[jamsat-news:3248] [ans] ANS-306 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

[Lee McLamb]

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-306

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor-
mation service of AMSAT North America, 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.

The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur
Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor at amsat.org.

In this edition:

* Amateur Radio Satellite Payloads Lost in Antares Launch Explosion
* Design The Next AMSAT Satellite!
* ARISS U.S. Partners Now Accepting Proposals for Contacts in 2015
* Recent ARISS Contacts
* Beta Testers Sought for New Heavens-Above Android app


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-306.01
ANS-306 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 306.01
 From AMSAT HQ Kensington, MD.
November 2, 2014
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-306.01

Amateur Radio Satellite Payloads Lost in Antares Launch Explosion

The RACE and GOMX-2 CubeSats were among more than 2 dozen satellites 
lost after
an unmanned Orbital Space Sciences (OSC) Antares 130 vehicle exploded
spectacularly shortly after launch at 2222 UTC on Tuesday, October 28, 
from the
Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island on Virginia’s Eastern 
Shore.
Both satellite packages carried Amateur Radio payloads. The rocket exploded
about 6 seconds after launch, sending a huge ball of fire hurtling 
toward the
ground, which set a massive fire at the NASA launch site.

The RACE (Radiometer Atmospheric Cubesat Experiment) CubeSat was a joint 
project
between The Texas Spacecraft Laboratory (TSL) at the University of 
Texas-Austin
and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Built by a 30-student team, it
carried a 183 GHz radiometer, a new science instrument designed by JPL. The
spacecraft was equipped to transmit using GMSK at 38.4 k and CW 
telemetry on a
downlink frequency of 437.525 MHz.

TSL’s Glenn Lightsey, KE5DDG, a UT engineering professor, oversaw the 
student
project that worked hand-in-hand with NASA staff in creating a satellite 
that
aimed to measure water vapor in Earth’s atmosphere.

“It’s unfortunate, but it is also part of the aerospace industry,” 
Lightsey told
the Texas Statesman newspaper. “The nature of building space vehicles is 
that it
is not a 100 percent reliable process. Getting into space is really the 
hardest
part.”

The 2U GOMX-2 CubeSat was intended to test a de-orbit system designed by 
Aalborg
University in Denmark. Karl Klaus Laursen, OZ2KK, is listed as the 
“responsible
operator” on International Amateur Radio Union frequency coordination 
documents.
The Amateur Radio payload proposed using a 9.6 k MSK data downlink on 
437.250
MHz. Also on board was an optical communications experiment from the 
National
University of Singapore. The mission also aimed to flight qualify a new 
high-
speed UHF transceiver and SDR receiver built by an Aalborg University team.

The Antares 130 launcher was on a resupply mission, carrying some 5000 
pounds of
cargo to the International Space Station.RACE, GOMX-2 and the other 
satellites
onboard the rocket were to be launched into orbit from the International 
Space
Station.

The Antares 130 also was carrying the Flock-1d array of 26 satellites as 
well as
Arkyd-3 and Cygnus CRS-3.

[ANS thanks ARRL for the above information]


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Design The Next AMSAT Satellite!

At the 2014 AMSAT Space Symposium AMSAT Vice President – Engineering Jerry
Buxton announced the plan for the next generation of AMSAT satellites. 
“The door
is open for everyone, to submit their ideas. AMSAT Engineering has a 
long term
strategy and this is the first step.”

The Engineering long term strategy includes the following goals

Advancement of amateur radio satellite technical and communications skills
Enhance international goodwill
Grow and sustain a skilled pool of amateur radio satellite engineers
Establish and maintain partnerships with educational institutions
Develop a means to use hardware common to all opportunities

With respect to the last goal Jerry said “Within the bounds of the type of
satellite it takes to achieve any of the various orbit opportunities, let’s
consider in those plans the possibility of developing a platform that 
can suit
any and all orbits. Perhaps a modular CubeSat, using a common bus as we 
did in
Fox-1, which gives great flexibility in building and flying different 
sizes and
configurations of CubeSats with simple common-design hardware changes.”

Submissions should be thorough and contain the following information. The
purpose of the proposal is not just in suggesting an idea; being an all-
volunteer team AMSAT needs your help in carrying out the idea.

Design
Implementation – CubeSat platform
Estimated timeline
Cost – volunteer resources, commercial (COTS) units
Launch – how does it get to orbit
Strategy – how it fits into AMSAT’s Engineering long term strategy

As mentioned above the idea should be based on the CubeSat platform. 
This is the
standard through which we will look for launches in the foreseeable future.

In considering your proposal, Jerry encourages you to contact him for more
details on the criteria. A guidebook to the criteria is now available for
download here. In particular, if you plan to include a university as a 
partner
to provide experiments or other support and you are not representing that
university, please contact Jerry for assistance in working with our existing
partners or establishing a new partnership.

“Being amateur radio operators, it is easy for us to fall into a 
particular trap
because of our history of communicating with other amateurs throughout the
world” says Jerry. “Specifically, most people who are not already 
involved in
the world of satellite technology are unaware of or simply overlook the
provisions of the current ITAR and soon to be EAR export rules 
particularly with
regard to deemed exports which requires governmental permission to discuss
satellite projects with foreign nationals.”

