The J-2X engine will power the upper stages of the Ares I and Ares V rockets.

05/07/08

NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale will announce a significant new education initiative at a NASA Future Forum on May 14 at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, Calif.

05/08/08

NASA's Kennedy Space Center has awarded a contract to Hensel Phelps of Orlando, Fla., for the construction of the Ares I mobile launcher for the Constellation Program.

05/07/08

NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) intend to conduct joint research on sonic boom modeling.

05/07/08

As part of NASA's 50th anniversary celebration, the Digital Learning Network will host a series of live webcasts with students across the country May 13-21.

05/07/08

NASA will host a media teleconference on Thursday, May 15, at 2 p.m. EDT, to provide an overview of progress made in the last few months and work ahead for NASA's Constellation Program.

05/06/08

Imagine yourself hip-to-hip, shoulder-to-shoulder, inside a room the size of a walk-in closet for eight hours with five people you just met.

05/06/08

Students from coast to coast will have the opportunity to make an out of this world call to the International Space Station on Monday, May 12, from 11:20 a.m. to 11:40 a.m. CDT.

05/06/08

With the help of the space shuttle program, NASA kicks off a new artifact loan program for museums, planetariums, and other organizations.

05/06/08

• Cute-1.7 Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
• SEEDS Nihon University, Japan
• Delfi-C3 Technical University of Delft, Netherlands
• AAUSat-II Aalborg University Cubesat, Denmark
• COMPASS-1 Fachhochschule Aachen, Germany
• CanX-2 University of Toronto, Canada
• CanX-6 University of Toronto, Canada
• Cartosat 2A Indian Space Research Organization (non-amateur radio)
• IMS 1 Indian Space Research Organization (non-amateur radio)
• Rubin 8-AIS OHB-System, Germany (non-amateur radio)

• Telemetry indicates that all solar panels and antennas have deployed properly and indicates nominal values for all housekeeping values.
• Payload data has started to stream in, enabling the team to generate IV curves of the Thin Film Solar Cell experiment. (RASCAL users can view the IV curves by clicking Options-->show IV curves.)
• The spacecraft is operating in science mode, we have had one orbit in emergency mode, which was most probably due to a databus issue.
• Amateur radio operators have sent over 40000 frames of data using RASCAL, the Delfi-C3 telemetry capture software.
• The spacecraft has decided to consistently use the backup radio on 145.930 MHz for its telemetry downlink. The primary radio on 145.870 MHz may be switched on by the groundstation so monitor both frequencies.
• We have successfully switched the spacecraft to its primary radio on 145.870MHz temporarily, after this switch, the satellite came back on the 145.930MHz downlink. Telemetry indicated that the primary radio on 145.870MHz is healthy and working fine so that is good news. Note that the satellite will normally transmit on 145.930MHz for the time being, unless we command her to go to 145.870MHz.
• The team is working on the issue with the downlink TX switching off later into the sunlit side of the orbit, which is the reason why Delfi-C3 has not been heard on some passes. It may switch off when the computer does not receive data but the transmitter itself is OK.

• Martha at AMSAT HQ reminds you that you MUST pay for your banquet ticket before May 12th. Giving her your name only will not hold a ticket. You need to call the AMSAT office at 301-589-6062.
• Allen, N5AFV operated two passes of AO-51 and one pass of SO-50 from the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas on Tuesday and Wednesday (April 22 & 23). Allen says he has a special QSL card made up for the operation. QSL via home address.
• EW/G0SFJ successfully contacted G7HIA on 20th April via AO-51, but under difficult conditions when operating from Minsk. Any SWL cards or reports gratefully received by email or QTHR, and will be acknowledged!
• The AO-27 Satellite Scheduler program which has been available from http://www.cs.rit.edu/~cjh9783/programs/satsched.php is now also available from http://home.earthlink.net/~ka3hsw/ao27/ as well.
• The W3HZU Beacons located on Grid FM19qv on 2.4GHZ and 1.2GHZ have been temporarily taken off the air in preparation to add a third beacon on 5.76GHZ. A message on the amsat-bb will advise when the beacons are back on the air. (via Charlie, K3VDB)
• The Houston AMSAT Net Podcast has now been picked up by iTunes. You can do a search on iTunes for "Houston AMSAT Net", "KK5DO", or "Bruce Paige" and will be offered the opportunity to subscribe to the Podcast.
• Google Earth now offers tools to Visualize the Ionosphere in 4D. See: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/30apr_4dionosphere.htm?list958901
  http://terra1.spacenvironment.net/%7eionops/es4dintro.html
  You will be able to use Google Earth © applications such as:
  o Radio Availability
  o Total Electron Content
  o Maximum Useable Frequency
  o foF2
  o Past 24 hours TEC movie
  o Past 24 hours MUF movie
• This past weekend, K3IO, W2GPS, WA4SXM attended the premier of AMSAT.ORG in Grand-Am Racing at the Virginia International Raceway. Jim Jaeger (K8RQ) arranged for the AMSAT logo to appear prominently on the yellow Doran Racing Kodak #77 Dallara/Ford car driven by Brad Jaeger (Jim's son) and Memo Gidley. The Doran Racing web site has a gallery of photos featuring their #77 Kodak & #47 BSi cars available for viewing at http://www.doranracing.com/08_vir/photo.htm. Look for the AMSAT.ORG logo on the yellow car!
• Satellite DX opportunity ... Hans, VA7HAS plans to attempt operating via AO-51 from Pond Inlet, Baffin Island, FQ12AQ, between May 12-16. The radio will be an TH-F6A with a whip antenna.