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[jamsat-news:1813] ANS-187 AMSAT Weekly Bulletin


AMSAT NEWS SERVICE

ANS-187

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.

In this edition:
* "OPPORTUNITY" MARS EXPLORATION ROVER TARGETED FOR LAUNCH JULY 6  
* CubeSat Orbital Status
* OSCAR-11 REPORT
* Astronaut Interview via IRLP 
* HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  A NEW URL FOR MAREX
* Russian Satellite 'Mozhayets' Service Life Extended by Six Months

 

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-187.01
"OPPORTUNITY" MARS EXPLORATION ROVER TARGETED FOR LAUNCH JULY 6  

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 187.01 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD.  July 6, 2003
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-187.01

The second of two Mars Exploration Rovers, Opportunity, is 
rescheduled for launch on Sunday, July 6 at 10:43:16 p.m. EDT.  
Liftoff will occur aboard the Boeing Delta II Heavy launch vehicle
from Pad B at Space Launch Complex 17 on Cape Canaveral Air Force 
Station. A second launch opportunity exists at 11:26:02 p.m. EDT, 
if necessary.  Should launch be delayed by 24 hours, two launch 
times are also available on Monday at 10:35:23 p.m. and 11:18:15 
p.m. EDT. The window of the planetary launch period extends through
 July 15.

Opportunity will reach Mars on Jan. 25, 2004. Together the two MER
rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, seek to determine the history of 
climate and water at two sites on Mars where conditions may once 
have been favorable to life. The rovers are identical. Each rover 
carries five scientific instruments including a panoramic camera 
and microscope, plus a rock abrasion tool that will grind away the outer 
surfaces of rocks to expose their interiors for examination. The 
rovers each weigh approximately 400 pounds. They will navigate them
selves around obstacles as they drive across the Martian surface, 
traveling up to about 130 feet each Martian day.  Each rover's 
prime mission is planned to last three months on Mars.


"NASA Direct!" webcast coverage of the launch will begin at 8:30 
p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 6.  
For more information on the MER-B/Opportunity web activities, 
go to <http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/elvnew/merb/index.htm>


[ANS thanks NASA News, for the above information.]

/EX
 

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-187.02
CubeSat Orbital Status

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 187.02 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD.  July 6, 2003
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-187.02

Below is the summary of orbital status of each objects on the MOM 
Launch.

NORAD have consolidated their observation data and now uses 27xxx 
object catalog number:

Comments and suggestions welcome.

Freddy Pranajaya
Manager, CanX and NLS Programs
University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies
4925 Dufferin Street, Toronto, ON M3H-5T6, Canada
416-667-7890  MCC

Latest Estimates at 07/03/2003  12:00 EST:
27840 - BREEZE
27841 - MIMOSA
27842 - NLS-1 sub-group
27843 - MOST
27844 - Cute-1
27845 - QuakeSat
27846 - NLS-1 sub-group
27847 - **UNCONFIRMED** Possibly XI-IV
27848 - **UNCONFIRMED**
NORAD-MH will be re-scanning the sky to confirm 27843, 27847, 
27848 and to collect fresh observation data on each objects.


[ANS thanks Freddy Pranajaya, for the above information.]

/EX
 

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-187.03
OSCAR-11 REPORT    02 July 2003

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 187.03 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD.  July 6, 2003
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-187.03

During the period 21 May to 01 July 2003 the 145.826 MHz. beacon 
has been heard transmitting continuous ASCII telemetry from 31 May 
to 09 June, and from 21 June to 30 June. During this period good 
signals have been received. Telemetry transmissions are expected to
 resume around 12 July for about 9 - 10 days.

I am indebted to Jeff KB2M and Ron VK5AKJ who monitored the 
satellite while I was on holiday, during part of this period. Ron 
also provided some night time telemetry, during a solar eclipse, 
which gave useful information about the state of the battery.  Many
thanks Jeff & Ron, for your help.

The internal temperatures have continued to fall. Usually they 
change by the same amount, however during this period the battery,
telemetry electronics, and command decoder have decreased by 3.2C,
 1.8C and 4.6C respectively.  The temperatures are now -0.4C, 
-0.8C, and +2.6C respectively. The temperatures are expected to 
continue to fall slowly as the solar eclipse times lengthen, 
reaching a minimum in the Summer, and then increase in the Autumn.
The solar eclipse times should be shorter than last year,resulting
in higher temperatures in 2003.

The battery voltage observed during daylight passes has decreased.
Observations have varied between 13.5 and 12.3 volts, with an 
average value of 13.0 volts.

Examination of the magnetometer telemetry shows that the satellite
is now rotating very slowly ie. the spin period is very long. 
Accurate determination of the spin period is very difficult when 
the spin period exceeds the time of a pass. However, approximate 
periods of 1000 to 1500 seconds have been measured. The direction 
of rotation appears to have reversed.  The slow spin rate has also
caused some uneven heating of the external surfaces, and 
temperatures up to 45C have been observed.

Users of OSCAR-11 should note that the date in the telemetry is 
advanced by three days.  The time is advanced by 18.5 minutes, and
this error is increasing by about one minute per year.

OSCAR-11 now  operates in a default mode, controlled by the watch-
dog timer.  The satellite transmits continuous ASCII telemetry for
about 8 - 9 days on 145.826 MHz., followed by about 10 - 12 days 
of silence. These times appear to be somewhat variable, and this 
regular sequence might be interrupted by ground control.