While all amateurs are invited to submit ideas, U.S. amateurs must take
particular care of they choose to become involved in a collaboration which
includes individuals from other countries. It is permissible to receive 
ideas
and proposals from outside the U.S., but it is not permitted for U.S. 
Persons to
export or share design ideas with other countries unless they have taken the
proper steps to insure compliance with ITAR and deemed export rules.

Additionally, those wishing to work on proposals should use care in 
presenting
themselves in their contacts. While the goal is for AMSAT to build and 
launch
the satellite, it is not an AMSAT project until it is accepted by the AMSAT
Board of Directors. It is acceptable to represent yourself as members of a
project team that plans to submit a proposal to AMSAT for a future satellite
project, as the AMSAT name is well known.

“It is not our intention that ideas be submitted to AMSAT-NA which would 
be more
appropriately handled by an AMSAT organization in a country where AMSAT is
established. AMSAT-NA is seeking ideas from amateurs in North America 
and will
certainly consider ideas from amateurs in countries which do not have an
established AMSAT organization or relationships with an existing AMSAT
organization.”

The deadline for submissions is May 30, 2015. After the submission date the
ideas will be screened for completeness and then reviewed by a board 
consisting
of the AMSAT Engineering Team, AMSAT Senior Officer and Board of Directors
representatives, and aerospace industry members. The review board may 
modify or
consolidate ideas and will consider which meet the criteria to become a 
project
based on feasibility, cost, and the ability to bring value to the amateur
satellite community. The review process is expected to be completed in 
September
2015.

For those ideas selected to become a project which satisfy the 
requirements for
an ELaNa launch, the idea authors will be asked to work with the AMSAT
Engineering Team on an ELaNa proposal.

The Engineering Team will then work on the details of execution for the 
selected
project(s) and present a proposal to the AMSAT Board of Directors in October
2015 for final approval to begin work. Once approved, any ELaNa 
proposals will
be submitted in November 2015 and the project(s) will move forward.

Now is the time for YOU to begin working on the next AMSAT satellite!

[ANS thanks Jerry, N0JY, for the above information


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ARISS U.S. Partners Now Accepting Proposals for Contacts in 2015

The ARISS U.S. partners have opened a window seeking formal and informal
education institutions and organizations in the U.S., individually or 
working
together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board 
the ISS
during 2015. The proposal window is October 17 – December 15, 2014. Read the
announcement at:
http://www.arrl.org/files/file/ARISS/ARISS%20Proposal%20Window%20Announcement-
Oct-2014.pdf

To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for
organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the
contact into a well-developed education plan.

More details on expectations, audience, proposal guidelines and proposal 
form,
and dates and times of Information Sessions are available at
www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact. Please direct any questions about
hosting a contact in the U.S.to ariss ＠ arrl.org.

[ANS thanks ARISS for the above information]


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Recent ARISS Contacts

A direct contact via 8N4STAR with students at Bisei Elementary School, 
Ibara,
Japan was successful Mon 2014-10-27 08:52:46 UTC 41 deg. Astronaut Alexander
Gerst, KF5ONO answered 6 questions for students.

Bisei Elementary School with 162 students was established at 1970 in the 
small
town of Bisei. It is the home of the Bisei Astronomical Observatory.

******************

A telebridge contact with members of The Explorers Club, New York City, New
York, USA via IK1SLD was successful Sat 2014-10-25 16:36:09 UTC 56 deg.

Astronaut Alexander Gerst, KF5ONO responded to nine questions, which 
included
questions from Apollo astronauts Charles Duke, Apollo 16 moon walker, 
and Walt
Cunningham, Apollo 7 Lunar Module pilot. Two ticket holders for Virgin 
Galactic
SpaceShip 2 also were among those who asked questions.

The Explorers Club is an international multidisciplinary professional 
society
dedicated to the advancement of field research and the ideal that it is 
vital to
preserve the instinct to explore. Founded in New York City in 1904, The
Explorers Club promotes the scientific exploration of land, sea, air, 
and space
by supporting research and education in the physical, natural and biological
sciences. The Club’s members have been responsible for an illustrious 
series of
famous firsts: First to the North Pole, first to the South Pole, first 
to the
summit of Mount Everest, first to the deepest point in the ocean, first 
to the
surface of the moon—all accomplished by Club members.

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


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Beta Testers Sought for New Heavens-Above Android app

A few features of the app:
- Spacecraft visibility predictions based on current GPS location
- Visibility calculations are done on the device, so you only need to go
online once every few days to update the list of orbital elements
- Works on phones and tablets
- Live Sky Chart, which shows all currently visible satellites
- Prediction of Iridium flares

There will be two versions of the app, one will be free of charge and will
include advertisements, the other will be a paid for version without ads.
The price is still to be determined.

To participate, just send me an email to chris.peat ＠ heavens-above.com 
from your
google mail account (or let Chris know the name of your Google account) 
and you
will be added to the Heavens-Above testers community. You will then 
receive an
invitation with further instructions on how to download and install the test
version of the app. The first official release will be available to all for
download from the Google play web site.

A forum is also available on the Heavens-Above site;
http://www.heavens-above.com/forum/default.aspx?g=forum&c=5

[ANS thanks Chris Peat for the above information]


/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.

73,
This week's ANS Editor,
Lee McLamb, KU4OS
ku4os at amsat dot org




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