[ans] ANS-225 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

From: "[RADIOCOMM LIST]" <list.admin@aus-city.com>

Date: August 12th 2012

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-225

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 at amsat org

In this edition:

Return Your AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Ballots by September 15
Hotel Information for the 2012 AMSAT Symposium in Orlando
Dr Mark Hammond N8MH to speak at Space Colloquium
Successful ARISS Contacts With Scouting Space Jam 6
Postponed ELaNa Launch From Vandenberg Scheduled for August 14
ESA Announces New Educational Cubesat Initiative
Welcome to Gale Crater - Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Lands
Pioneer of Radio Astronomy Sir Bernard Lovell Dies
Raytheon Building the New Space Fence Radar
There's an App For That - ID Visible Satellite Flyovers
Satellite Shorts From All Over

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-225 01 ANS-225 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 225 01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD August 12, 2012 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-225 01

Return Your AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Ballots by September 15

AMSAT Corporate Secretary, Alan Biddle, WA4SCA said, "By now, all members in good standing of AMSAT-NA should have received their bal- lots, including the position biographies by the candidates We have a full slate of candidates this year Remember, this is one of your best opportunities to make your views on the path of our organiza- tion known "

Additional information for those interested can be found in the min- utes of the 2011 Board Meeting which appear in the current issue of the AMSAT Journal

Select no more than three of the six listed candidates (in alphabetical order):

Tom Clark, K3IO
Steve Coy, K8UD
Mark Hammond, N8MH
Lou McFadin, W5DID
Gould Smith, WA4SXM
Patrick E Stoddard, WD9EWK

The 3 candidates receiving the most votes will become directors serving 2 year terms The 2 receiving the next highest number of votes will be seated as alternates for 1 year terms

You must mail your ballot back to be received at the AMSAT-NA Office no later than the close of business on September 15, 2012:

AMSAT 850 Sligo Avenue, #600 Silver Spring, MD 20910

[ANS thanks AMSAT Corporate Secretary, Alan Biddle, WA4SCA for the above information]

Hotel Information for the 2012 AMSAT Symposium in Orlando

The 2012 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting will be held in Orlando, Florida on October 26 - 28, 2012 Information about the Symposium is posted as it becomes available at: http://www amsat org/amsat-new/symposium/2012/index php

The Symposium Hotel is the Holiday Inn at Orlando-International Airport is located one mile from the Orlando International Airport (MCO) The AMSAT discount rate is $99 + taxes per night The reser- vation block code used when calling the hotel directly is AMT

The hotel telephone number is 407-851-6400 The Symposium Committee recommends you make reservations by calling the hotel directly rather than through the Web Cutoff date for reservations is Oct 6, 2012 The direct link to the hotel web page is: http://www holidayinn com/hotels/us/en/orlando/mcoap/hoteldetail

The hotel offers free Internet connection and free airport shuttle When you arrive at the Orlando Airport call 407-709-5310 to request the shuttle

The Orlando International Airport (MCO) is the closest to the Sympos- ium and is served by most major air carriers The hotel address is: 5750 T G Lee Blvd Orlando, FL 32822 A map link is included on the hotel web page

Watch for announcement from the Symposium Committee soon about the opening of registration The cost of the Symposium is:

Symposium Registration including Proceedings o Through September 23, 2012: $ 45 00 o Starting September 24, 2012: $ 50 00 o At the Door: $ 55 00
Saturday Evening Banquet $ 45 00
Sunday Morning Area Coordinators Breakfast $ 15 00
Monday (Oct 29) bus trip to KSC and entrance ticket $ 100 00

[ANS thanks the 2012 Symposium Committee for the above information]

Dr Mark Hammond N8MH to speak at Space Colloquium

The 27th AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium will be held on the weekend of 15-16 September at the Holiday Inn Hotel, Guildford, GU2 7XZ, England close to the University of Surrey

