<div dir="ltr"><div style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:small" class="gmail_default"></div><div class="gmail_default"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"></span></font><font size="6"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><b>AMSAT News Service</b></span></font>
<h3><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><strong>ANS-172</strong><br>
<strong>June 21, 2026</strong></span></font></h3>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">In this edition:</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">* 2026 AMSAT Field Day Next Weekend!<br>
* 2026 AMSAT Space Symposium & Annual General Meeting<br>
* Satellites Are The New Fire Towers<br>
* Announcing OrbitDeck<br>
* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution<br>
* Dragon Returns Packed with Space Station Science<br>
* ARISS News<br>
* AMSAT Ambassador Activities<br>
* Satellite Shorts From All Over</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">The AMSAT® News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and
information service of AMSAT, 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.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">The news feed on <a href="https://www.amsat.org">https://www.amsat.org</a> publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><strong style="font-family:georgia,serif">Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor [at] <a href="http://amsat.org">amsat.org</a></strong></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: <a href="https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/">https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/</a></span></font></p>
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<h2 class="gmail-wp-block-heading"><font size="6"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">2026 AMSAT Field Day Next Weekend!</span></font></h2>
<p class="gmail-wp-block-paragraph"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">It’s that time of year again; summer and
Field Day! Each year the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) sponsors
Field Day as a “picnic, a campout, practice for emergencies, an informal
contest and, most of all, FUN!” The event takes place during a 27-hour
period on the fourth weekend of June.</span></font></p>
<p class="gmail-wp-block-paragraph"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">For 2026 the event takes place from 1800
UTC on Saturday June 27, 2026 through 2100 UTC on Sunday June 28, 2026.
Those who set up prior to 1800 UTC on June 27 can operate only 24 hours.
The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) promotes its own
version of Field Day for operation via the amateur satellites, held
concurrently with the ARRL event.</span></font></p>
<div class="gmail-wp-block-image">
<div style="text-align:center"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><img class="gmail-wp-image-64832 gmail-size-medium gmail-aligncenter" src="https://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/FieldDay2026-300x150.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="150"></span></font></div>
</div>
<p class="gmail-wp-block-paragraph"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">This year should be as much fun as last
year since we have more than 10 transponders and repeaters available.
For AMSAT purposes, a transponder on a satellite would count as two if
you could do phone and CW. We count them by modes, not the satellite
names.</span></font></p>
<p class="gmail-wp-block-paragraph"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Users should check the AMSAT status page at <a href="http://www.amsat.org/status/">http://www.amsat.org/status/</a> and the pages at <a href="https://www.amsat.org/two-way-satellites/">https://www.amsat.org/two-way-satellites/</a>
for what is available in the weeks leading up to field day. To reduce
the amount of time to research each satellite, see the current FM
satellite table at <a href="https://www.amsat.org/fm-satellite-frequency-summary/">https://www.amsat.org/fm-satellite-frequency-summary/</a> and the current linear satellite table at <a href="https://www.amsat.org/linear-satellite-frequency-summary/">https://www.amsat.org/linear-satellite-frequency-summary/</a> .</span></font></p>
<p class="gmail-wp-block-paragraph"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">If you are considering ONLY the FM voice
satellites, there are ISS and SO-50. The congestion on FM LEO satellites
is always so intense that we must continue to limit their use to
one-QSO-per-FM-satellite. This includes the International Space Station.
