ icon • Select ‘AMSATUK 2014? from the Category drop down menu • Click on ‘Select Category’ • Select the video you wish to watch from the Stream drop down menu • Click on ‘Select Stream’ • Click the play icon ‘>’ on the player • Clicking on the icon to the left of the player volume control will give you full screen display. • To download the video file to your PC right-click on the ‘Click Here’ link under the player. AMSAT-UK publishes an newsletter, OSCAR News, that is full of Amateur Satellite information. A sample issue of OSCAR News can be downloaded here. Join AMSAT-UK online at http://tinyurl.com/JoinAMSAT-UK/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Enhanced FUNcube-1 Dashboard App now available AThis weekend saw the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium take place and Jim Heck G3WGM and Ciaran Morgan M0XTD together gave a presentation on the FUNcube-1 CubeSat mission. The presentation included the announcement of a new version of the FUNcube-1 Dashboard. This has greatly improved decoding performance for weak signals – especially for Dongle users. Additionally the Dashboard can now activate the Bias-T pre-amp power from the Dongle. The new version can now be downloaded and the guidance notes have been updated to provide full information about it. All users are encouraged to install this new version to improve their system performance and further increase the amount of data being captured in the Warehouse. Reports will be very welcome on the FUNcube forum http://forum.funcube.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=195 Dashboard App – Telemetry Decoder http://funcube.org.uk/working-documents/funcube-telemetry-dashboard/ Data Warehouse – Telemetry Archive http://warehouse.funcube.org.uk/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Events Iformation 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, 2 August 2014 – Fairbanks Hamfest in Fairbanks AK * Friday through Sunday, 12-14 September 2014 – ARRL Southwestern Division Convention 2014 in San Diego CA (near Montgomery Field and I- 805/CA-163 interchange) * Saturday, 8 November 2014 – Tucson Hamfest 2014 in Marana AZ (along I-10 west frontage road, east of exit 236) * Saturday, 6 December 2014 – Superstition Superfest 2014 in Mesa AZ (Mesa Community College, Dobson Road between Southern Avenue & US- 60 exit 177) * Saturday, 10 January 2015 – Thunderbird Hamfest in Phoenix AZ (43rd Avenue, between Greenway and Bell Roads) * Friday and Saturday, 20-21 February 2015 – Yuma Hamfest in Yuma AZ (Yuma County Fairgrounds, 32nd Street between Pacific Avenue & Avenue 3E, south of I-8 exit 3) [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News Upcoming Contacts * A direct contact via 8J3AK with students at Amino Kita Elementary School, Kyotango, Japan is scheduled for Wed 2014-08-06 10:25:43 UTC 68 deg. Amino Kita Elementary School was opened on April 1, 1983. Our school is located at the northernmost tip of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. We have 244 students now, who all study hard and pursue sports actively. Our school is surrounded by a rich, natural environment. The location of our school is recognized as a part of Quasi-National Park and the National Geo Park. It is also only 100 meters away from the beach. Students in the 6th grade swim one kilometer in the sea every year. During the current season, summer, a lot of lights from squid fishing boats can be seen in the sea at night. Maybe you can see them from the ISS? Our school has beautiful grounds covered with green grass. At recess, our students play in the grounds full of energy. There are straight hallways more than 100 meters long in our school. They are sometimes used in our arithmetic classes to learn how to measure distance. The members of our space club will ask you some questions today. These questions were thought of by all of the students. It is a new club that began this year. They are studying the stars and moon, and practicing English hard so that they can make contact with you. All of the people in our school are really looking forward to getting in touch with the astronauts in the ISS. Latest News * A telebridge contact with Scouts at Space Jam 8, Rantoul Airport & Chanute Aerospace Museum, Rantoul IL, USA was successfu on Sat 2014-08-02 12:23:19 UTC 60 deg via W6SRJ in Santa Rosa, CA, USA. ARISS reports "The contact Space Jam 8 just had a very successful contact with Greg. We had 24 questions answered that were on the list plus 2 extra ones for a total of 26. I only heard one very very very brief change in signal strength but Greg was rock solid through the entire pass. He actually called W6SRJ first. The Space Jam 8 group was heading off to their next project of the day, launching a balloon with ham radio on board. They also reported that there was at least 1 TV station there." SpaceJam 8 provided the following information - Greetings to all stations from the participants and volunteers of Space Jam 8 in Rantoul, Illinois. Though primarily a weekend Scouting and STEM education event, we are open to all interested youth. Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Venturing Crews from 22 states and this year Canada have come together in an educational and fun format to learn more about the life skills that will prepare them for the increasingly complex technological future. While it is well known that Scouting teaches pioneering skills like camping and wilderness survival, the new pioneers and wilderness are in outer space and we are working hard at 44 technology oriented Merit Badges and activities, plus some fun things like the Duct Tape Merit Badge and experiencing 1/3 gravity. Talking to the astronauts on the ISS is an unforgettable part of the experience at Space Jam and that's next on our list. We will not know for many years whether one of these youths becomes an astronaut themselves but it is certain that they are all part of tomorrow's leaders. Find more information about Space Jam at http://spacejamboree.com/pages/about. * A telebridge contact with students participating in the ESA 2014 Space Camp, Rossall School, Fleetwood, United Kingdom was successful Tue 2014-07-29 14:01:13 UTC 53 deg via W6SRJ. Audio on Echolink and Web stream was transmitted. This annual camp is organized by the ESA Space Camp Committee takes place in a different European country each summer for 2 weeks. This year the camp takes place between 27 July and 10 August where 185 young space explorers aged 8 to 17 will meet each other in the UK at Rossall School. The children come from the following ESA establishments (UK, France, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands and Germany). This will be the 20th Space Camp organized by ESA. This year the children will also be involved in celebrating this milestone with marking 50 years of ESA. Children, their parents and educators from the area will join the ESA campers on this special celebration day. Rossall is a boarding school situated on a beautiful 160-acre site, there is plenty of room for extensive sports and cultural facilities, including a swimming pool, squash and tennis courts, as well as a fitness room and a climbing wall. The ESC 2014 program will feature a balanced mix of sports such as flag rugby, life-guarding, kayaking and martial arts. The theme for camp will be ‘Reach for the Stars!’ Well-equipped IT labs, classrooms and an on-site planetarium will be instrumental in setting up a space education program that will keep the children motivated with new and exciting hands-on activities and educational tasks involving space- related themes, as well as learning about the culture of the host country. As with all ESA Space Camps, there will be specific emphasis placed on socialization and respect among the participants. We hope to make the camp a really unique experience for juniors and teenagers who are in the process of becoming citizens of a multicultural society. * On July 25, 2014, A direct contact via RZ9WWB with students participating in Gagarin From Space at Vii Youth Rally Of Radio Amateurs In Bashkiria, Ufa,Russia was successful 2014-07-25 21:38 UTC. [ANS thanks ARISS and Charlie, AJ9N for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over * $248 Billion for Manufacture and Launch of 1,155 Satellites Over Next Decade According to Euroconsult's newly released research report, Satellites to be Built and Launched, 115 satellites will be launched on average yearly over the next decade (2014-2023). In comparison with last year's forecast, the number of satellites is stable while market value is growing, thus translating the growing economic importance of the sector, for both governments and commercial satellite companies. Governments all over the world will be responsible for more than 75% of the $248 billion in revenues expected from the manufacturing and launch of these 1,155 satellites. Governments' dominance of the space industry continues to increase as established space countries replace and expand their in-orbit satellite systems and more countries acquire their first operational satellite systems, usually for communications and broadcasting or for Earth observation and imagery intelligence. Nearly 90% of the government market value will remain concentrated in the 10 countries with an established space industry, but growth in the government market will derive from new satellite systems in 35 nascent space countries, creating a market of $2 billion on average per year to be provided principally by foreign suppliers as local industry capabilities develop simultaneously. According to Rachel Villain, Principal Advisor at Euroconsult and editor of the report, "governments in established space countries continue to drive innovation for satellite systems with benefits to local industries and the foreign governments to which they export." In the commercial space sector, Euroconsult anticipates a total of 350 satellites to be launched over the decade, most of which will be for the replacement of capacity existing in-orbit. These satellites will be equally divided between the geostationary orbit (GEO) and lower altitude orbits (MEO and LEO); 83% of market value remains concentrated in the geostationary orbit, the destination of 300+ satellites operated by 30 commercial companies for communications and broadcasting services. Still, the constellations to be launched in non-geostationary orbits for communications services and Earth observation imagery should represent a market of $1 billion per year on average over the decade. Technology advances in satellite payloads and higher competition in launch services allow the continuous improvement of CAPEX efficiency of commercial GEO satellites for communications and broadcasting services. Electric propulsion will definitively be part of the economic equation, even if only five all-electric commercial satellites are now under construction. [ANS thanks spacemart.com for the above information] * US aerospace firm outlines New Zealand-based space program A United States aerospace company is aiming to make New Zealand one of the exclusive group of countries with a space program by promising a revolutionary new satellite-carrying rocket for a fraction of the current satellite launch costs. Rocket Lab announced Tuesday that it had developed a light- weight, carbon-composite rocket, named Electron, at its Auckland plant and hoped to offer small satellite launches for less than 5 million U.S. dollars, compared with a current average price of 133 million U.S. dollars. The company, which has received research and development funding from the government, was being backed by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Khosla Ventures, Rocket Lab founder and New Zealander Peter Beck said in a statement. The lead-time for businesses to launch a satellite would be cut from years to just weeks and the company already had commercial commitments for 30 launches, said Beck. At 18 meters in length, 1 meter in diameter and weighing more than 10 tones, Electron would be the first vehicle of its class capable of delivering payloads up to 100 kg into low Earth orbit at an altitude of about 160 km. Businesses faced a severe barrier in launching satellites as rockets had remained prohibitively large and expensive, despite the trend for satellites to become smaller, more capable and more affordable, he said. "Along with benefits for commercial enterprises, cheaper and faster space access has the potential to lead to more accurate weather prediction, global high speed Internet access, as well as real-time monitoring of the impacts of human development," said Beck. New Zealand was in an ideal launch position for a variety of different types of orbits and plans were underway to build a space port at several potential locations. Powered by liquid oxygen and kerosene, Electron would have a lift- off mass of 10,500 kg and a possible top speed of 27,500 km per hour. [ANS thanks space-travel.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-355 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 20 Dec '14

20 Dec '14