The full presentation schedule is being finalized and will be pub- lished shortly but, in the meantime we can confirm that it will be a truly international event Among the many notable speakers will be Dr Mark Hammond, N8MH from North Carolina Mark is AMSAT-VP for Educational Relations and will be giving two presentations

The first will include updates on significant AMSAT-NA developments, including information about activities related to International Tra- ffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) matters He will also provide a gen- eral and technical update about the Fox family of CubeSats

The second presentation will address the challenges presented by the current trend of justifying satellite construction and launches through STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education Specific hurdles faced by radio amateur satellite organizations will be highlighted Progress made by AMSAT-NA through educational partner- ships with the ARRL, NASA, and ARISS will be discussed

The weekend event is open to all It attracts an international audi- ence that ranges from those involved in building and operating Ama- teur Radio satellites to beginners who wish to find out more about this fascinating branch of the hobby

Tour Feature: SSTL Kepler Building

Colloquium attendees will have an opportunity to visit the satellite facilities in the new Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) Kepler Building The tour will include exclusive access to inspect the new SSTL clean room and integration facilities at the recently opened Kepler Building If you have visited their previous facilities at the university campus, during previous Colloquia, you will be amazed by what is happening now

There will be presentations by experts from AMSAT-SA, AMSAT-NA and AMSAT-DL on their current spacecraft projects Also planned are Cube- Sat presentations on UKube-1, Strand-1 and, of course the FUNcube-1 project We will be including an exclusive roundup of a number of new live and potential spacecraft projects that are under investi- gation and/or development Additionally a number of presentations are planned covering new communications techniques and similar futur- istic topics

You'll be able to participate all the usual networking opportunities, the gala dinner and auction/raffle, plus the opportunity to operate the sophisticated groundstation in the GB4FUN mobile demonstration module

All accommodation will be at the Holiday Inn hotel Please note that the hotel will only hold our reserved rooms until 3 weeks prior to the event, ie until August 24 If you book after this date, you risk there not being a room available Bookings for Fri/Sun nights, or ones made after this date cannot be guaranteed Rooms and Saturdays Gala Dinner must be booked in advance in the AMSAT-UK shop For booking see: http://www uk amsat org/colloquium/twelve

AMSAT-UK posted an article at: http://www uk amsat org/9388 This page also contains the links which will allow you to find regis- tration information for the Colloquium

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]

Successful ARISS Contacts With Scouting Space Jam 6

Scouts attending Space Jam 6, which was held at the Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum in Rantoul, Illinois, participated in an ARISS con- tact with ISS astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, KE5DNI on Sunday, August 5 Hoshide was able to answer 22 space-related questions posed by the scouts before losing the radio connection Space Jam focused on "The History of Aviation" this year and offered lessons on Space Explora- tion, Radio, Aviation, Electronics and Robotics among other STEM topics Approximately 1000 scouts, leaders and parents turned out for Space Jam 6 this year

Ken Holland, KC9TTR recorded the downlink from the contact and posted the audio at: http://www youtube com/watch?v=F813COaiGaQ

[ANS thanks the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report by Carol Jackson, KB3LKI for the above information]

Postponed ELaNa Launch From Vandenberg Scheduled for August 14

The August 2, 2012 Atlas V rocket launch with a combination of 11 satellites from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for the US Government and NASA ELaNa university cubesats was scrubbed due to a range instrumentation problem This launch is now scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg on August 14

The primary mission will launch a pair of US Navy Ocean Surveillance Satellites (NOSS) These satellites carry equipment to track ships and aircraft by triangulation of radio transmissions The two NOSS satellites have a combined weight of 6500 kg They will separate a few days after being placed into a 1100 km circular orbit at 63° inclination

This is the first Atlas V launch with modified helium tanks in the Centaur upper stage The change has created room in the aft skirt to accommodate 8 P-POD dispensers for cubesats This launch carries 11 cubesats, to be released into 470 x 770 km, 63° orbit about 3 hours after launch and following maneuvers by the Centaur upper stage

