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[jamsat-news:3062] ANS-071 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins


AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-071

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@amsat.org

In this edition:

* Howard Long, G6LVB featured speaker at the 2012 AMSAT/TAPR Banquet
* AMSAT-NA Receives US Space Command Authorization for Keps Distribution
* AMSAT-UK Announces Colloquium 2012 & Issues First Call for Speakers
* New Satellite Group Formed in Cuba
* India VO-52 Satellite Recovery in Progress
* March 17 for AMSAT-LU Balloon Test Flight of LUSEX Satellite Systems
* KB8VCO and W8ZCF ARISSat-1 SSTV Contact Featured in the Press
* Echolink Satellite Nets Launched
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
* Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report
 

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-071.01
ANS-071 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 071.01
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
March 11, 2012
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-071.01


**********************************************************************
* Volunteers are needed to help at the AMSAT booth at Dayton. Gould  *
* WA4SXM, is looking for volunteers to help man the AMSAT booth dur- *
* ing the 2012 Hamvention. People are needed all 3 days for 2 hour   *
* shifts. Please send the days and times you are available to help   *
* as well as how many shifts you are willing to work via e-mail to   *
* wa4sxm at amsat.org.                                               *  
* Monitor http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/hamvention/2012/Dayton.php  * 
* for the latest AMSAT at Dayton news and developments               *
**********************************************************************


Howard Long, G6LVB featured speaker at the 2012 AMSAT/TAPR Banquet

TAMSAT/TAPR Banquet on Friday night, May 18 is one of the main AMSAT 
activities during the 2012 Hamvention at Dayton. 

AMSAT is pleased to announce that Howard Long, G6LVB will be the fea-
tured speaker for the evening event. Howard will be talking about his 
FUNcube Dongle, the 64 - 1700 MHz Software Defined Receiver. This 
innovative USB device is the size of a thumbdrive and has an SMA ant-
enna socket. Multiple SDR control and display software programs can 
be used with the FUNcube Dongle.

Banquet tickets will not be sold at the AMSAT booth during the Ham-
vention so reservations must be made through the AMSAT Store: 
http://www.amsat-na.com/store/item.php?id=100158
Tickets are $30 apiece.


[ANS thanks Gould Smith, WA4SXM for the above information]


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AMSAT-NA Receives US Space Command Authorization for Keps Distribution

AMSAT's Keeper of the Keps, Ray Hoad, WA5QGD wrote, "I am pleased 
to announce that AMSAT's request to re-distribute AFSPC Keplerian 
elements from SpaceTrack has been approved for the period April 1, 
2012 to April 1, 2013. Our USSTRATCOM ODR (Orbital Data Request) 
to distribute the KEPs was approved on March 1, 2012. We are "good 
to go" for another year."

Thanks to the US Air Force Space Command, Perry Klein, W3PK and 
Paul Williamson, KB5MU for their help in this process.

[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD for the above information]


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AMSAT-UK Announces Colloquium 2012 & Issues First Call for Speakers

The AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium will be held on 
September 14-16, 2012.

The colloquium attracts an international audience from across Eur-
ope as well as North America and the Middle East. Attendees range 
from the builders of the CubeSats and Nanosats, those who communi-
cate through them and beginners who wish to find out more about 
this fascinating branch of the hobby.

It provides a rare opportunity to chat with satellite designers and 
builders, discussions frequently continue until the early hours of 
the morning.

A Gala dinner is held on the Saturday evening along with the fund 
raising auction.

AMSAT-UK invite speakers, about amateur radio space and associated 
activities, for this event. They are also invited to submit papers 
for the “Proceedings” document which will be published at the same 
time but printed papers are not mandatory. We normally prefer au-
thors to present talks themselves rather than having someone else 
give them in the authors’ absence. We also welcome “unpresented” 
papers for the Proceedings document.

FIRST CALL FOR SPEAKERS
----------------------- 
This is the first call for speakers for the AMSAT-UK International 
Space Colloquium 2012 which, due to the Olympic & Paralympic Games, 
will be held this year on the weekend of September 15-16, 2012 at 
the Holiday Inn, Guildford, GU2 7XZ, United Kingdom.