You will be allowed one QSO if the ISS is operating Voice.</span></font></p>
<p class="gmail-wp-block-paragraph"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">It was suggested during past field days
that a control station be allowed to coordinate contacts on the FM
satellites. There is nothing in the rules that would prohibit this. This
is nothing more than a single station working multiple QSO’s. If a
station were to act as a control station and give QSO’s to every other
field day station, the control station would still only be allowed to
turn in one QSO per FM satellite while the other station would be able
to submit one QSO.</span></font></p>
<p class="gmail-wp-block-paragraph"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">The format for the message exchange on the
ISS or other digital packet satellite is an unproto packet to the other
station (3-way exchange required) with all the same information as
normally exchanged for ARRL Field Day, e.g.:</span></font></p>
<p class="gmail-wp-block-paragraph"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">W6NWG de KK5DO 2A STX<br>
KK5DO de W6NWG QSL 5A SDG<br>
W6NWG de KK5DO QSL</span></font></p>
<p class="gmail-wp-block-paragraph"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">If you have worked the satellites on Field
Day in recent years, you may have noticed a lot of good contacts can be
made on some of the less-populated, low-earth-orbit satellites like
AO-7, RS-44, AO-73, FO-29 and JO-97. During Field Day the transponders
come alive like 20 meters on a weekend. The good news is that the
transponders on these satellites will support multiple simultaneous
contacts. The bad news is that you can’t use FM, just low duty-cycle
modes like SSB and CW.</span></font></p>
<p class="gmail-wp-block-paragraph"><font size="4"><em style="font-family:georgia,serif">[ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director of Contests and Awards for the above information.]</em></font></p>
<hr>
<h3 align="center"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Buying from Ham Radio Outlet? Add AMSAT’s <em>Getting Started With Amateur Satellites</em> to your order. <a href="https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-019238" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img id="m_3408493485996196783_x0000_i1030" class="gmail-CToWUd" src="https://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/HRO_Engineering_AMSAT_Book_Hard_Copy_1200px_650px.jpg" width="600" height="325" border="0"></a></span></font></h3>
<h3 align="center"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Available for $29.95 from HRO<a href="https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-019238" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-019238</a></span></font></h3>
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</div>
</div>
<h2><font size="6"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">2026 AMSAT Space Symposium & Annual General Meeting</span></font></h2>
<div class="entry-content">
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">The 44th AMSAT Space Symposium & Annual General Meeting will be
held in Jacksonville, FL on October 8-11, 2026 at the Crowne Plaza
Jacksonville Airport/I-95.</span></font></p>
<p style="text-align:center"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><img class="gmail-aligncenter gmail-wp-image-64642" src="https://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Symposium-Graphic-1024x796.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="622"></span></font></p><p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Registration details and Call for Papers will be coming soon.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">To book hotel rooms online, click here: <a href="https://www.ihg.com/redirect?path=asearch&brandCode=6C&localeCode=en®ionCode=1&hotelCode=JAXAP&checkInDate=07&checkInMonthYear=092026&checkOutDate=11&checkOutMonthYear=092026&rateCode=6CBARC&_PMID=99801505&GPC=AMS&cn=no&adjustMonth=false&showApp=true&monthIndex=00" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AMSAT Conference Rooms</a></span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Reservations can also be made by phone at 1-800-227-6963. The group
code is AMS. The direct hotel phone number is 1-904-741-4404.</span></font></p>
</div>
<p><font size="4"><em style="font-family:georgia,serif">[ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information.]</em></font></p>
<hr>
<h3 style="text-align:center"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">The 2026 Coins Are Here! Help Support GOLF-TEE and Fox-Plus.<br>
<strong>Annual memberships start at only $120.</strong></span></font></h3>
<p style="text-align:center"><font size="4"><a href="https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/" style="font-family:georgia,serif"><img class="gmail-alignnone gmail-wp-image-63195 gmail-size-medium" src="https://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/PC-2026-Coin-2S-Color-1-300x152.jpg" alt="Presidents' Club 2026 Coin" width="300" height="152"></a></font></p>
<div>
<h3 style="text-align:center"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><strong>Join the AMSAT President’s Club today and help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!<br>
<a href="https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/">https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/</a></strong></span></font></h3>
</div>
<hr>
<h2><font size="6"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Satellites Are The New Fire Towers</span></font></h2>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">The Bezos Earth Fund announced a $26 million grant for the nonprofit
Earth Fire Alliance and its satellite-based wildfire detection program,
Axios’ Ben Geman reports.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">The money — alongside support from Google and others — will help fund the launch of three FireSat satellites this summer.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">The groups say they’ll “provide wildfire monitoring at least twice