The mode-S beacon is ON continuously, even when the VHF beacon is
OFF, nominally transmitting an unmodulated carrier on 2401.5 MHz.
There is however a VERY low level of AFSK modulation, (now a 
constant 1200 Hz. audio tone), which has been detected on strong 
signals. Telemetry indicates that the beacon has partially failed,
and is delivering half power.  This beacon is a useful test source
for those testing mode-S converters, as an alternative to OSCAR-40.
However the signals are very weak, and there is a lot of Doppler. 
Users should also note that the polarization of OSCAR-11 is LHC. 
Even if you can't hear OSCAR-11, your equipment may still be OK 
for OSCAR-40. Any reports of reception on 2401.5 MHz. would be most
welcome.  Please e-mail g3cwv@amsat.org.

The 435.025 MHz. beacon is normally OFF.  It can only be heard on 
the very rare occasions when the satellite is being commanded by 
ground control, ie. within range of Guildford, UK.  When the 435 
beacon is transmitting, the 145 beacon is normally OFF.  The data 
transmitted is mainly binary.

Listeners to OSCAR-11 may be interested in visiting my web site.

The web site contains details about using a soundcard for data
capture, and also details about using hardware demodulators. 
There is software for capturing data, and decoding ASCII telemetry
and WOD. There is an archive of raw data for analysis, which is 
continually being expanded, as new data is captured.  Originally 
this was for WOD, but it is now being expanded to include ASCII 
telemetry. At the present time the telemetry covers 1996 to April 
2003.  I will add other years as time permits.  In parallel there 
is a news archive which provides an overview of the state of the 
satellite, at the times when the telemetry was captured.

If anyone out there can provide any data, particularly for the 1984
to 1993 years, this would be most appreciated.  Please e-mail me
with details.  However please DO NOT SEND ANY FILES, before further
discussion.

Also included are some audio files, examples of each type of data
transmitted by OSCAR-11, each one plays for about ten seconds.  
There are also examples of mode-S reception.  All the audio files 
are zipped, so that they can be played off-line.  These should help
listeners identify the various types of data, and give an indication
of the signal quality required for successful decoding.

The URL is -

     http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/clivew/

If you place this bulletin on a terrestrial packet network, please
use the bulletin identifier $BID:U2RPT86.CWV, to prevent 
duplication.

[ANS thanks Clive, G3CWV, for the above information]

/EX
 

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-187.04
Astronaut Interview via IRLP 

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 187.04 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD.  July 6, 2003
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-187.04

On July 3 at 11:30 am CDT JSC will conduct the third test of 
Distant Learning outreach using Amateur Radio and the Internet to 
have children interview JSC professionals.  This test was organized
with the Christa McAuliffe Challenger Learning Center and supported
by the JSC Amateur Radio Club.  

The Internet Radio Linking Project will be used to support a live 
interview between Astronaut Barbara Morgan and campers from the 
Charles River Creative Arts Program (CRCAP). Barbara, who will be 
operating from the Johnson Space Center ARC (W5RRR) will spend 30 
minutes answering questions from the children who will be using 
the Amateur Radio facilities of the Massachusetts Emergency
Management Agency (MEMA) beginning at 1645 UTC. The event is 
organized between the JSC Distant Learning Outreach Program and the
Christa McAuliffe Challenger Learning Center, Framingham State 
College, Framingham, MA. 

This event represents the third test of the IRLP in support of the
JSC Distant Learning Program. Thus far it has proved to be an 
effective means of distributing interviews between NASA 
Professionals and children across North America. 

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-187.05
HAM RADIO IN SPACE:  A NEW URL FOR MAREX

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 187.05 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD.  July 6, 2003
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-187.05

MAREX finally has a brand new home in cyberspace at www.marexmg.org.
You may recall that back in April the old URL was highjacked and 
lost. The good news is, that MAREX is now MAREXMG Inc.  And again 
the new URL is www.marexmg.org  (MAREX) 

[ANS thanks Amateur Radio Newsline for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-187.06
Russian Satellite 'Mozhayets' Service Life Extended by Six Months

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 187.06 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD.  July 6, 2003
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-187.06

Moscow ITAR-TASS in Russian 0330 GMT 12 Jun 03...

St Petersburg, 12 June: The service life of the Mozhayets 
satellite, which belongs to the Mozhayskiy Space Military Academy,
has been extended until November 2003, academy deputy head Maj-Gen
Vyacheslav Fateyev said at an international conference on high 
technology, innovation and investment held in St Petersburg under
the aegis of the Russian Economy Ministry.  The Mozhayets satellite,
used for educational and communication purposes, was made by the 
students and the faculty of the Mozhayskiy academy on the basis of
a decommissioned military appliance within the framework of a 
conversion project. On 28 November 2002 it was sent into orbit 
along with the foreign Alsat communication satellite by a Space 
Troops' rocket carrier from the launch site in Plesetsk.
 Mozhayets is currently used for training purposes by academy
students, and as a transmitter for GLONASS global navigation
system. The satellite was to have been ditched at the end of May, 
but it's service life was extended as, according to telemetric
information, all the satellite's systems were working normally.
 Mozhayets is the first space vehicle owned by a higher educational
establishment, Gen Fateyev said. It marks the start of an era of
space research for Russian universities. Another satellite of the 
same series recently has been sent to Plesetsk. The Mozhayets
pilot project has laid the foundation for the inter-university
Miniaturization in Space programme.

[ANS thanks Max, M3RGO, for the above information]

/EX

This week's ANS Editor:
Dave Johnson, G4DPZ
g4dpz@amsat.org

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