This Colloquium will take place a few weeks before the planned 
launch of AMSAT-UK’s FUNcube-1 satellite carrying a 435/145 MHz 
linear transponder for SSB/CW communications.

AMSAT-UK invites speakers, to cover topics about micro-satellites, 
CubeSats, Nanosats, space and associated activities, for this event.

They are also invited to submit papers for subsequent publishing on
the AMSAT-UK web site. We normally prefer authors to present talks 
themselves rather than having someone else give them in the authors’ 
absence. We also welcome “unpresented” papers for the web site.

We appreciate that it is not always possible to give a firm indica-
tion of attendance at this stage but expressions of interest would 
be appreciated.

Submissions should be sent *ONLY* to G4DPZ, via the following routes:

e-mail: david dot johnson at blackpepper dot co dot uk

Postal address at http://www.qrz.com/db/G4DPZ

AMSAT-UK also invite anyone with requests for Program Topics to sub-
mit them as soon as possible to G4DPZ. Invitations for any papers on 
specific subjects will be included in the future call. Likewise if 
anyone knows of a good speaker, please send contact and other infor-
mation to G4DPZ. 
 

[ANS thanks Dave Johnson, G4DPZ and AMSAT-UK for the above information]

 
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New Satellite Group Formed in Cuba

Hector Martinez, CO6CBF reports that the Cuban Amateur Radio Federa-
tion (FRC) has created its first official Satellite Group.

Hector said that himself, Raydel CM2ESP, and Pavel CO7WT worked to 
form the group and made the request to the FRC headquarters. The re-
quest was approved on March 3, 2012. The official name is Grupo de 
Radioaficionados para Operaciones Satelitales (GROS).

The principal mission is to promote amateur radio by satellites in 
Cuba and motivate Cuban hams to operate on the satellites. 

Grupo de Radioaficionados para Operaciones Satelitales is planning
their first meeting in Havana City, Cuba.

[ANS thanks Hector Martinez, CO6CBF for the above information]


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India VO-52 Satellite Recovery in Progress

Mani, VU2WMY, Secretary & Station-In-Charge at the Upagrah Amateur 
Radio Club VU2URC in India reported that on March 6 the ISRO Satel-
lite Centre recovered operation and control of HAMSAT VO-52. This
satellite had been heard during expected passes since February 28.

Mani wrote, "I can share at this moment is 'HAMSAT VO-52' is in 
'Excellent Health' after recovery operations. Right now, it is under 
observation. The decision in regards to switching 'ON' the transpond-
er is pending clearance from ISRO. This decision expected soon. The 
user community will be informed well in advance about the transponder 
switching."

ISRO Announces Plan to Turn on Dutch Transponder
------------------------------------------------
On March 8, Mani, VU2WMY, reported that news had been received from
Mr. T. Parimalarangan, HAMSAT VO-52 Operations Director at ISTRAC/ISRO
that, "After 'In-Orbit Maintenance Operations' the decision to turn 
'ON' Transponder No 2 i.e. The Dutch Transponder made by William 
Leijenaar PE1RAH on March 8 during orbit # 37006 over India."

Dutch Transponder Activation on Hold for One Week
--------------------------------------------------
Unfortunately, we are sorry to inform that the 'Expert Committee'  
overseeing the VO-52 (HAMSAT) performance has advised to extend the  
'Observation Period' by an other week.

Hence, the decision to switch on the transponder # 2 is now put 'ON  
HOLD' till further notice. Inconvenience caused to the users is  
regretted.

This latest decision is just only a postponement and nothing to worry  
about the health of the spacecraft. We re-assure you all that VO-52 is  
very strong and in a 'Perfect Health' condition.