The ELaNa Cubesats aboard are: + CINEMA (Cubesat for Ion, Neutral, Electron, Magnetic fields) o Downlinks for engineering telemetry and command are in the 2400-2450 MHz range; Science telemetry is in 2200-2300 MHz range

CSSWE (Colorado Student Space Weather Experiment) o Downlink 437 345 MHz, 9k6 with AX25
CP5 (PolySat) o Downlink 437 405 MHz at 1 watt, AFSK on LSB AX 25 over NRZI at 1200 baud, every 2 minutes, begins 3 5 hours after first turn-on
CXBN (Cosmic X-Ray Background Nanosatellite) o Downlink 437 525 MHz, GFSK, AX 25

The US Government Satellites aboard are: + Aeneas o First cubesat to deploy 2 4 GHz Dish Antenna WIFI transmitter will transmit on 2425 0 MHz with 1 watt of output power o Downlink 437 600 MHz AX25 1200 bps beacon every 10 seconds and spread spectrum two-way link elsewhere in the 70cm band + ORSES (ORS Enabler Satellite) + Horus + Re + Aerocube 4A, 4B, 4C

Please refer to the prior bulletin for mission summaries and satel- lite team web pages: http://amsat org/pipermail/ans/2012/000637 html

A detailed article of the launch can be found on-line at: http://www americaspace org/?p=23568

[ANS thanks NASA, the CubeSat Teams noted above, AMSAT-UK, and Gunter's Space Page for the above information]

ESA Announces New Educational Cubesat Initiative

AMSAT-UK has received notice that the European Space Agency's Education Office is inviting the CubeSat community to send their notifications of interest for a new initiative involving the dev- elopment of educational picosatellites and the provision of de- ployers and launch services The call closes on 7 September 2012

Following the successful launch of seven CubeSats on Vegas maid- en flight in early 2012, ESA has decided to pursue further educa- tional CubeSat-related activities

In order to gather valuable information that will help better de- fine the terms of its initiative, ESAs Education and Knowledge Management Office needs to get an overview of the level of interest both from educational CubeSat developers and from commercial suppli- ers that are eligible to participate in the programme

Call 1: Educational CubeSat development

This call for Notification of Interest is open to institutions from ESA Member States and Cooperating States which intend to develop CubeSats for educational purposes

Teams interested in participating are invited to send their Notifica- tion of Interest to cubesats@esa int

The email subject should be: CubeSat opportunity Name of the proposed CubeSat project and should be sent before 12:00 CEST 7 September 2012

Further information at: http://www esa int/SPECIALS/Education/SEMRLXSX55H_0 html

ESA Towards a new educational CubeSat initiative http://www uk amsat org/9515

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]

Welcome to Gale Crater - Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Lands

With Curiosity now safely on the surface of the Red Planet after its August 6 entry, descent and landing in Gale Crater, NASA's Mars Sci- ence Laboratory began its planned primary one-Martian-year (98-week) mission of discovery and exploration

Re-live the entry, descent and landing at Jet Propulsion Labs: http://www youtube com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=giZY2JuuhZA

The Curiosity Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) captured the rover's descent to the surface The instrument shot 4 frame per second video from heat shield separation to the arrival on the ground The last few seconds show the dust being kicked up as the flying skycrane approached the surface: http://www youtube com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UcGMDXy-Y1I

Watch the arrival on Mars in an exciting movie trailer format: http://www universetoday com/96646/curiositys-awesome-landing-trailer/

This week the rover checked its health and determined its location, orientation and tilt on the surface of Mars All initial spacecraft activities appear to have been completely nominal The JPL control team next commenced with firing all of Curiosity's pyrotechnic de- vices for releasing post-landing deployments

Spring-loaded deployments, such as removal of dust covers from the Hazard-Avoidance cameras (Hazcams) occurred shortly after landing en- abling Curiosity to acquire images with its front and rear Hazcams