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-355 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: * Worked All USA Grids Via Satellite - #488 for Doug Papay, KD8CAO * Opportunities to Help at AMSAT User Services * 73 on 73 Award #4 - EA5TT * Samantha Cristoforetti, IZ0UDF, Reflects on Her First ARISS Contact * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-355.01 ANS-355 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 355.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE December 21, 2014 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-355.01 Worked All USA Grids Via Satellite - #488 for Doug Papay, KD8CAO Congratulations to Doug Papay, KD8CAO for working grid #488 of the 488 USA grids. Doug worked N2COP/p, in FM13, for his final grid. The contact was via SO-50 and was logged on 15/Dec/2014 @ 1252Z. For his efforts he has been granted GRID MASTER award # 2. In a recent AMSAT-BB email exchange with Damon Runion WA4HFN, Doug said of his accomplishment, "...it certainly would not have been possible without the help of the many individuals that went to extra effort to activate so many rare grids. These include those who recently helped put the last 30 or so girds in the log: my father K8YSE, Tom KA6SIP, Denny WB8K, Bill N2COP, Ron N8RO, Craig KL4E, Ed WA7ETH, Steven KF7SLV, Wyatt AC0RA, and Clayton W5PFG. Special recognition goes to my father K8YSE, Jim ND9M, Patrick WD9EWK, and Ted AA5CK for having been major contributors over the years to this accomplishment. I'm sure there are may more that I have not mentioned, and so I'm thankful for every effort, every contact is appreciated! "I also want to thank Rick WA4NVM for the heads-up via text from my father K8YSE about FM13 on Sunday morning--while I missed Bill N2COP that day, this head's-up gave the motivation to be at the radio on Monday morning, and sure enough Bill was there and the contact was logged. Without these guys watching out for me I would have missed the grid yet again. (Thanks Rick!)." The Star Comm Group sponsors the Grid Master Award. To qualify for this award you must make a satellite contact with all 488 grids in the U.S. and get confirmation. Send your information to Ricky, WA4NVM or Damon, WA4HFN. All Star Comm Group awards are free, they only ask that you make a donation to AMSAT NA. Grid Master Award #1 was awarded to Doug's father, John Papay, K8YSE. More information on the Grid Master and other Star Comm Group awards can be found at: http://www.starcommgroup.org/ [ANS thanks the Star Comm Group and Doug KD8CAO for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Opportunities to Help at AMSAT User Services AMSAT's User Services Department is recruiting for several volunteer positions to augment our dedicated and elite staff! The User Services Department provides support in several areas including: + AMSAT News Service + The AMSAT Journal magazine + AMSAT's web presence at www.amsat.org The AMSAT News Service ----------------------- We need two or more volunteers to step forward who can dedicate time on a rotating shift of news editors. The AMSAT News Service (ANS) sends out a weekly news bulletin of everything of interest to amateur radio in space. The entire ANS crew (currently 3 editors) helps round up the news and each ANS editor takes a week as editor to compile the week's ANS bulletins. We'll get you into the bulletin rotation and you'll take your turn as the ANS editor this week. The AMSAT Journal Magazine -------------------------- We need two or more volunteers who can help compile one of AMSAT's key membership benefits ... The AMSAT Journal Magazine. An assistant editor is needed to help our existing team of editors (currently 3) to locate articles and establish contact with potential authors. All you need is an eye for articles of interest to amateur radio in space. You'll compile input from AMSAT HQ, volunteer authors, and amateur radio news sources into articles for publication in our bi- monthly magazine. We also need one volunteer who is capable of assuming the position of editor-in-chief of the AMSAT Journal. You'll help develop article sources and using AMSAT provided software and templates compile the 32-page magazine for six issues per year. Our publishing system is the Adobe InDesign CS6 package. This can be learned quickly by any computer literate ham. InDesign is MS-Word on steroids. AMSAT's Web Presence -------------------- Help is needed on the front to locate and publish up to date content for the AMSAT web. We publish late breaking news of amateur radio in space. We also publish reference information to help operate on the satellites ... software, radios, antennas, operating techniques. Web content containing late-breaking operating news and reliable operator tips currently has several gaps needing to be filled. Our WordPress environment makes the web display easy but you'll be spending your volunteer time on the content. This is a job for 5 or more volunteers and needs to be filled immediately! AMSAT also is looking for a webmaster who will assume responsibility for the display of all content in a WordPress environment. The basic framework is in place but can definitely stand to be fine tuned and made into a world class display of amateur radio in space. For most hams on-line www.amsat.org is our "front door" and we are looking for the most capable help on this important user interface! Our team is the "voice of AMSAT". News, operator tips, and membership benefits are important products for AMSAT User Services. For questions or to volunteer please contact AMSAT's Vice President of User Services, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM at k9jkm(a)amsat.org [ANS thanks AMSAT Vice President of User Services, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 73 on 73 Award #4 - EA5TT Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, who is sponsoring the award for contacts made via the AO-73 (FUNcube-1) amateur radio satellite, recently recognized Manuel D. Ruiz Carrasco, EA5TT, for becoming the fourth recipient of the 73 on 73 Award. He submitted a list of 73 stations worked via AO-73 between September 1, 2014 and December 8, 2014. The 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. There will be no cost for this award (donations to AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-NA's Fox program are encouraged though). No QSL cards are required. When you complete the requirements, email your log extract including the callsign of each station worked, time GMT, and date to n8hm(a)arrl.net as well as the address where you'd like the award certificate sent. Congratulations Manuel! [ANS thanks Paul N8HM for the above information]] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Samantha Cristoforetti, IZ0UDF, Reflects on Her First ARISS Contact In her blog shared 16 Dec 2014, Samantha Cristoforetti, IZ0UDF, reflects on her first ever ARISS school contact with twenty students from Elena di Savoia in Bari and "Alessandro Volta" in Bitonto. In her comments she thanks the "army