Once the Dutch transponder is switched on it will use the following
frequencies:

Uplink frequency:   435.250 MHz
Downlink frequency: 145.900 MHz
Beacon:             CW at 145.859330 MHz (145.86 MHz)
Output level of Beacon Carrier: 18 dBm

ISRO invites a 'Critical Comparative Signal Report' between the 
Indian and Dutch transponder would be of great help for further 
evaluations and necessary actions for the maintenance the trans-
ponder in good and healthy condition for better services and also, 
the inputs would be very valuable to the respective transponder 
designers. Please send your feedback to tprangan@istrac.org.

Summaries from stations monitoring for VO-52 can be entered and viewed 
on the Live OSCAR Satellite Status Page: http://oscar.dcarr.org/

[ANS thanks Mani, VU2WMY, Secretary & Station-In-Charge at the 
 Upagrah Amateur Radio Club for the above information]


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March 17 for AMSAT-LU Balloon Test Flight of LUSEX Satellite Systems

AMSAT-Argentina announced they are planning to test systems of the 
LU Satellite EXperiment (LUSEX) satellite during a high altitude 
balloon flight up to 100,000 feet. This is scheduled for March 17 
at 1500 UTC. Direct reception of the balloon flight is estimated to
extend to 400 miles from the City of Junin, west of Buenos Aires,
Argentina. (See http://www.amsat.org.ar/junincubr.jpg for estimated
coverage map.)

The payload will feature several radio and telemetry experiments:

+ Crossband FM Repeater 
  Uplink   435.950 MHz FM (123 Hz tone)
  Downlink 145.950 MHz FM

+ SSTV Downlink 145.950 MHz FM
  ROBOT-36 in real time, showing the view from the balloon every 
  5 minutes during ascent/descent, longer interval at high alti-
  tude. Video will also be recorded and recovered at the end of
  the flight.

+ APRS Data
  APRS 1200 baud packet on 144.930 MHz, and 145.950 MHz.

+ Telemetry Downlink 145.950 MHz
  If the crossband repeater is in use a warning bip at 40 seconds 
  will indicate telemetry is coming, which is sent if the repeater 
  is not in use. If the repeater continues to be busy then 2 bips
  will indicate APRS packets will be sent.

  CW telemetry (modulated FM on 145.950 MHz) will be sent every
  5 minutes with the following sequence: CQ LU7AA, sequence number, 
  external and internal temperatures °C and battery voltage. 

+ User Telecommand Experiment
  The 435.950 up / 145.950 down crossband repeater will accept user
  DTMF command to return a signal report. Sending B* on the uplink
  will return S5 (average signal strength) or P10 (S9+10 signal
  strength) modulated CW tones on the 145.950 MHz FM downlink.

APRS trajectory will update every minute, including speed, height, 
external and internal temperatures and 7.2v battery voltage. This
can be monitored directly on 144.930 MHz for stations in range. It
will also display at: http://aprs.fi/?call=lu7aa-11 . The APRS 
symbol will display as a balloon during ascent, and as a glider 
during parachute descent. The AMSAT-LU APRS Igate LU7AA-10 on 144.930 
and 430.930 MHz will be active. Maps for UI-View APRS tracking can
downloaded from http://www.amsat.org.ar.

Stations making a contact via the balloon payload may qualify for a
certificate. See http://www.amsat.org.ar/certsat.html for details.

AMSAT-LU thanks the members of Radio Clubs of Junin, QRM Belgrano, 
APRS Group, Don Bosco Ramos Mejia School, gliders Clubs of Zarate, 
Junin and Cañuelas, and the twelve Amsat-LU members development team.
Reports from radio amateurs during previous flights are appreciated
and they look forward to your reports during the March 17 flight.

Photos and reports of prior flights can be viewed on-line at:
http://www.amsat.org.ar/lu4aao/experimento_globo_y_parapente.htm

The LU Satellite EXperiment web page is at: http://lusex.org.ar

[ANS thanks AMSAT-LU for the above information]


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KB8VCO and W8ZCF ARISSat-1 SSTV Contact Featured in the Press

The Cincinnati (Ohio) Press web featured a story about the successful
SSTV contact via ARISSat-1 between Farrell Winder, W8ZCF and his son, 
Jeff Winder, KB8VCO.