daily over critical geographies, including a focus on the Amazon Basin —
one of the most fire-vulnerable regions on Earth.”</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">The funding is the largest-ever single philanthropic grant for
wildfire detection, the groups say. They add that the program could help
protect homes, communities and biodiversity — and cut CO2 emissions
from wildfires by up to 10% annually.</span></font></p>
<p style="text-align:center"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><img class="gmail-aligncenter gmail-wp-image-64853" src="https://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Muon-1024x573.png" alt="" width="800" height="447"><br>
<em>Earth Fire Alliance’s first three FireSats at a clean room in Mountain View, Calif. (Photo: Muon Space)</em></span></font></p>
<p style="text-align:left"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Wildfires are a major driver of
deforestation, which worsens climate change. They accounted for 42% of
tree cover loss in 2025, per World Resources Institute data.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">The Earth Fire Alliance says it hopes to have dozens of satellites
operating by the early 2030s that can “monitor every point on Earth
every 20 minutes.”</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><em style="font-family:georgia,serif">[ANS thanks Axios for the above information. Read the full article at <a href="https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-pm-f6fe1278-52eb-43c8-8bfe-7a1fe85b1c56.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiospm&stream=top">https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-pm-f6fe1278-52eb-43c8-8bfe-7a1fe85b1c56.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiospm&stream=top</a>]</em></font></p>
<hr>
<div>
<h2><font size="6"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Announcing OrbitDeck</span></font></h2>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">A new open-source desktop application called OrbitDeck brings the
classic OSCARLOCATOR into the software age, pairing a faithful
recreation of the beloved paper tracking aid with a built-in classroom
of orbital-mechanics lessons. Written in Python and released under the
MIT license, OrbitDeck runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux — including the
Raspberry Pi — and is tracking-and-analysis software only; radio and
rotator control are intentionally left to the excellent dedicated tools
already serving that role.</span></font></p>
</div>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"> </span></font></p>
<p style="text-align:center"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><img class="gmail-aligncenter gmail-size-large gmail-wp-image-64875" src="https://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/OrbitDeck-2-1024x550.png" alt="" width="1024" height="550"></span></font></p>
<div>
<p style="text-align:center"><font size="4"><em style="font-family:georgia,serif">OrbitDeck map screen (Image credit: Paul Stoetzer)</em></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Longtime operators will remember the OSCARLOCATOR: a polar map
overlaid with a rotating ground-track transparency that let you predict a
pass with nothing but a pencil and a clock. OrbitDeck rebuilds that
experience as an interactive on-screen OSCARLOCATOR. You drag the map to
rotate the path-arc overlay across a polar or QTH-centered base map,
watching the satellite’s position and your station’s footprint move in
real time. A protractor-style rim with per-degree tick marks and
longitude and azimuth labels frames the disc. You can drive the overlay
live, position it by hand to any equator-crossing longitude, drag the
marker along the arc to step through the minutes after the crossing, or
seed it directly to your next visible pass. A compact
next-equator-crossings list is built in.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Crucially, OrbitDeck also closes the loop with paper. Any satellite —
real or hypothetical — can be exported as a printable PDF OSCARLOCATOR,
ready to drop onto a clipboard for portable, screen-free operating in
the field or in the classroom.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">That classroom focus runs throughout the program. A dedicated Learn
section presents orbital mechanics across grouped, interactive tabs —
Kepler’s equal-areas law, anomalies and the vis-viva relation, nodal
precession and sun-synchronous orbits, slant range and footprint
geometry, Doppler tune-through, eclipse and beta-angle sunlight, a
link-budget sandbox, and element-set aging — each with a live diagram
you can manipulate rather than merely read. A printable “Orbits 101”
handout rounds it out.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">The standout teaching tool is the lab satellite. From within the
OSCARLOCATOR simulator, you can invent a hypothetical bird and edit its
orbital elements with sliders and entry boxes — altitude (with the
period updating live), eccentricity, inclination, RAAN, argument of
perigee, mean anomaly, and direct apogee and perigee control. The ground
track, footprint, and range circle respond instantly, plain-language
explainers describe the effect of every change, and a gallery of presets
loads recognizable archetypes from ISS-like LEO to Molniya and
geostationary. Design an orbit to a requirement, compare two designs
side by side, then name and print your creation as an OSCARLOCATOR
exactly like a catalog satellite.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">OrbitDeck reads modern GP/OMM data, ships its own SGP4 propagator and
an offline catalog so it works without a connection, and is free to
download. It is an inviting on-ramp for newcomers and a genuinely useful
operating and teaching aid for veterans.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">OrbitDeck builds and source code are available at <a href="https://github.com/prstoetzer/OrbitDeck">https://github.com/prstoetzer/OrbitDeck</a></span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><em style="font-family:georgia,serif">[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, AMSAT Executive Vice President and developer of OrbitDeck, for the above information]</em></font></p>