Additional post-landing checkout activity included testing of the UHF telecommunications system and rover motor controller assembly Approximately five megabytes of data were successfully relayed back to Earth from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft during the first day

Curiosity landed facing east-southeast within Gale Crater, with a heading of 112 7 degrees (plus or minus five degrees), and a few degrees of tilt

The latest official mission information, photos, and video is always posted at: http://www jpl nasa gov/msl/ - and - http://solarsystem nasa gov/news/msl_landing cfm

Finally, Curiosity Rover vehicle tires have tread patterns that imprint the acronym JPL in Morse Code in the dusty soil of the Mars surface See the report on the ARRL web at: http://tinyurl com/MorseOnMars (www arrl org)

[ANS thanks NASA and JPL for the above information]

Pioneer of Radio Astronomy Sir Bernard Lovell Dies

The BBC reports pioneering astronomer and physicist Sir Bernard Lovell has died aged 98 He was the founder of University of Man- chester's Jodrell Bank Observatory Jodrell Bank is dominated by the iconic 76m (249ft) Lovell Radio Telescope, was completed in 1957 he telescope and his other contributions to radio astronomy led to him being knighted in 1961 He continued to come in to work at the Observatory until quite recently when ill health intervened

The structure remains the third largest steerable telescope in the world and plays a key role in global research on pulsating stars, testing extreme physics theories including Einstein's general theory of relativity

The BBC posted the news at: http://www bbc co uk/news/uk-england-19164236

[ANS thanks the BBC for the above information]

Raytheon Building the New Space Fence Radar

The Air Force expects to deploy its $3 5 billion space fence sys- tem by 2017 to improve its space debris tracking ten-fold As many as 200,000 pieces of orbital debris can be tracked with the S-band radars

Lockheed Martin competed with Raytheon for the contract mandating a scalable, solid-state S-band radar with a wavelength frequency capa- ble of detecting objects far smaller than the half-century-old Air Force Surveillance System the new system will replace

Lockheed Martin demonstrates their prototype space fence in a video: http://www youtube com/watch?v=7SJdN90vT04&feature=player_embedded

Raytheon won the contract which they describe as multiphase acquisi- tion program, leading to the delivery of up to three, globally posi- tioned, S-band radars operating in the U S Space Surveillance Net- work Raytheon posted information on-line at: http://tinyurl com/RaytheonSpaceFence (raytheon com)

Amateurs can listen to meteor pings detected by the present genera- tion of the Air Force Space Surveillance Radar in Texas at: http://spaceweatherradio com/

[ANS thanks CNET, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin for the above information]

There's an App For That - ID Visible Satellite Flyovers

WhatSat - Satellite Explorer helps you identify and learn about sat- ellites that you see passing overhead in the night sky It can also be used as a satellite spotting aid The satellite catalog includes 150 or so of the brightest orbiting objects as identified by NORAD For each satellite listed there is a description and an image (when available)

The first mode of operation allows you display a list of currently visible satellites if you see one passing overhead The app shows you a ground track of the satellite to give you some idea where and how far away it actually is

The second mode of operation gives you a list of what is visible with a visibility indicator, azimuth, and elevation to help you find satellites This includes a map view of the ground tracks

WhatSat requires cell service or WiFi to access the server that does satellite flyby calculations

Read more information at: https://play google com/store/apps/details?id=com finchconsulting whatsat

Editor's Note: This is not an AMSAT-NA product but is mentioned due to its applicability and potential interest to our readers with no endorsement implied

[ANS thanks SpaceWeather com for the above information]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

The AMSAT-NA On-line Store at http://store amsat org/ will be re- opening on August 13, 2012
A QSL card is now available for AubieSat-1 / AO-71 reception Oper- ators desiring a confirmation of receipt for AO-71 are invited to send their signal reports to:

Dr J-M Wersinger, KI4YAU Allison Laboratories Room 210 Auburn University, AL 36849