of volunteers in many countires" who make the contacts possible and how impressed she was with the quality of all the questions that "showed a great interest and knowledge in science and technology..." "Yesterday I had my first HAM radio contact with school pupils. A big hello to the students of the schools 'Elena di Savoia' in Bari and 'Alessandro Volta' in Bitonto! It was fun talking to you and thanks for the great questions! Amateur radio contacts between astronauts and school kids have a long tradition on ISS, thanks to a little army of volunteers in many countries who work with the local schools not only on the day of contact, but also in the weeks and months leading up to the event: they teach students about radio technology and about space, to get them ready and hopefully excited about the event. >From my side, I only needed to be ready on the proper channel at the proper time: it is very important, because we need direct line-of- sight with the amateur radio station on the ground and the pass is only about ten minutes long. A couple of minutes before the expected acquisition-of-signal time, I started making calls to check if someone was already picking me up. Eventually I picked up a call from the ground station and sure enough, we started our conversation. I heard them loud and clear, which positively surprised me: somehow I expected signal quality not to be as good. I hope they had the same quality on the other side. On such contacts, there's no time for small talk and formalities: in less than ten minutes, we had to make sure that the 20 students who were lined up to ask their question got their chance. So here I was, ready to go. And here came the first question - are you ready? Here's it is: 'It is known that people become taller when they are in space. What happens to bio-molecules? Is there any alteration in the tertiary structure of proteins?' I almost fell off my chair... well, if I had had a chair. (Wonder what a good equivalent of this expression would be in weightlessness... any suggestions?) Where are the good old question about space food and the space toilet? Jokes apart, I was really impressed with all the questions: they showed a great interest and knowledge in science and technology and gave me great hope for our future generations of scientists and engineers. Keep up the great work, girls and boys!" Cristoforetti's adventures in space can be followed at https://plus.google.com/+SamanthaCristoforetti/posts [ANS thanks Samantha Cristoforetti, IZ0UDF for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + A Successful contact was made between ELENA DI SAVOIA, BARI AND ALESSANDRO VOLTA, BITONTO, Italy and Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, IZ0UDF using callsign IR0ISS. The contact began Monday 15 December 2014 at 1518 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was direct via IZ7EVR. ARISS Mentor was IKØWGF. The Alessandro Volta school teaches communications, social-history, mathematics, science and technology in different contexts: life, study, job. In addition it fosters useful competence, allowing students to access continuous innovations through 3 specializations: Mechanics and Mechatronics, IT and Telecommunications, Electronics and Electro-technics. ARISS mentor Francesco De Paolis, IK0WGF proposed to Radio Contact Coordinator Mr. Michele Mallardi IZ7EVR to set up a direct contact, with the support by IK1SLD back-up ground station, and this was accepted. The event took place in Elena di Savoia school, where an audience of more than 200 students, visitors (including some Italian Air Force officers) and Media (2 TV, 2 newspapers) participated at contact site, and about 200 at both schools. Total of more than 400 people. Before the contact, Mrs. Rosa Tagliamonte by ASI (Italian Space Agency) presented the Cristoforetti mission and the Italian contribution to the International Space Station. Mr. Michele Mallardi IZ7EVR presented ARISS and explained how a contact with the ISS is performed via Ham Radio. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule Yekaterinburg, Russia, direct via TBD Contact is presently scheduled to be with RSØISS Contact is a go for Sun 2014-12-21 11:55 UTC (primary) or Sun 2014- 12-21 13:00 UTC (backup) Kursk, Russia, direct via TBD Contact is presently scheduled to be with RSØISS Contact is a go for Thu 2014-12-24 TBD UTC Kursk, Russia, direct via TBD Contact is presently scheduled to be with RSØISS Contact is a go for Fri 2014-12-25 TBD UTC [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + Revised Tracking Utilites for DESAPTCH and Shin-en2 The spacecrafts, DESAPTCH and Shin-en2 are still alive. Masahiro Sanada JI1IZR has recently revised the predict tracking utilites for the extension of the data range. The new versions can be obtained from: http://ji1izr.air-nifty.com/ham_satellite/2014/12/artsat2-desp-11.html [ANS thanks Masahiro,JI1IZR for the above information] + Radio ham helps ESA with tracking widget Thanks to radio amateur Chip Sufitchi N2YO the European Space Agency's new satellite tracking widgets are live The tracking widgets are fed with the latest orbital tracks for ESA missions, or missions with significant ESA participation. The default track shows the ISS. Track ESA missions http://blogs.esa.int/rocketscience/track-esa-missions/ ESA tracking widgets are powered by http://www.n2yo.com/ [ANS thanks Southgate ARN for the above information] + In Liue of the recent SSTV transmissions from the International Space Station, everyone is reminded that information is available by visiting the ARISS SSTV Blogspot. http://ariss-sstv.blogspot.com/ Also, the full set of archived SSTV images are located at: http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php Those that receive images can upload to the above link. The best of the best uploads may make it to the blog. --------------------------------------------------------------------- /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-348 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 13 Dec '14

13 Dec '14

