AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-086

ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites.

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor@amsat.org

In this edition:

* ARISS School Contact Milestone - 600th School Contact on March 17 * KA1SKY McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center Operating Events * How's (Satellite) DX? * AMSAT Awards Now Accepting Credit From RAC CANADAWARD * Japan Space Agency Unveils New ISS CubeSat Deployment System * Satellite Shorts From All Over * MAKE Magazine Publishes NASA Make: Challenge Rules and Guidelines * Falcon 9 To Launch SES-8 To GTO In 2013

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-086.01 ARISS School Contact Milestone - 600th School Contact on March 17

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 086.01

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

March 27, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-086.01

ARISS reached a milestone on Thursday, March 17 when it held its 600th contact between on-orbit astronaut Cady Coleman, KC5ZTH and students from several schools in Plock and Liszyno, Poland.

The contact supported lessons about space and space exploration, communication and technology. The Scout Amateur Radio Club SP5ZBA handled the radio connection during which the astronaut fielded 19 space related questions. Nearly 120 people were in the audience and came from Plock, Liszyno, Zuromin and Warsaw. There was exten- sive media coverage that included newspapers, four scientific maga- zines, one radio magazine, a television station, national radio (two programs) and two internet portals.

Also on Thursday, March 17, Luitpold-Gymnasium Muenchen students in Munich, Germany spoke with Paolo Nespoli, IZ0JPA on the ISS via an ARISS contact. Nespoli answered 19 questions as an audience of over 110 students, teachers and visitors listened.

The contact was the highlight of studies emphasizing aeronautics, scientific work and amateur radio. Several media outlets were present including three radio stations (Bayerischer Rundfunk, Radio Charivari, Radio Arabella), one television station (Bayerisches Fernsehen) and four newspapers (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Abendzeitung, TZ-München, Münch- ner Merkur). The Bavarian TV channel BR (Bayerisches Fernsehen) posted a clip on its Web site: http://tinyurl.com/62vkve4 (www.br-online.de)

[ANS thanks Carol Jackson, KB3LKI and the ARISS weekly status report for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-086.02 KA1SKY McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center Operating Events

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 086.02

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

March 27, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-086.02

Amateur Radio Operators at KA1SKY, Amateur Radio Club Station at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center (DC) in Concord, NH have been working to enhance presentations and programs at the Center through the vehicle of Amateur Radio.

Wayne Santos, N1CKM, Station Manager at KA1SKY would like to hear from AMSAT members in New England who can assist with amateur radio operations from the Discovery Center:

April 29-30 - Aerospacefest Weekend May 5 - KA1SKY special event station in Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Alan Shepard Manned Space Flight.

Wayne said the Discovery Center also needs assistance to sched- ule an ARISS contact. If you can help contact Wayne via e-mail at N1CKM@arrl.net.

Information about the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center can be found on-line at: http://www.starhop.com/

KA1SKY features a robust VHF/UHF/Sat station and has been successful with EME and satellite contacts. The station enjoys a highly visible place with many school groups and the public interested in the station. Information about the station is posted at: http://www.k1bke.org/planetarium/ka1sky.htm http://www.starhop.com/education-and-exploration/ka1sky.aspx

[ANS thanks Wayne, N1CKM at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-086.03 How's (Satellite) DX?

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 086.03

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

March 27, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-086.03

March 23 - April 2 ZF2AE/ZF8 Cayman Island ------------------------------------------ Adrian, AA5UK will be operating portable as ZF2AE from Grand Cayman and as ZF2AE/ZF8 from Little Cayman from March 23th to April 5th, 2011.

Most activity will be in the afternoons and evenings using two FT-817s and an Elk Antenna. He plans to operate holiday style on the FM and SSB satellites with some HF.

Activity will be from grids: EK99hi from March 23 - 24th, EK99xp from March 25th - April 2nd (he plans to operate HF during part of CQ WPX SSB contest while on Little Cayman: 40m to 10 m) and EK99kh from April 2nd - April 5th.