The Winders teamed together and after many, many tries were success-
ful in sending and receiving a picture of Farrell Winder's automobile 
license plate.

The Winders used two computers, two radios, and two rotatable outside 
antennas on towers to aim and to pinpoint the satellite antenna. Con-
ditions were challenging as the satellite was traveling at 18,000 MPH 
at an altitude of 225 miles, which provided a window of opportunity of 
only up to about nine minutes while its footprint was passing within 
range of Cincinnati.

The successful end result was a lot of hard-earned fun and excitement 
to work with very small signals from “outer space” and overcome the 
setback caused by the missing antenna on ARISSat-1.

The picture the Winders sent and received is apparently one of the 
only complete pictures sent and received. Two other operators tried 
a similar undertaking, but received just portions of pictures.

Since ARISSat-1 had no propulsion system to sustain altitude it enter-
ed the Earth's atmosphere on Jan. 4, 2012 and disintegrated.

The story can be read on-line at:
http://tinyurl.com/ARISSat-Cincinnati

[ANS thanks Farrell Winder, W8ZCF and Jeff Winder, KB8VCO for the 
 above information]


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Echolink Satellite Nets Launched

New Echolink SAT-CHAT Net
-------------------------
Vince Waelti, K9TSU has established a new, open net, the "Sat-Chat" 
on the *AMSAT* server on EchoLink. This net meets at 1900 Central US
Time (UTC-5) every Saturday evening. Everyone is invited to check in.
Also links to -L and -R systems for on-air repeater coverage are wel-
come. Vince can be reached at k9tsu(at)hotmail(dot)com if you have
any questions.

Hudson Valley SatCom Net on Echolink
------------------------------------
Stu Ballinger, WA2BSS says the next Hudson Valley SatCom net will 
meet on-air (146.97 MHz. Mt. Beacon Repeater) and on the Echolink
node N2EYH-L on March 15 at 2000 Eastern US time (UTC-4).

Houston AMSAT Net on Echolink
-----------------------------
The Houston AMSAT Net meets on the Echolink *AMSAT* server every
Tuesday evening at 2000 Central US Time (UTC-5). Checkin to the
net is taken via Echolink if you are not in radio range of Houston.

[ANS thanks Vince Waelti, K9TSU; Stu Ballinger, WA2BSS; and Bruce
 Paige, KK5DO for the above information]


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Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ Watch the CQ Magazine Newsroom (http://www.cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/) 
  for more coverage of amateur radio in space. Recent coverage on CQ's 
  Newsroom blog included:
  NASA to Launch Fox-1 Cubesat
  http://tinyurl.com/CQBlog-Fox (cqnewsroom.blogspot.com)  
  Vega Rocket Launches Nine Satellites
  http://tinyurl.com/CQBlog-Vega (cqnewsroom.blogspot.com)

+ Watch AMSAT's Lou McFadin, W5DID interview on HamRadioNow by Gary 
  Pearce, KN4AQ on Southgate ARC's web: http://tinyurl.com/LouMcFadin
  Lou describes the features of the ARISSat-1 satellite, using the 
  operational model at the AMSAT booth at the Orlando HamCation.

+ Paul, 2E1EUB says his next mobile satellite operations as 2M1EUB 
  from his van will be starting March 24 for 7 days from the east
  coast of Scotland. Main operations are planned for AO-7 Mode A/B
  and other satellites as available. Paul will post his latest infor-
  mation on amsat-bb and also on the lookup at QRZ.com for 2M1EUB.

+ This is a reminder to consider making your donation to help AMSAT-UK
  build the FUNcube Project, an amateur radio satellite that features 
  a 435 to 145 MHz Linear Transponder for SSB/CW operation. the Virgin 
  Giving charity donation website http://tinyurl.com/funcubegiving/
  A donation link is also at http://www.uk.amsat.org/.