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-348 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: * SSTV transmissions from the International Space Station * Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule * OSCAR Number for DESPATCH * UWE-3 CubeSat Update * Send your code into space with astronaut Tim Peake KG5BVI SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-348.01 ANS-348 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 348.01 From AMSAT HQ Kensington, MD. December 14, 2014 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-348.01 SSTV transmissions from the International Space Station The Russian ARISS team members plan to activate SSTV from the ISS on Thursday December 18 and Saturday December 20, 2014. Expected SSTV mode will be PD180 on 145.800 MHz with 3 minute off periods between transmissions. A total of 12 different photos will be sent during the operational period. Start time would be around 14:20 UTC on December 18 and 12:40 UTC on December 20. The transmissions should terminate around 21:30 UTC each day. For ongoing information visit the ARISS SSTV Blogspot http://ariss-sstv.blogspot.com/ Also, the full set of archived SSTV images are located at: http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php Those that receive images can upload to the above link. The best of the best uploads may make it to the blog. SpaceX CRS-55 will be launching this week and delays in the launch could adjust SSTV operational times. [ANS Thanks Gaston ON4WF, ARISS-Europe chairman, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule Istituto Tecnico Statale Economico e Tecnologico "Elena di Savoia" -- " Piero Calamandrei", Bari, Italy, direct via IZ7EVR and State Technical Institute of Technology Alessandro Volta, Bitonto, Italy, direct via IZ7EVR Contact is presently scheduled to be with IRØISS Contact is a go for: Mon 2014-12-15 15:18:40 UTC 44 deg Yekaterinburg, Russia, direct via TBD Contact is presently scheduled to be with RSØISS Contact is a go for Sun 2014-12-21 11:55 UTC (primary) or Sun 2014-12-21 13:00 UTC (backup) Kursk, Russia, direct via TBD Contact is presently scheduled to be with RSØISS Contact is a go for Thu 2014-12-24 TBD UTC Kursk, Russia, direct via TBD Contact is presently scheduled to be with RSØISS Contact is a go for Fri 2014-12-25 TBD UTC ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts. ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance. Feel free to send your reports to aj9n at amsat.org or aj9n at aol.com. For US schools, just a reminder that proposals for hosting an ARISS contact are due December 15, 2014. [ANS thanks Charlie, AJ9N, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- OSCAR Number for DESPATCH Prof. Akihiro Kubota of the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan has informed AMSAT-NA of the successful launch on December 3 of deep space probe DESPATCH. One important mission for DESPATCH is an experiment in what is called "cooperative diversity communication." In this experiment, an attempt will be made to collect signals from the spacecraft received not only at the ground station in Tokyo, but also at many ham radio stations around the world. This is in order to reconstruct the original data from the spacecraft. Reception of such weak signals to reconstruct data from the spacecraft will require the expertise of exceptionally skilled ham operators. The builders are thereby providing a rare opportunity to receive radio signals transmitted by a spacecraft in deep space, and ask for cooperation radio amateurs around the world in the project. Initially, it was expected that the spacecraft would last only a few days but now it appears that this assessment was pessimistic with a longer life now expected.. Since DESPATCH appears to have met all of the requirements for an OSCAR number, including IARU coordination, I hereby with the authority vested in me be the AMSAT-NA President, do confer on DESPATCH, the OSCAR number Fuji OSCAR 81 or FO-81. I use the Fuji designation in recognition of the long history of contributions the Japanese have made to Amateur Radio satellites. I trust that Fuji OSCAR-81's mission will be successful and much valuable date collected. 73, William (Bill) Tynan, W3XO OSCAR Number Administrator Further information about the Cooperative Data Reconstruction project can be found at the link below. http://despatch.artsat.jp/en/Cooperative_Data_Reconstruction [ANS thanks Bill, W3XO, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- UWE-3 CubeSat Update UWE-3 was launched with FUNcube-1 on November 21, 2013, the team says they will now be temporarily ending operations. Today, more than one year after launch, there will be a temporary end of operations caused by the end of funding. However, UWE-3 is in a very good health condition with fully charged batteries and operations may be continued depending on future research plans. Without any reception from ground, UWE-3 will carry out a warm reset every four days and switch regularly between the redundant on-board processors and radios. Therefore, UWE-3 will switch back to its nominal frequency of 437.385 MHz. Nevertheless we appreciate the extensive support we received from the HAM amateurs in the past and hope that also in the future the status of UWE-3 will be monitored with your support, like you did so many times in the past year. Thank you so much for the very helpful cooperation in this respect! UEW-3 News http://www7.informatik.uni- wuerzburg.de/forschung/space_exploration/projects/uwe_3/uwe_3_news/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Send your code into space with astronaut Tim Peake KG5BVI Leading UK space organisations have joined forces with UK Astronaut Tim Peake KG5BVI and Raspberry Pi to offer students a chance to devise and code their own apps or experiment to run in space. Two Raspberry Pi computers are planned to be flown to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of Tim's 6 month mission and both will be connected to a new "Astro Pi" board, loaded with a host of sensors and gadgets. Launched December 10 at an event held by the UK Space Agency, the Astro Pi competition will be officially opened at the BETT conference (January 21-24) and will be open to all primary and secondary school aged children who are resident in the United Kingdom. The competition will be supported by a comprehensive suite of teaching resources that are being developed by ESERO-UK and Raspberry Pi. During his mission to the ISS, Tim Peake KG5BVI plans to deploy the Astro Pi computers in a number of different locations on board the ISS. He will then load up the winning code whilst in orbit, set them running, collect the data generated and then download this to Earth where it will be distributed to the winning teams. Speaking at the Astro Pi launch event, Dr David Parker, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency, also revealed that the UK Space Agency has been given a £2 million programme, as part of the Chancellor's Autumn Statement, to support further outreach activities around Tim's mission, particularly to help inspire interest in STEM subjects. Tim Peake KG5BVI said I'm really excited about this project, born out of the cooperation among UK industries and institutions. There is huge scope for fun science and useful data gathering using the Astro Pi sensors on