Please note the date and time of receipt on your request (or your QSL card), as well as any other pertinent receiving information or conditions Copies of the content of the CW signals you copied are requested, but not required Any other questions regarding Aubie- Sat-1 may be emailed to: jm wersinger gmail com
JPL Infographics, a newly launched website and resource database from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is inviting space aficion- ados and graphic wizards to take on a visual challenge by grabb- ing NASA data and transforming them into a scientific work of art The website provides extensive collections of NASA science and mission data, graphics and space images that members of the public can download and use to create their own infographics - creative illustrations of complex data Users can then upload their info- graphics, have them reviewed by JPL experts, and share their crea- tions in a public gallery on the JPL website: http://www jpl nasa gov/infographics/
KP2, U S Virgin Islands has been reported to be active on the linear satellites (On the Birds!) Wyatt, AC0RA, reports that he made a QSO on August 2nd with Rich, KP2CT, from St Thomas on FO-29 for his first satellite contact Rich will initially focus on operating via FO-29
Listen for Jerry Brown, K5OE using his UK call M0GOE as he oper- ates on the FM satellites during a family holiday next week from IO82 and IO81/82 border (Sunday thru Thursday), and IO72 (Wednesday, 15 Aug 2012, 1400z - 1630z) If he can get to the border between IO71/72 he will try that, but there might not be enough time Nova Scotia, Quebec, and W1/2/3 should be in range to the west
Jeff, KB2M says all the requested 13 Colonies special event QSL cards for his satellite operations from K2I (NJ), and K2E (DE) are in the mail If anyone else who worked us wants a card please send a SASE to KB2M, at his address listed at QRZ com
New Stunning ISS Time-lapse: Earth Illuminated shows aurora, light- ning, our Milky Way Galaxy, city lights and other sights as seen from orbit: http://www youtube com/watch?v=r7UfMq-b0Uo&feature=player_embedded
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) has released the larg- est three-dimensional map of massive galaxies and distant black holes ever created, and it pinpoints the locations and distances of over a million galaxies It covers a total volume equivalent to that of a cube four billion light-years on a side A video re- leased with the map takes viewers on an animated flight through the Universe as seen by SDSS There are close to 400,000 galaxies in the animation: http://www youtube com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=08LBltePDZw
AMSAT Commemorative Shirt for the 2012 Symposium is only avail- able by mail order If you have not received a copy of the order form you can download and print a copy from the the link on the front page at: http://www amsat org The deadline for receiving your mail order is September 21, 2012
The next Hudson Valley Satcom net dates are Thursday, August 16, August 30, 8 PM EDT (UTC-4 UTC) on the 146 97 MHz MBARC Repeater (PL 100) An echolink connection is available on the N2EYH-L node More information at: http://www hvsatcom org (Stu, WA2BSS)
The Carpcomm Space Communication Network invites amateur satellite operators to participate and share cubesat information Read more of their mission at: http://carpcomm com/
Tom W5KUB says the webcasts on http://w5kub com from the Huntsville Hamfest will go live Friday morning August 17 for the drive from Memphis to Huntsville The Huntsville hamfest is August 18-19 with internet webcast streaming for the entire event

[ANS thanks everyone 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 And with that, please keep in mind like Earth, Mars has four seasons because the planet tilts on its axis The seasons vary in length because of Mars' eccentric orbit around the sun In the northern hemisphere, spring is the longest season at seven months Summer and fall are both about six months long Winter is only four months long On average, the temperature on Mars is about minus 80 degrees F (minus 60 degrees C) In winter, near the poles tempera- tures can get down to minus 195 degrees F (minus 125 degrees C) A summer day on Mars may get up to 70 degrees F (20 degrees C) near the equator, but at night the temperature can plummet to about minus 100 degrees F (minus 73 C)

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

Via the ANS mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA http://amsat org/mailman/listinfo/ans

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