Time permitting; he will try to make it to grid FK09. Frequently check AMSAT-BB and http://twitter.com/AA5UK for last minute opera- tional updates. QSL Direct with SASE, the Bureau, LOTW or eQSL.

April 29 - May 1 XF2P from Isla de Lobos ---------------------------------------- Operation is planned on AO27, AO51 and SO50 satellites and all HF bands, plus 6 meters CW, SSB and RTTY. They will also activate the Lobos Island lighthouse. Operators include Ismael XE1AY; Gustavo XE1KKK; Francisco Javier XE1P; Ricardo XE1RZL; Ricardo Raymundo XE1SOV; Fernando XE1VGC; Jose XE1UYU; Martin XE1UZH; Modesto XE1UZU; Juan Manuel XE2IA; Jose XE2IVG;and Ricardo XE3NMC. QSL via XE1AY.

May 1 - May 8 GS3PYE/P and GS6PYE/P Isle of Arran ------------------------------------------------- Camb-Hams members Bob G1SAA, Terry G3VFC, Martin G3ZAY, Colin G4ERO, Colin G8TMV, Mark M0MJH, Rob M0VFC, Steve M1ACB and Gavin M1BXF will be active from a rented cottage near Balliekine, Isle of Arran with most HF bands, 6 meters, 4 meters (SSB CW, JT65M, FSK441). Satellite operation is planned, time permitting. QSL direct or via bureau to M0VFC. Website: http://dx.camb-hams.com/

[ANS thanks Adrian, AA5UK, Cambi-Hams, and the ICPO Bulletin for the XF2P information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-086.04 AMSAT Awards Now Accepting Credit From RAC CANADAWARD

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 086.04

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

March 27, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-086.04

AMSAT Director Contests and Awards, Bruce Paige, KK5DO announced, "In keeping up with technology and limiting duplication of work, AMSAT Awards will now accept a scanned copy the Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) CANADAWARD for satellites as proof of working the 13 valid Canadian Provinces." They are:

VE1/VA1 Nova Scotia VE2/VA2 Quebec VE3/VA3 Ontario VE4/VA4 Manitoba VE5/VA5 Saskatchewan VE6/VA6 Alberta VE7/VA7 British Columbia VE8 Northwest Territories VE9 New Brunswick VO1/2 Newfoundland and Labrador VY0 Nanavut VY1 Yukon VY2 Prince Edward

Bruce says, "This will make it easier for everyone to submit either or both, ARRL Worked All States / RAC CANADAWARD and not have to scan all those cards to be checked for AMSAT satellite awards a second time.

[ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-086.05 Japan Space Agency Unveils New ISS CubeSat Deployment System

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 086.05

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

March 27, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-086.05

Information received via Masa, JN1GKZ and the Southgate ARC news site report that the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has announ- ced a new ISS CubeSat deployment system. JAXA's ISS small satellite deployment system will use Japan's ISS Experiment module Kibo's air- lock and robot arm.

Satellites are planned to be delivered to the ISS in a cushioned bag by Progress or HTV supply ship. The satellites are then mounted in the deployment pod. The deployment pod is put into the airlock where it is grabbed by the robot arm. The arm then moves the pod into posi- tion and deploys the satellites which will re-enter the atmosphere after about 100 days.

JAXA has put out a call for Japanese satellites to demonstrate this new system. The satellites can be 1U, 2U or 3U CubeSat. Total size is 4U. Two to four satellites will be selected (eg 1U+3U, 1Ux2+2U, 1Ux4). The demonstration schedule is:

May 2011: satellites selection May 2012: deliver satellites to JAXA Sep 2012 or later: deployment using the new system

The press release material is on the JAXA's web site in Japanese. http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2011/03/20110302_sac_smallsat.pdf

A Google English version of the press release is available: http://tinyurl.com/JAXA-Kibo/

[ANS thanks Masa, JN1GKZ and the Southgate ARC news site for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-086.06 Satellite Shorts From All Over

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 086.06

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

March 27, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-086.06

+ Congratulations to Allen, N5AFV on making his 50,000th satellite contact on March 23; that's quite an accomplishment!

