[jamsat-news:1137] * SpaceNews 16-Aug-99 *

[John Magliacane <magliaco@email.njin.net>]

SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC0816
* SpaceNews 16-Aug-99 *

BID: $SPC0816


			       =========
			       SpaceNews
			       =========


		 	 MONDAY AUGUST 16, 1999



* SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH DELAY *
==============================
David Ransom has reported that NASA has announced delays in the next two
shuttle flights while wiring in Endeavour and Discovery are inspected.
This following the short circuit during ascent of Columbia on STS-93.
Space Shuttle flights are not expected to be rescheduled before 07-Oct-99.


* PACSAT NEWS *
===============
AMSAT-OSCAR-16 continues to perform well in 1200-baud BPSK Pacsat duty.
AO-16 has been operating continuously for nearly 1800 days since its
last software reload.  The following frames were copied at KD2BD during
a pass on Monday 16-Aug-99:

PACSAT-1->AMSAT <UI>:
August 1999
AO-16 Pacsat owned and operated by AMSAT-NA
AO16 Command Team <WJ9F>

PACSAT-1->TIME-1 <UI>:
PHT: uptime is 1793/08:56:53.  Time is Mon Aug 16 14:37:42 1999.


* PHASE 3D UPDATE *
===================
Steve Digges, W4EPI, Atlanta Area AMSAT Coordinator, reports that
the P3D Lab web page was updated on August 9th.  The URL is:

	http://www.magicnet.net/~phase3d/


* ECLIPSE PHOTOS *
==================
Dave Cawley of Cambridge, England has reported that the following URLs
provide images of last week's solar eclipse as seen from the vantage
point of the Meteosat weather satellite:

	http://www.time-step.com/images/eclipse1.jpg

	http://www.time-step.com/images/eclipse2.jpg

	http://www.time-step.com/images/eclipse3.jpg

Farrell Winder reports that a view of the eclipse as seen by the Mir
space station may be found at:

	http://www.msnbc.com/news/298658.asp   


* ISS ON HF *
=============
Will Marchant, KC6ROL, reports that in addition to including VHF and UHF
capabilities, the Amateur Radio station on the International Space Station
(ISS) will also include HF radio equipment.  An HF antenna will be installed
on the outside of the ISS during a spacewalk on STS-101 in December, and
HF transceivers will be flown after 2000.


* PREDICT UPDATE *
==================
A new version of the PREDICT satellite orbital prediction software is
currently under development at KD2BD.  Limited time due to a recent
shoulder injury and nearly three months of physical therapy have
hampered progress, but several new features have been added recently,
and several more are planned before the program goes through extensive
testing and is finally released.

PREDICT was originally developed on a Commodore 64 computer back in
1991.  It was later ported to Unix and then DOS.  The latest version
of PREDICT is a completely re-written version of the original, and
is being developed entirely under the Linux operating system.  A DOS
version of the program is expected to be made available as well, but
due to the 32-bit nature of the program's source code, the DOS version
will require a 32-bit (80386 or later) processor and protected mode
driver (that will be included with the program).

The Linux version of PREDICT will be released as source code under the
GNU General Public License, hopefully before the end of the year.  This
means that the program will be available for compilation under other
CPUs besides Intel and other operating systems besides Linux.  The open
source nature of the software release will permit anyone to add new
features to the program and continue development of the software for
the benefit of all users of the program.  PREDICT has always been,
and will always be, free software.

Screenshots showing some of PREDICT's features are available at:

	http://www.njin.net/~magliaco/software.html


* THANKS! *
===========
Thanks to those who recently sent messages (and cards!) in appreciation
of SpaceNews, especially:

			N2JUX		VE6PWJ


* FEEDBACK/INPUT WELCOMED *
===========================
Comments and input for SpaceNews should be directed to the editor
(John, KD2BD) via any of the paths listed below:
 
WWW       : http://www.njin.net/~magliaco/
PACKET    : KD2BD @ N2SMV.NJ.USA.NA
INTERNET  : kd2bd@amsat.org, magliaco@email.njin.net
SATELLITE : AMSAT-OSCAR-16, KITSAT-OSCAR-25


      <<=- SpaceNews: The first amateur newsletter read in space! -=>>
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/EX

--
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- John A. Magliacane, KD2BD -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Internet  : kd2bd@amsat.org          |  Voice : +1.732.224.2948
Satellite : AO-16, KO-25             |  Morse : -.-  -..  ..---  -...  -..
Packet    : KD2BD @ N2SMV.NJ.USA.NA  |  WWW   : http://www.njin.net/~magliaco/
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-=-=-=-=-=- Linux is user-friendly.  It's just not idiot-friendly! =-=-=-=-=-

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