board the International Space Station. This competition offers a unique chance for young people to learn core computing skills that will be extremely useful in their future. It's going to be a lot of fun! To help students on their way in developing their code, five inspirational themes have been devised to stimulate creativity and scientific thinking. The themes are Spacecraft Sensors, Satellite Imaging, Space Measurements, Data Fusion and Space Radiation. In the primary school age category, teams will be asked to devise and describe an original idea for an experiment or application which can be conducted on the Astro Pi by Tim during his mission. The two best submissions will get the opportunity to work with the Astro Pi team to interpret their ideas and the team at the Raspberry Pi Foundation will then code them ready for flight on the ISS. In the secondary school age group, the competition will be run across three age categories, one for each of Key Stages 3, 4 and 5 (in England and Wales, and their equivalent ages in Scotland and Northern Ireland). In the first phase, competitors can submit their ideas for experiments and applications. At least the best 50 submissions in each age category will win a Raspberry Pi computer and an Astro Pi board on which to code their idea. In phase 2, all teams will develop code based on their original concept and two winning teams will be selected in each age category. The winning teams' code will be readied for flight by the Raspberry Pi Foundation and CGI. As well as having their code uploaded to the ISS, all winning teams will each receive a class set of Raspberry Pi and Astro Pi boards, meet the Astro Pi team and participate in a winners event during Tim's flight. In addition to the main prizes, each of the UK space companies supporting the project have offered a prize. These prizes will be awarded to the best submission associated with each of the themes, across the age ranges. ESERO-UK and Raspberry Pi are developing a comprehensive suite of teaching resources to link to the curriculum and assist teachers of STEM subjects in engaging their students in the competition. As well as explaining how to use and write code for the Astro Pi and its sensors, the resources will provide a context for the Astro Pi in the curriculum and link to teaching subjects and areas. The first two resources of the series are available now in the National STEM Centre eLibrary and the rest will follow. Launching the Astro Pi computers, and consequently the successful implementation and completion of this competition is subject to nominal progress through the ESA integration programme and operations on-board the ISS. BBC TV News: Astronaut Tim Peake KG5BVI invites Raspberry Pi challenge http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30415207 Astro Pi: Your code in space http://astro-pi.org/ [ANS thanks the UK Space Agency 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-334 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 30 Nov '14

30 Nov '14

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-334 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: * CubeQuest Challenge, a NASA Centennial Challenges Competition * 20 Meter AMSAT Net - 1900 UTC, Sundays * W7O Wraps Up 10 Day AO-7 Commemoration * Deadline Looms for Proposals to Host Scheduled ISS Contacts in 2015 * Design The Next AMSAT Satellite! * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-334.01 ANS-334 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 334.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE November 30, 2014 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-334.01 CubeQuest Challenge, a NASA Centennial Challenges Competition Registration now is open for NASA's Cube Quest Challenge, the agency's first in-space competition that offers the agency's largest- ever prize purse. Competitors have a shot at a share of $5 million in prize money and an opportunity to participate in space exploration and technology development, to include a chance at flying their very own CubeSat to the moon and beyond as secondary payload on the first integrated flight of NASA's Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. "NASA's Cube Quest Challenge will engage teams in the development of the new technologies that will advance the state of the art of CubeSats and demonstrate their capabilities as viable deep space explorers," said Michael Gazarik, associate administrator for NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Prize competitions like this engage the general public and directly contribute to NASA's goals while serving as a tool for open innovation." Challenge objectives include designing, building and delivering flight-qualified, small satellites capable of advanced operations near and beyond the moon. The challenge and prize purse are divided into three major areas: Ground Tournaments: $500,000 in the four qualifying ground tournaments to determine who will have the ability to fly on the first SLS flight; Lunar Derby: $3 million for demonstrating the ability to place a CubeSat in a stable lunar orbit and demonstrate communication and durability near the moon; and Deep Space Derby: $1.5 million for demonstrating communication and CubeSat durability at a distance greater than almost 2.5 million miles (4,000,000 km), 10 times the distance from the Earth to the moon The Cube Quest Challenge seeks to develop and test subsystems necessary to perform deep space exploration using small spacecraft. Advancements in small spacecraft capabilities will provide benefits to future missions and also may enable entirely new mission scenarios, including future investigations of near-Earth asteroids. "Cube Quest is an important competition for the agency as well as the commercial space sector," said Eric Eberly, deputy program manager for Centennial Challenges at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. "If we can produce capabilities usually associated with larger spacecraft in the much smaller platform of CubeSats, a dramatic improvement in the affordability of space missions will result, greatly increasing science and research possibilities." All teams may compete in any one of the four ground tournaments. Teams that rate high on mission safety and probability of success will receive incremental awards. The ground tournaments will be held every four to six months and participation is required to earn a secondary payload spot on SLS. The Lunar Derby focuses primarily on propulsion for small spacecraft and near-Earth communications, while the Deep Space Derby focuses on finding innovative solutions to deep space communications using small spacecraft. Together, these competitions will contribute