+ DQ0STRATEX is a special event call on the occasion of the strato-
  spheric balloon project (StratexB) planned for March 2012 by the 
  local DARC clubs Duelmen (N28) and Luedinghausen (N29). They plan 
  to fly an amateur radio load, consisting of an APRS beacon opera-
  ting on 144.800 MHz and a FM speech beacon operating on 430.375 MHz 
  to the stratosphere on March 24 around 1600 UTC from the airport 
  at Borkenberge near Luedinghausen. Hams from the German Aerospace 
  Center (DLR) in Bremen will also fly an experimental ADS-B receiver.
  DQ0STRATEX plans to be active on all bands and all modes between 
  now and January 31, 2013.
 
+ If you ever wondered if the astronauts on the ISS could see you 
  shining a light at them you'll get your answer here. On March 4, 
  about 65 amateur astronomers were in position at the Lazano Observ-
  atory in Springbranch Texas (near San Antonio). They turned on 
  searchlights and waited as the ISS was set to make an appearance 
  in the sky. Astronaut Don Pettit, KD5MDT had no trouble seeing the 
  flashes. Watch the video at: http://tinyurl.com/ISS-Flash
  (UniverseToday.com)

+ NASA invites you watch the 2012 Exploring Space Lectures held at
  the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. live on the
  web:

  Big Bang for the Buck: Cosmology from WMAP 
  March 22, 2012, at 8 p.m. EDT (UTC-4) 
  http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/eventDetail.cfm?eventID=3725.

  The Little Satellite That Could
  April 11, 2012, at 8 p.m. EDT (UTC-4)
  http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/eventDetail.cfm?eventID=3726.

  Gamma Ray Bursts and the Birth of Black Holes
  May 16, 2012, at 8 p.m. EDT (UTC-4)
  http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/eventDetail.cfm?eventID=3727.

  Seeking Planets Like Earth
  June 5, 2012, at 8 p.m. EDT (UTC-4)
  http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/eventDetail.cfm?eventID=3728.

+ NASA announces the release of the ISSLive! app for iPhone, iPad 
  and Andoid. This innovative, interactive app provides a novel way 
  to learn about the International Space Station while on the go.

  The ISS Live! app delivers live streaming data from the Interna-
  tional Space Station. Users can take a virtual 3-D tour of the 
  Mission Control Center and the space station, and view mission 
  control console displays with real-time data. Interactive educa-
  tional lessons using the data, as well as crew and science time-
  lines with individual crew member, social media and international 
  science experiment details are also available via the app.

  To learn more and find links to download the ISSLive! app, visit 
  http://spacestationlive.jsc.nasa.gov where you will find the icons
  for the iPhone App Store and the Android Market. (iPad and iPhone 
  are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other 
  countries. Android is a registered trademark of Google Inc.
  - NASA Education Express Message -- March 8, 2012

+ Here is an interesting video with the caption, "Is this the 
  best video footage ever of photos taken from the International 
  Space Station? ISS astronaut and Expedition 29 commander Mike 
  Fossum seems to think so." Fly over the earth at:
  http://www.universetoday.com/93828/the-best-iss-video-ever-you-decide/
  The video is a series of time lapse photos of Earth at night as seen 
  from the ISS.

+ The 16th Annual SVHFS Conference will be held in Charlotte, North 
  Carolina April 20-21. In addition to the technical activities the
  conference will feature a keynote address by ARRL President, Kay 
  Craigie, N3KN at lunch on Saturday. The banquet speaker will be
  1993 Nobel Prize in Physics laureate Dr. Joe Taylor, K1JT. See
  http://www.svhfs.org/ for more details and to register.

+ March 13-22 marks the next GLOBE at Night sky survey for students
  and citizen scientists. Information how to participate, sky charts,
  and software applications can be found at:
  http://www.globeatnight.org.

+ Although the New Space Fence radar is still 5 years away from full
  operation Lockheed Martin has posted a cool video of the prototype
  at http://tinyurl.com/SpaceFence (youtube). UniverseToday has post-
  ed an article with more details and associated links at:
  http://tinyurl.com/UniverseTodayRadar (UniverseToday.com).