</div>
<hr>
<h3 style="text-align:center"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><strong>AMSAT Remove Before Flight Key Tags Now Available</strong><br>
<strong>Yes, These are the Real Thing!</strong></span></font></h3>
<div>
<h3 style="text-align:center"><font size="4"><strong style="font-family:georgia,serif"><a href="https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_car_flag-256716714380264543"><img class="gmail-alignnone gmail-wp-image-35322 gmail-size-medium" src="https://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Keytag1D-300x155.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="155"></a></strong></font></h3>
<h3 style="text-align:center"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><strong>Your $20 Donation Goes to Help Fly a Fox-Plus Satellite<br>
Includes First Class Postage (Sorry – U.S. Addresses Only)<br>
Order Today at <a href="https://www.amsat.org/product/amsat-remove-before-flight-keychain/">https://www.amsat.org/product/amsat-remove-before-flight-keychain</a></strong></span></font></h3>
</div>
<hr>
<h2><font size="6"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Changes to AMSAT TLE Distribution for June 19, 2026</span></font></h2>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Two Line Elements or TLEs, often referred to as Keplerian elements or
keps in the amateur community, are the inputs to the SGP4 standard
mathematical model of spacecraft orbits used by most amateur tracking
programs. Weekly updates are completely adequate for most amateur
satellites. TLE bulletin files are updated daily in the first hour of
the UTC day. New bulletin files will be posted immediately after
reliable elements become available for new amateur satellites. More
information may be found at<a href="https://www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-resources/"> https://www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-resources/</a>.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><em style="font-family:georgia,serif">There are no changes to this week’s TLE distribution.</em></font></p>
<h3><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">General Perturbations Data Support</span></font></h3>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">AMSAT is pleased to announce that modern forms of what are called
General Perturbations data are being disseminated via modern formats
including JSON, XML and KVN at <a href="https://newark192.amsat.org/gpdata/current/">https://newark192.amsat.org/gpdata/current/</a>.
The reason this change is being made is that we are running out of
5-digit catalog numbers and the TLE format is not viable for satellites
launched after July of this year. See <a href="https://celestrak.org/NORAD/documentation/gp-data-formats.php">https://celestrak.org/NORAD/documentation/gp-data-formats.php</a> for details.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">These data are presently considered in beta test for the next two
months while hosted on the test server <a href="http://newark192.amsat.org">newark192.amsat.org</a>, and we are
very open to community feedback at <a href="mailto:webmaster@amsat.org">webmaster@amsat.org</a>. Testers may
experience outages and errors while we make improvements. We intend to
put this into production on our main web server in July as we expect
that satellites launched after this summer will require one of the new
formats to accommodate longer object numbers. AMSAT will continue to
publish TLE bulletins for satellites launched before July 2026
indefinitely.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><em style="font-family:georgia,serif">[ANS thanks Joe Fitzgerald, KM1P, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above information.]</em></font></p>
<hr>
<p style="text-align:center"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><img class="gmail-aligncenter gmail-size-full gmail-wp-image-62841" src="https://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/SDR-Gen2-Ad-01_251214.jpg" alt="SDR Gen 2 Ad - 2026" width="879" height="516"></span></font></p>
<hr>
<h2><font size="6"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Dragon Returns Packed with Space Station Science</span></font></h2>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Scientists await a big splash in the Pacific Ocean as one of the most
research-packed Dragon spacecraft to date returns, completing the 34th
SpaceX commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station
for NASA. Biological and materials samples, along with tested hardware,
are heading back to research teams on Earth for further analysis,
advancing NASA’s work to prepare humans for exploration beyond low Earth
orbit and to deliver benefits back home.</span></font></p>
<p style="text-align:center"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><img class="gmail-aligncenter gmail-wp-image-64854" src="https://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/iss074e0591327large-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="533"></span></font></p>
<p style="text-align:center"><font size="4"><em style="font-family:georgia,serif">NASA astronaut Jessica Meir prepares
samples in the Life Sciences Glovebox to study how weightlessness
affects crew blood clotting and immune function for the Megakaryocyte
Flying-One investigation. (Photo Credit: NASA)</em></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Some samples returning are for NASA’s Hematopoietic Stem Cell
Expansion in Space: Pathfinder Investigation (InSPA-StemCellEX-H2),
which seeks to use the microgravity environment to scale up the
production of stems cells. On Earth, lab-produced blood stem cells lose
their ability to form different cell types, like red and white blood
cells that are critical to treating patients with certain blood diseases
and cancers. In microgravity, researchers believe this ability will be
better preserved while also growing these stem cells in greater numbers.