+ Congratulations to Al, XE2AT on reaching a milestone of 1000 grids worked via satellite after 13 years of operating. Al wrote, "I hope each of you will accept this as my sincere thanks and appreciation for all your help and info. Many thanks to all rovers and maritime mobile and a lot of people that passed along your QTH grid. Thanks to all private mails and BB mails with a lot of kind words."

+ Congratulations to K8YSE for hitting the 900th grid mark with his contact with UT1FG/mm on AO-27 and grid 901st with ND9M/mm on AO-27 on March 24.

+ Congratulations to Nick, KB1RVT on reaching grid #600 in two years using only an Arrow Antenna.

+ Mineo Wakita, JE9PEL invites you to listen to the CW beacon on CO-65 for a special message: HI HI DE JQ1YTC DIGI ON CUTE 1.7 GANBARE JAPAN CUTE 86 CA A4 67 3D 2B 27 A2 61 31 17 Mineo explains 'GANBARE' in Japanese means 'Show spirit' concerning the Earthquake and Tsunami.

+ Astronauts Luca Parmitano (Expedition 36) and Chris Cassidy (Expedition 35) both passed their amateur radio license exams on March 8. Luca Parmitano was issued call sign KF5KDP and Chris Cassidy received KF5KDR.

+ The SO67 schedule for South Africa and Australasia is now posted on http://www.amsatsa.org.za. The next USA week will be 28 March - 10 April, a two week period. The schedule will then continue Europe 11 to 17 April, Central Asia 18 - 24, April and Australasia 25 April to 1 May.

+ Alcatel-Lucent has made the entire Bell System Technical Journal archive available on-line at: http://bstj.bell-labs.com/ (via Jerry, W7QX)

+ http://tinyurl.com/62asmcc will bring you to page from which you may download all the presentations of 1st IAA Conference on University Satellite Missions and Cubesat Workshop in Rome. (Gruppo di Astrodinamica Università degli Studi Sapienza)

+ Sundeep Shah, VU3SXE reports another video of the homebrew AZ EL Rotor by VU2POP is posted at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWBh29MyqWU

+ F1NSR has made a video showing the AMSAT-UK VHF/UHF FUNcube SDR Dongle being used for a contact on 23cm. Watch at: http://tinyurl.com/4lryfxo (via Southgate ARC site)

+ EuroLuna OZ9LUNA have produced a video showing the testing of their Romit1 CubeSat due for launch later this year. The Euroluna team are currently developing a 2U cubesat Romit1, OZ9LUNA, as part of their attempt to win the Google Lunar X PRIZE. Watch at: http://tinyurl.com/49s6jyp (via Southgate ARC site)

+ A collection of amateur videos of the Discovery STS-133 launch and landing has been posted at the UniverseToday web at: http://tinyurl.com/6bzvd9k

+ NASA TV will cover the Expedition 27 launch for the next three residents of the International Space Station. Russian cosmonaut and Soyuz Commander Alexander Samokutyaev, NASA Flight Engineer Ron Garan and Russian Flight Engineer Andrey Borisenko are sched- uled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 5:18 p.m. CDT on April 4 (4:18 a.m. Baikonur time on April 5). Streaming video is available at http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

+ Ramon, XE1KK and Luis, LU6QI made a QSO on AO7 in SSB Mode B at 11.12 UTC on March 14, 2011 during the orbit #66247. The distance between Ramon's location (EK09JI) and Luis (FF66TQ) is 6816.7 km. On March 25 Luis made contact with Omar, XE1AO and Keith, N4ZQ) via AO-7 with both distances a little more than 7000 km apart.

