[jamsat-news:1803] ANS-166 AMSAT Weekly Bulletin

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-166


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:
*  Spirit to Visit Mars
*  WARC-03 Opens in Geneva
*  Lively Shuttle Webcast
*  Sea Launch Lofts Thuraya-2 Mobile Comms Bird
*  Frog Music Arrives at Space Station
*  Astronaut Visits ARISS Contact School in Person
*  ISS Expedition 2 Crew Member Headed for Academic Career
*  Air & Space Day 2003
*  Shuttle May Launch Before End of Year
*  Kids Day 2003 Take 2



SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-166.01
Spirit to Visit Mars

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 166.01 From AMSAT HQ

SILVER SPRING, MD.  June 15, 2003
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-166.01

After 2 delays due to weather, the Mars rover Spirit launched on a
Delta 2 rocket at 1:58 p.m. Tuesday, June 10th from Launch Pad 17A at
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Half of an $800-million Mars Exploration Rovers team, Spirit will
embark on hunts for signs of water. Spirit's landing site, Gusev
Crater, is thought to have held a gigantic lake.

The next generation of Mars robots will hunt for hints of carbon. Both
carbon and water are important signs of life.

Spirit's 7 month journey should end on the red planet on January 4,
2004.


[ANS thanks Florida Today for the above information.]


/EX



SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-166.02
WARC-03 Opens in Geneva

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 166.02 From AMSAT HQ

SILVER SPRING, MD.  June 15, 2003
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-166.02

The International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) World
Radiocommunication Conference 2003 got under way June 9 at the Geneva
International Conference Center adjacent to ITU Headquarters.

Amateur Radio is but a small part of the conference, which is trying to
complete work on more than 40 agenda items. Three are especially
important to Amateur Radio: Realignment of 7 MHz allocations (Agenda
Item 1.23), revision of the regulations governing the amateur and
amateur-satellite services (Agenda Item 1.7), and consideration of an
allocation for satellite-borne synthetic aperture radars (SARs) in the
70-cm band (Agenda Item 1.38).

Check out ARRL's website for more detailed information about these
agenda items at www.arrl.org.

The conference wraps up the week of June 30-July 4.


[ANS thanks ARRL for the above information.]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-166.03
Lively Shuttle Webcast

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 166.03 From AMSAT HQ

SILVER SPRING, MD.  June 15, 2003
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-166.03

The ARISS contact for Lively District Secondary School, Lively,
Ontario, Canada on 2003-06-12 at 19:13 UTC will be available in audio
and video.  Check the website at:
http://www.rainbow.edu.on.ca/lively/default.html.

Good luck Lively and Ed Lu!

73,
Charlie Sufana, AJ9N


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


/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-166.04
Sea Launch Lofts Thuraya-2 Mobile Comms Bird

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 166.04 From AMSAT HQ

SILVER SPRING, MD.  June 15, 2003
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-166.04

Thuraya-2, the second satellite built by Boeing for Thuraya Satellite
Telecommunications Company of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, rocketed
to geosynchronous transfer orbit today aboard a Zenit-3SL provided by
Sea Launch Company, LLC.
The Boeing GEO-Mobile model satellite lifted off at 6:56 a.m. PDT
(13:56 GMT) from the Odyssey Launch Platform positioned on the equator
in the Pacific Ocean. The spacecraft separated from the launch vehicle
approximately one hour and 40 minutes after the launch, and minutes
later its first signals were received at a Telemetry, Tracking and
Control Station at Uralla, Australia, confirming normal operation.

"The newest light in the heavens is Thuraya-2, a mobile communications
satellite that will help connect users on the move within a vast area
of the globe," said Dave Ryan, president of spacecraft builder Boeing
Satellite Systems International.



[ANS thanks Space Daily for the above information.]

/EX



SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-166.05
Frog Music Arrives at Space Station

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 166.05 From AMSAT HQ

SILVER SPRING, MD.  June 15, 2003
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-166.05

A Russian cargo rocket, the only remaining supply link to the
international space station, arrived at the outpost on Wednesday
carrying food and recorded sounds of rain and croaking frogs for the
homesick crew.

Psychologists working with the Russian and U.S. space agencies say the
sounds of nature will relax the crew and help them cope with the
six-month stint in space.

"The docking has been successful," a spokeswoman at ground control
outside Moscow said.

Russia's Progress cargo vessel and its manned Soyuz are the only
remaining ties to the $95 billion orbiting outpost since the Columbia
space shuttle disaster grounded the U.S. fleet, leaving the outpost to
struggle without deliveries from the larger craft.

The Progress M1-10 is packed with some 2,400 kg (5,300 pounds) of
supplies for the station, including water, fuel and food, as well as
music, recorded nature sounds and letters for U.S. astronaut Edward Lu
and Russia's Yuri Malenchenko, on board since April.

The crew, reduced from the usual three astronauts in an effort to save
fuel and water, is due to return in October.

The next Progress is scheduled to blast off from Russia's Baikonur base
in Kazakhstan in August. Any hitch with either the Progress or the
Soyuz would prove crippling for the ISS which is funded by 16 states. 
Since the Columbia shuttle disaster, Russian space officials have
planned an extra launch for November.

[ANS thanks CNN for the above information.]