The returning samples will undergo further analysis to determine if
space-based efforts produce larger quantities of enhanced stem cells
suitable for clinical use.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">The team behind NASA’s Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn) Infection of
Cardiac Tissue (MVP Cell-09) experiment is awaiting the return of stem
cell-derived heart tissues that were intentionally infected with a
pneumonia-causing bacterium as part of ongoing microgravity research.
Pneumonia increases the risk of heart disease, which is not fully
understood. Because bacteria tend to become more active and virulent in
microgravity, this experiment could amplify their effects, making it
possible to detect cellular responses that cannot be observed on Earth.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">NASA’s Megakaryocyte Flying-One (MeF1) samples are returning to Earth
to help understand how large cells found in bone marrow, known as
megakaryocytes, and the platelets they produce adapt to spaceflight.
Megakaryocytes and platelets play important roles in the formation of
blood clots and immune responses. The returning samples, including those
taken from astronauts, could show us how the human immune system reacts
aboard the space station and help prepare for future exploration
missions.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Semiconductor research samples as part of NASA’s In-Space Production
of Semimetal-Semiconductor Composite Bulk Crystals in Microgravity
(SUBSA-InSPA-SSCug) investigation are returning to Earth for further
analysis. This study manufactured semimetal-semiconductor composite
alloy crystals in space, which have applications in many electronics,
including sensors and lasers. Researchers believe microgravity could
enable the production of significantly greater and higher-quality
crystals, supporting the development of next-generation semiconductor
technologies.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Additional experiments being returned include NASA’s Zero Boil-Off
Tank Noncondensables (ZBOT-NC) investigation, NASA’s DNA Nano
Therapeutics-3 space-assembled DNA-inspired materials, NASA’s
InSPA-Sachi Nanoligomer investigation, European Space Agency’s (ESA’s)
Green Bone investigation, NASA’s 3D Bone Marrow Analog research, and
NASA’s InSPA-Auxilium Bioprinter-Cell Printing is investigation. To read
more about these experiments, see the full article at <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/missions/station/iss-research/nasas-spacex-crs-34-dragon-returns-packed-with-space-station-science/">https://www.nasa.gov/missions/station/iss-research/nasas-spacex-crs-34-dragon-returns-packed-with-space-station-science/</a>.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><em style="font-family:georgia,serif">[ANS thanks NASA for the above information.]</em></font></p>
<hr>
<h2><font size="6"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">ARISS News</span></font></h2>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts
between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact
with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station.
The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.</span></font></p>
<h3><font size="4"><strong style="font-family:georgia,serif">Scheduled Contacts</strong></font></h3>
<p><font size="4"><em style="font-family:georgia,serif"><strong>+ Recently Completed</strong></em></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Youth on the Air Camp 2026 (YOTA Camp 2026), Huntsville, AL, direct via W4Y<br>
The ISS callsign was NA1SS<br>
The scheduled crewmember was Chris Williams, KJ5GEW<br>
The ARISS mentor was K4RGK<br>
Contact was successful: Thu 2026-06-18 16:36:25 UTC 37 degrees maximum elevation<br>
Congratulations to the Youth on the Air Camp 2026 students, Chris, mentor Youth on the Air Camp 2026, and ground station W4Y!<br>
Watch for Livestream at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/eVo288DAH4U">https://www.youtube.com/live/eVo288DAH4U</a></span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><em style="font-family:georgia,serif"><strong>+ Upcoming Contacts</strong></em></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">National STEM Festival, Washington, DC, telebridge via VK6MJ<br>
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS<br>
The scheduled crewmember is Chris Williams, KJ5GEW<br>
The ARISS mentor is W4NTR/ KM4YHZ<br>
Contact is go for: Thu 2026-06-25 13:31:42 UTC 49 degrees maximum elevation</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Many times, a school makes a last-minute decision to do a Livestream
or runs into a last-minute glitch requiring a change of the URL, but we
at ARISS may not get the URL in time for publication. You can always
check <a class="gmail-decorated-link" href="https://live.ariss.org/" rel="noopener">https://live.ariss.org/</a> to see if a school is Livestreaming.</span></font></p>
<p style="text-align:center"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><img class="gmail-aligncenter gmail-size-medium gmail-wp-image-57094" src="https://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ariss-logo-300x81.png" alt="ARISS News" width="300" height="81"></span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">There is a lot of traffic on Facebook and on other social media sites
with people asking why they are not hearing the crew make general