+ Check out the article written by a teenage ham, "How to Work the 
  Amateur FM Satellites" by Vince Waelti, K9TSU, posted at: 
  http://www.eham.net/articles/27718. Congratulations Vince on your 
  publication.

[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]


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Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report
March 5, 2012

1.School Contacts

Dilworth Elementary School in San Jose, California had an Amateur 
Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Monday, 
March 5 at 18:33 UTC. The ARISS contact is part of a comprehensive 
education plan which will pique students' interest in Science Tech-
nology, Engineering and Math (STEM).

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact 
was held with ESA ESTEC in Noordwijk, Netherlands on Tuesday, March 6 
at 13:11 UTC via station ON4ISS in Belgium.  The radio activity is 
part of an educational program around André Kuipers' mission Spaceship 
Earth which targets children who are 10-14 years of age. Part of this 
program consists of mission assignments Kuipers gives to Dutch school
children. The winners of each challenge will be invited to the radio 
contact. Other activities include lessons and experiments.

2. ESA Awards ARISS Contact to Winners of Competition

Students from three schools, the American School of the Hague, the 
International School of Amsterdam and the British School in the Neth-
erlands, took part in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Sta-
tion (ARISS) contact on Monday, February 27 via station IK1SLD in Italy. 
This ARISS contact with astronaut André Kuipers was offered as a prize 
by the European Space Agency (ESA) to those schools who submitted the 
best suggestions for experiments or demonstrations that could be per-
formed in microgravity on board the ISS using common everyday items. 
The youth were given lessons on radio signals and communications which 
involved local radio ham experts. 

3. Atlanta, Georgia Youth Radio ISS Astronaut 

On Friday, March 2, an Amateur Radio on the International Space Sta-
tion (ARISS) contact was held between astronaut Don Pettit, KD5MDT on 
the ISS and Parkside Elementary School in Atlanta, Georgia. The radio 
link was provided by station K6DUE in Greenbelt, Maryland.  Questions 
were asked concerning the education and training needed to become an 
astronaut and about how space affects one's appetite and sleep. The 
contact was part of a comprehensive education plan using NASA related 
activities to pique students' interest in Science, Technology, Engin-
eering and Math (STEM). Audio was carried live on the NASA TV hour. 
East Atlanta Patch posted an article on the contact. 
http://eastatlanta.patch.com/articles/parkside-elementary-to-
international-space-station-over#video-9240102

4. Pettit Chats with Greek Students via ARISS 

Students attending the 5th Geniko Lykeio Katerinis in Katerini, 
Greece experienced a successful Amateur Radio on the International 
Space Station (ARISS) contact on Friday, March 2.  The youth spoke 
with Don Pettit about the experiments onboard the ISS and asked how 
he communicates with his family during his mission. The contact com-
plemented lessons covering astronomy and amateur radio with special 
attention given to the ISS regarding its role in humanity and science, 
its orbit and the every day life of the astronaut. ISS courses were 
based on ESA's education tool "ISS Education Kit."  Five hundred were 
in attendance and another hundred connected to the internet to view 
the streaming video. Media coverage included two television stations.

5. Amateur Radio Newsline Covers ARISS

On March 2, Amateur Radio Newsline report #1803 carried an article 
about the recent ARISS contact held during the John Glenn Event in 
Perth, Australia. The event celebrated the 50th anniversary of John 
Glenn's orbit of the Earth, when the population of Perth turned on 
its lights and Glenn observed the city was visible from space, lead-
ing to Perth's nickname, "City of Lights."  To view, "Ham Radio in 
Space: Amateur Radio Celebrates John Glenn over Perth Australia," 
see: http://www.arnewsline.org/storage/scripts/nsln1803.txt

[ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, for the above information]


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/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 that the Sun accounts for 99.8% 
of the Solar System's mass. 1,300,000 Earths could fit inside of the
Sun. Jupiter is as big as the Sun's core. 1,300 Earth's could fit 
inside of Jupiter.


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