to opening deep space exploration to non-government spacecraft. NASA's Centennial Challenges drive progress in aerospace technology - - of significant value to the agency's missions -- and encourage broad-based participation in aerospace research and development. The challenges help find the most innovative solutions to technical challenges through competition and cooperation. There have been 24 Centennial Challenges events since 2005. NASA has awarded more than $6 million to 16 challenge-winning teams. NASA's Centennial Challenges Program is part of the agency's Space Technology Mission Directorate, which is responsible for innovating, developing, testing and flying hardware for use on future NASA missions. During the next 18 months, the directorate will make significant new investments to address several high-priority challenges for achieving safe and affordable deep space exploration. For more information about the directorate, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/spacetech The Centennial Challenges Program is managed at Marshall and the Cube Quest Challenge is administered by the agency's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. For more information on the Cube Quest Challenge, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/cubequest To learn more about NASA's challenges and citizen science efforts, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/solve [ANS thanks David E. Steitz and NASA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 Meter AMSAT Net - 1900 UTC, Sundays There has been an uptick in participation on the AMSAT 20 Meter net since it announced their new format which began 9 Nov. The results have been encouraging. Check-ins have gone from 2-3 before the change to 11 last Sunday, 23 Nov. We did not run the net on 16 Nov. due to excess competition with the ARRL Sweepstakes - SSB Contest. Comments have been favorable so we will continue the net for a while and try to put out an occasional reminder. Once again, dust off your 20 Meter Rig, put up at least a dipole, and give us a call. The net meets at 1900 UTC, Sunday afternoons, on 14.282 MHz. Bring your questions and comments - we'll try to provide a "Hole." [ANS thanks Keith W5IU and Larry W7LB for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- W7O Wraps Up 10 Day AO-7 Commemoration The W7O activity wrapped up on Monday afternoon November 24. Patrick Stoddard WD9EWK/VA7EWK thanks the 24 operators who put W7O on the air from locations all over the continental USA, on both HF and the satellites, . These operators logged almost 2500 QSOs as W7O on several HF bands, all of our current amateur satellites supporting voice and CW (AO-7, AO-73, FO-29, SO-50), and even one QSO using the ISS packet/APRS digipeater. Patrick is in the process of designing the W7O QSL card. It will be a folding card, with photos and a brief history of AO-7. It will incorporate the original AMSAT AO-7 QSL card issued for SWL reports from the 1970s. Patrick thanks Andy W5ACM "for providing me a high- resolution scan of a clean card! I have already received over 100 QSL requests in my mailbox, and Logbook of the World is reporting 781 W7O QSOs have been confirmed in that system. "It has been fun to hear people talking about the oldest amateur satellite still in operation. Some of W7O's HF operators were active on AO-7 in the 1970s, and at least one had worked W7O before emailing me to request being a W7O operator." The following is the list of operators who put W7O on the satellites: AA5PK KB1PVH KB1RVT KB6LTY KF5YXV (now W5CBF, also CO6CBF) W1PA W4UOO W5PFG W5RKN WA3NAN WD9EWK The following stations are those who volunteered to work HF as W7O from all over the continental USA:. AC0RA K6FW K7QI KB6LTY KC4LE KF5YXV (now W5CBF) KK5DO KK6NWJ N5HYP NX9G W1GIV W2JV W5PFG W6GMT W6ZQ W7OO Patrick is quick to pass on credit to where it is due. "Brock W6GMT was on HF every morning during the 10 days from Minnesota. Other satellite operators helped by working many HF shifts. George W1GIV in Connecticut worked many hours during the first weekend, logging almost 400 stations across the USA and many other countries - and he has never tried working the satellites!" Whether an operator worked only one satellite pass, one 60-minute shift on HF, or every single day during the 10-day event, the success of this special-event station is owed to everyone who wanted to be a part of W7O. This worked out so much better than Patrick could have hoped, and certainly better than W7O would have been if Patrick were the only operator putting the call on satellite passes. [ANS thanks Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Deadline Looms for Proposals to Host Scheduled ISS Contacts in 2015 Message to US Educators Amateur Radio on the International Space Station Contact Opportunity There are just two weeks left for submitting contact proposals for the May 1 to December 31 period. Please share the following with teachers, administrators and leaders at your local schools, museums, science centers and scouting organizations. The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS. ARISS anticipates that the contact would be held between May 1, 2015 and December 31, 2015. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan. THE DEADLINE TO SUMBIT A PROPOSAL IS DECEMBER 15, 2014. The Opportunity Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students and educators to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session. An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in contact dates and times. Amateur Radio organizations around the world, NASA, and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe sponsor this educational opportunity by providing the equipment and operational support to enable direct communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world via Amateur Radio. In the US, the program is managed by AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) and ARRL (American Radio Relay League) in partnership with NASA. More Information Interested parties can find more information about the program at www.ariss.org and www.arrl.org/ARISS. More details on expectations, audience, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Sessions are available at www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact. Please direct any questions to ariss(a)arrl.org. [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Design The Next AMSAT Satellite! At the 2014 AMSAT Space Symposium AMSAT Vice President - Engineering Jerry Buxton announced the plan for the next generation of AMSAT satellites. "The door is open for everyone, to submit their ideas. AMSAT Engineering has a long term strategy and this is the first