+ AMSAT's Keeper of the Keps, Ray Hoad, WA5QGD reported this week, "I am pleased to announce that AMSAT's request to re-distribute AFSPC Keplerian elements from Space-Track has been approved for the period April 1, 2010 to April 1, 2012. Our USSTRATCOM ODR (Orbital Data Request) to distribute the KEPs was approved on March 8, 2010."

+ An interesting photo showing ISS transiting the sun near a group of sunspots can be viewed at: http://tinyurl.com/4gcuble (UniverseToday.com)

+ AMSAT area coordinator Clint Bradford, K6LCS, will be presenting his 'Working Amateur Satellites With Your HT' session at the April 1, 2011 meeting of the Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach. All are welcome to attend. 7PM, April 1, 2011 (no kidding!) Signal Hill Community Center 1780 E. Hill Street (off Cherry Ave, behind the PD) Signal Hill CA 90755

+ Clint will be busy ... he will make his 'Working Amateur Satellites With Your HT' presentation at the April 4, 2011 meeting of the Corona Norco Amateur Radio Club (CNARC). All are welcome to attend. 7PM, Monday, April 4, 2011 Norco Fire Station 3902 Hillside Ave Norco 92860-1515

[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-086.07 MAKE Magazine Publishes NASA Make: Challenge Rules and Guidelines

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 086.07

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

March 27, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-086.07

In a press release titled, "NASA Launches 2011 Nationwide Technology Space Competition for Education", NASA says it's Emerging Commercial Space Office (ECSO) is teaming with Make Magazine, and Teachers in Space to help develop spaceflight kits that high school teachers and students can build and fly on suborbital flights.

Competition rules are simple. Kits should use components that are likely to be available at most high schools, and submitted experi- ments must be self-contained and fit in a standard Cubesat container. To make kits accessible to students nationwide, part of the challenge is to be able to build these kits for under $100, the kind of funds that could be raised by a school bake sale.

Make Magazine has now published the rules and guidelines for the 2011 NASA Make: Challenge at http://www.makezine.com/space/rules Proposals for the NASA Make: Challenge should be submitted electronic- ally to makespacekits@gmail.com by midnight (Pacific Daylight Savings Time) April 30, 2011.

NOTE: The NASA Make: Challenge is open to all U.S. citizens. Proposers under the age of 18 must include the permission of a parent or guardian to participate.

The winner of the NASA Make: Challenge will win a trip to the Bay Area Maker Faire on May 21 & 22. The winning project will also be published in MAKE Magazine.

Make Magazine is planning a webcast for the week of March 28. This will be an opportunity to learn from experts about developing experi- ments that can fly in space. They will be available for questions as well.

You can sign up for the Space Challenge mailing list at: http://blog.makezine.com/space

The full NASA Press Release can be found on-line at: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2011/11-14AR.html

[ANS thanks NASA and Make Magazine for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-086.08 Falcon 9 To Launch SES-8 To GTO In 2013

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 086.08

From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.

March 27, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-086.08

A news item from SpaceDaily reported that Space Exploration Technol- ogies (SpaceX) and SES, one of the largest satellite operators in the world, announced an agreement to launch an SES satellite using the Falcon 9 rocket. This will be the first geostationary satellite launch using SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. The firm launch agreement with SpaceX also includes an option for a second SES launch.

The SES-8 satellite is scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2013 from SpaceX's Launch Complex 40 at the Air Force Station at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Full story can be found on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/4al2rk8

[ANS thanks SpaceDaily.com for the above information]

/EX

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. And with that keep in mind the ham who endured a long losing stretch at the racetrack. He decided to take up horseback riding but could not figure out how to make his horse stop. He called out, "How do I make it stop!?" ... some- one yelled back, "Put a bet on it!"

73, This week's ANS Editor, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM K9JKM at amsat dot org