contacts. First off the crew is very busy on the ISS and they simply may
not have the time to just pick up the microphone and talk. Also, one
needs to be aware of their normal daily schedule:</span></font></p>
<p style="padding-left:40px"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Wakeup to Workday start= 1.5 hours<br>
Workday start to Workday end=12 hours<br>
Workday end to Sleep= 2 hours<br>
Sleep to wakeup= 8.5 hours</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">The crew’s usual waking period is 07:30 – 19:30 UTC. The most common
times to find a crew member making casual periods are about one hour
after waking up and about an hour before sleeping, when they have
personal time. They’re usually free most of the weekend, as well.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">The APRS packet system is also active (437.825 MHz up & down).</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Ham TV is currently transmitting a test signal at 2395.00 MHz. <em>The
color bar test generator portion of the Ham TV system is experiencing
unexpected technical issues. ARISS is working to troubleshoot the issue
with NASA’s payloads support team and the ISS crew.</em></span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">As always, if there is an EVA, a docking, or an undocking; the ARISS radios are turned off as part of the safety protocol. <em>Radios
will be powered down in support of an upcoming spacewalk in late June:
Power down: June 29 at 15:15 UTC Power up: July 1 at 10:15 UTC</em></span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Note, all times are approximate. It is recommended that you do your
own orbital prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before the
listed time.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">The latest information on the operation mode can be found at <a href="https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html">https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html</a></span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at <a href="https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html">https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html</a></span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><em style="font-family:georgia,serif">[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors for the above information.]</em></font></p>
<hr>
<h2><font size="6"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">AMSAT Ambassador Activities</span></font></h2>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating
through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club
meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.</span></font></p>
<h3 style="text-align:center"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><img class="gmail-aligncenter gmail-wp-image-58085" src="https://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Ambassador-Logo-2024-300x245.jpg" alt="AMSAT Ambassador News Logo" width="200" height="163"></span></font></h3><h3><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Scheduled Events</span></font></h3>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">June 27, 1800 UTC – June 28, 2100 UTC, 2026<br>
<strong>ARRL Field Day</strong><br>
<a href="https://www.amsat.org/field-day/">https://www.amsat.org/field-day/</a></span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">July 11, 2026<br>
<strong>Moon Day</strong><br>
Frontiers of Flight Museum<br>
6911 Lemmon Ave.<br>
Dallas, TX 75209<br>
<a href="https://flightmuseum.com/events/moonday/">https://flightmuseum.com/events/moonday/</a><br>
N5HYP</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">October 8-11, 2026<br>
<strong>44th AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Membership Meeting</strong><br>
Crowne Plaza JAX Airport<br>
14670 Duval Road<br>
Jacksonville, FL 32218<br>
<em>Details to follow</em></span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">For more information go to: <a href="https://www.amsat.org/ambassador/">https://www.amsat.org/ambassador/</a></span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><em style="font-family:georgia,serif">[ANS thanks Bo Lowrey, W4FCL, Director – AMSAT Ambassador Program, for the above information.]</em></font></p>
<hr>
<div>
<h2><font size="6"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Satellite Shorts from All Over</span></font></h2>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">+ HamSat (free) and HamSat Pro (one-time purchase), iOS satellite
tracking apps for iPhone/iPad by Vasco Barreiros, CT1OY, have recently
been updated with new features, including compatibility with Apple
Watch. HamSat is available on the iPhone App Store. (ANS thanks Peter
Green, GØABI, for the above information.)</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">+ The upper stage from a commercial Chinese rocket that launched last
week has broken apart in space, spreading debris in a heavily
trafficked part of low-Earth orbit — home to the International Space
Station and a significant portion of SpaceX’s Starlink broadband
network. The breakup occurred shortly after the Zhuque-2E rocket reached
orbit on June 9 with two satellites providing direct-to-cell
communications, perhaps around the time the upper stage was expected to
perform a disposal burn. The U.S. Space Force confirmed the breakup