step." The Engineering long term strategy includes the following goals Advancement of amateur radio satellite technical and communications skills Enhance international goodwill Grow and sustain a skilled pool of amateur radio satellite engineers Establish and maintain partnerships with educational institutions Develop a means to use hardware common to all opportunities With respect to the last goal Jerry said "Within the bounds of the type of satellite it takes to achieve any of the various orbit opportunities, let's consider in those plans the possibility of developing a platform that can suit any and all orbits. Perhaps a modular CubeSat, using a common bus as we did in Fox-1, which gives great flexibility in building and flying different sizes and configurations of CubeSats with simple common-design hardware changes." Submissions should be thorough and contain the following information. The purpose of the proposal is not just in suggesting an idea; being an all-volunteer team AMSAT needs your help in carrying out the idea. Design Implementation - CubeSat platform Estimated timeline Cost - volunteer resources, commercial (COTS) units Launch - how does it get to orbit Strategy - how it fits into AMSAT's Engineering long term strategy As mentioned above the idea should be based on the CubeSat platform. This is the standard through which we will look for launches in the foreseeable future. In considering your proposal, Jerry encourages you to contact him (n0jy at amsat dot org) for more details on the criteria. A guidebook to the criteria is now available for download at http://tinyurl.com/ANS334-DesignGuide. In particular, if you plan to include a university as a partner to provide experiments or other support and you are not representing that university, please contact Jerry for assistance in working with our existing partners or establishing a new partnership. "Being amateur radio operators, it is easy for us to fall into a particular trap because of our history of communicating with other amateurs throughout the world" says Jerry. "Specifically, most people who are not already involved in the world of satellite technology are unaware of or simply overlook the provisions of the current ITAR and soon to be EAR export rules particularly with regard to deemed exports which requires governmental permission to discuss satellite projects with foreign nationals." While all amateurs are invited to submit ideas, U.S. amateurs must take particular care of they choose to become involved in a collaboration which includes individuals from other countries. It is permissible to receive ideas and proposals from outside the U.S., but it is not permitted for U.S. Persons to export or share design ideas with other countries unless they have taken the proper steps to insure compliance with ITAR and deemed export rules. Additionally, those wishing to work on proposals should use care in presenting themselves in their contacts. While the goal is for AMSAT to build and launch the satellite, it is not an AMSAT project until it is accepted by the AMSAT Board of Directors. It is acceptable to represent yourself as members of a project team that plans to submit a proposal to AMSAT for a future satellite project, as the AMSAT name is well known. "It is not our intention that ideas be submitted to AMSAT-NA which would be more appropriately handled by an AMSAT organization in a country where AMSAT is established. AMSAT-NA is seeking ideas from amateurs in North America and will certainly consider ideas from amateurs in countries which do not have an established AMSAT organization or relationships with an existing AMSAT organization." The deadline for submissions is May 30, 2015. After the submission date the ideas will be screened for completeness and then reviewed by a board consisting of the AMSAT Engineering Team, AMSAT Senior Officer and Board of Directors representatives, and aerospace industry members. The review board may modify or consolidate ideas and will consider which meet the criteria to become a project based on feasibility, cost, and the ability to bring value to the amateur satellite community. The review process is expected to be completed in September 2015. For those ideas selected to become a project which satisfy the requirements for an ELaNa launch, the idea authors will be asked to work with the AMSAT Engineering Team on an ELaNa proposal. The Engineering Team will then work on the details of execution for the selected project(s) and present a proposal to the AMSAT Board of Directors in October 2015 for final approval to begin work. Once approved, any ELaNa proposals will be submitted in November 2015 and the project(s) will move forward. Now is the time for YOU to begin working on the next AMSAT satellite! [ANS thanks Jerry N0JY for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News >From 2014-11-10 to 2014-12-07, 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. ARISS-US Contact Proposal Window for 2015 contacts Closed December 15 One more reminder that the window for submitting proposals for an US ARISS contact during 2015 ends December 15. See the related post above. Interested parties can find more information about the program at www.ariss.org and www.arrl.org/ARISS. More details on expectations, audience, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Sessions are available at www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact. Please direct any questions to ariss(a)arrl.org. All are encouraged to share this information with schools and other educational entities. A simple conversation with a teacher or an administrator can make all the difference in getting a school involved in the once in a lifetime opportunity. [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + ARRL Public Relations Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, is featured as he hunts satellite DX from the ARRL Headquarters station, W1HQ. During a pass that brought the FO-29 satellite up the middle of the Atlantic, Sean worked DF6WE on CW on November 19. See the video at https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152636637992408 [ANS thanks the ARRL Facebook Page for the above information] + Artsat2 Ham radio deep space launch postponed http://amsat-uk.org/2014/11/28/ham-radio-deep-space-launch-delayed/ [ANS thanks ASMSAT-UK for the above information] + Popular Electronics magazine archive from the 1950's through the 1980's has been made available online. They are PDF files: http://tinyurl.com/ANS334-Poptronics [ANS thanks americanradiohistory.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, EMike McCardel, KC8YLD kc8yld at amsat dot org

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