/EX



SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-166.06
Astronaut Visits ARISS Contact School in Person

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 166.06 From AMSAT HQ

SILVER SPRING, MD.  June 15, 2003
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-166.06

Astronaut Dan Bursch, KD5PNU, recently visited Hambright Elementary
School in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In May 2002, as a member of the
International Space Station Expedition 4 crew, Bursch--with assistance
on the ground from the Southern Pennsylvania Amateur Radio Club
(SPARC)--spoke with youngsters at Hambright during an Amateur Radio on
the International Space Station school group contact. During the QSO
with Hambright--which marked the Expedition 4 crew's last ARISS US
school group contact--Bursch, a father of two youngsters, tackled such
questions as "Can you still blow bubbles with gum in space?" and "If
you open a soda, will it fizz?" On June 6, Bursch visited Hambright
Elementary in the flesh to meet with club members and students. "We had
the students read their same questions, and Dan Bursch answered each
again and gave a more definitive answer--there were no time limits this
time," said SPARC member James "Yogi" Bear, WB3FQY, who got Bursch to
autograph his QSL card. Bear had served as control operator during the
May 2002 QSO.


[ANS thanks ARRL for the above information.]



/EX



SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-166.07
ISS Expedition 2 Crew Member Headed for Academic Career

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 166.07 From AMSAT HQ

SILVER SPRING, MD.  June 15, 2003
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-166.07

Jim Voss--a member of the ISS Expedition 2 crew that also included
astronaut Susan Helms, KC7NHZ, and cosmonaut Yury Usachev, UW3FU--is
headed for a new career. Until recently the deputy for flight
operations in the Space Station Program Mission Integration and
Operations Office at Johnson Space Center (JSC), Voss has accepted the
position of associate dean for external affairs in the Samuel Ginn
College of Engineering at Alabama's Auburn University--his alma mater.
A retired US Army colonel, Voss is one of NASA's most experienced
astronaut managers and a veteran of five shuttle flights in addition to
his 163 days aboard the ISS, when, although not a ham, he took part in
several Amateur Radio on the International Space Station school group
contacts. "Jim has served as an integral part of the astronaut and
human space flight program for more than 18 years," said NASA
Administrator Sean O'Keefe. "His contributions to human space flight
are numerous, but even more important, his professionalism and demeanor
have served as positive examples for the astronaut corps." Voss
received his bachelor's in aerospace engineering from Auburn in 1972.
He will assume his duties at Auburn in the fall.


[ANS thanks ARRL for the above information.]



/EX



SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-166.08
Air & Space Day 2003

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 166.08 From AMSAT HQ

SILVER SPRING, MD.  June 15, 2003
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-166.08

AIR & SPACE DAY 2003
June 21, 2003 from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Livingston Recreational Field, Livingston St., Tewksbury, MA


AIR & SPACE DAY 2003 is a free, fun, family, educational 
event, created to show children that science, math, 
and history can be fun. Optional donations will be used 
to build an observatory for Tewksbury schools.


Some planned events & displays include:
. 10 hot air balloons, including the largest freeform 
  Hot air balloon in the world 
. NASA Glenn Research Center  Mobile Aeronautics Education Laboratory 
. F-22 attack jet flight simulator 
. Skydivers - 2 jumps - All female skydiving team 
. Paragliders, including a powered paraglider smoke show 
. Ultralights
. Hang Gliders 
. Model Rocket Launching Clinic - 300 kits 
. Radio Control and Control-line flying model airplanes
. StarLab planetarium
. Astronomy and Telescope Making ( stargazing party now planned for 
       8:00pm to 10:00pm ) 
. Boston Museum of Science display 
. Apollo Space Suit 
. Paper Airplane Making
. American Radio Relay League - Ham radio, with Kids' Day special event 
   station
. Robotics demo (Lawrence and Lowell high schools )
. Gyro Ring Ride 
. Concessions
. Bounce houses
. Rocket car 


More details, as well as updates to the participant list can be found at
http://spacemanning.net/sd2003.htm

[ANS thanks Arthur, N1ORC, for the above information.]


/EX



SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-166.09
Shuttle May Launch Before End of Year

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 166.09 From AMSAT HQ

SILVER SPRING, MD.  June 15, 2003
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-166.09

NASA wants to return its shuttle fleet to flight by about Dec. 18 and
then launch six missions to complete the U.S. core of the International
Space Station by February 2005, agency officials said Tuesday, June
10th.

New ground rules already are being adopted along with other changes
designed to prevent a repeat of the Feb. 1 accident that destroyed
shuttle Columbia and claimed the lives of seven astronauts.

Among them: No nighttime launches, an external fuel tank redesign to
prevent foam debris from damaging shuttles and new methods for handling
potentially deadly problems once a mission is under way.

NASA also is studying the possibility of using the station as a safe
haven for shuttle crews in case of emergencies while in orbit. And the
agency even is contemplating the benefits of having a second shuttle on
standby when a sistership launches.

Senior agency officials, meanwhile, acknowledge the target date is
ambitious and that NASA will approach the fleet's return to space with
caution.

"We are going to be deliberate to ensure that we return to flight in a
safe manner," said Michael Greenfield, NASA's Deputy Associate
Administrator for Technical Programs. "We will take as long as it takes."

[ANS thanks Florida Today for the above information.]


/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-166.10
Kids Day 2003 Take 2

SILVER SPRING, MD.  June 15, 2003
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-166.10

The second 2003 Kids Day event is scheduled for June 21 between
1800 and 2400 UTC on the HF and 2 meter bands.  Please take a few
moments to make contact with kids on the air and to welcome them to
the exciting hobby of amateur radio.

Further information can be found on ARRL's website:
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/kd-rules.html


[ANS thanks Scott, N3ASA, and ARRL for the above information.]


/EX



This week's ANS Editor:
Scott Lindsey-Stevens, N3ASA
n3asa@amsat.org


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