event stating, “There are currently no threats to human spaceflight.”<em> (ANS thanks ArsTechica for the above information. Read the full article at <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/06/a-chinese-rocket-breaks-apart-dangerously-close-to-the-starlink-constellation/">https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/06/a-chinese-rocket-breaks-apart-dangerously-close-to-the-starlink-constellation/</a>.)</em></span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">+ A new paper from researchers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in
California reports that 73.3 percent of images the agency’s new SPHEREx
space telescope collected between May and September of last year were
contaminated by at least one artificial satellite trail. Typically this
type of light pollution is associated with ground telescopes. But
SPHEREx is an orbital satellite about 700 kilometers above the Earth’s
surface. Apparently even that wasn’t enough to escape from the light
trails. <em>(ANS thanks IEEE Spectrum for the above information. See the full article at <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/satellite-light-pollution-spherex-hubble">https://spectrum.ieee.org/satellite-light-pollution-spherex-hubble</a>.)</em></span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">+ A dazzling fireball streaked through the skies above the Midwest on
June 14, crashing through Earth’s atmosphere at a staggering 56,000 mph
(90,123 km.h per hour) before burning up. More than 500 witnesses
reported the event to the American Meteor Society,— some of whom
uploaded footage of the fiery event. NASA’s all-sky camera network also
captured the fireball from three locations. <em>(ANS thanks Space.com for the above information. Read the full article, with some of the images, at <a href="https://www.space.com/stargazing/meteor-showers/watch-a-fireball-burn-a-300-mile-path-above-the-midwest-us-video">https://www.space.com/stargazing/meteor-showers/watch-a-fireball-burn-a-300-mile-path-above-the-midwest-us-video</a>.)</em></span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">+ An Ariane 6 with upgraded solid rocket boosters successfully
launched three dozen Amazon Leo satellites June 17. So far, 367 Amazon
Leo satellites have launched on Ariane 6, Atlas V and Falcon 9. However,
there is only one more Atlas 5 launch for Amazon Leo, scheduled for
July 3, forcing Amazon to lean more on Arianespace. The company still
has a July 2029 deadline to deploy the full constellation, as part of
the FCC’s waiver decision on June 5. <em>(ANS thanks SpaceNews for the above information. If registered with a SpaceNews account, see the full article at <a href="https://spacenews.com/upgraded-ariane-6-launches-amazon-leo-satellites/">https://spacenews.com/upgraded-ariane-6-launches-amazon-leo-satellites/</a>.)</em></span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">+ NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, responding to questions about
the agency’s selection of an all-male crew for the Artemis 3 mission,
said the astronauts were chosen based solely on their experience, skill
sets and availability. Isaacman strongly defended the crew selection,
saying he had “personally been to space twice with 50 percent female
crews. My closest advisors and some of the smartest engineers I know are
women. In our latest NASA leadership organization, nearly 50 percent of
the center directors and mission directorate leadership are women.” <em>(ANS thanks SpaceflightNow for the above information. Read the full article at <a href="https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/06/10/nasa-chief-defends-selection-of-all-male-artemis-iii-crew/">https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/06/10/nasa-chief-defends-selection-of-all-male-artemis-iii-crew/</a>.)</em></span></font></p>
<hr>
<h2 style="text-align:left"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Join AMSAT today at <a href="https://launch.amsat.org/">https://launch.amsat.org/</a></span></font></h2>
<p style="text-align:left"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:</span></font></p>
<ul style="text-align:left"><li><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization).</span></font></li><li><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Students enrolled in at least half-time status are eligible for free membership to age 25.</span></font></li><li><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms.</span></font></li></ul>
<p style="text-align:left"><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Contact info [at] <a href="http://amsat.org">amsat.org</a> for additional membership information.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><strong style="font-family:georgia,serif">73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!</strong></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><strong style="font-family:georgia,serif">This week’s ANS Editor,</strong></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><strong>Mark Johns, KØJM</strong><br>
<strong>mjohns [at] <a href="http://amsat.org">amsat.org</a></strong></span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><em>ANS is a service of AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, 712 H Street NE, Suite 1653, Washington, DC 20002<br>
AMSAT is a registered trademark of the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation.</em></span></font></p>
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