SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-168.01 STS-71 SAREX INFORMATION HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 168.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD JUNE 17, 1995 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-168.01 Historic Shuttle/MIR docking mission to include SAREX. On June 23, the Space Shuttle Atlantis is expected to begin the first of several historic Space Shuttle/MIR docking flights. STS-71 and its crew of 7 will rendezvous, dock and exchange several crew members. The STS-71 crew includes with Shuttle Astronauts Hoot Gibson, Charlie Precourt, Ellen Baker, Greg Harbaugh, and Bonnie Dunbar. Also aboard Atlantis will be Cosmonauts Anatoly Y. Solovyev and Nikolai M. Budarin. Solovyev and Budarin will remain aboard Mir when Atlantis undocks from MIR and returns to Earth. US Astronaut Norm Thaggard and Russia Cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Gennady Strekalov plan to return home when the Space Shuttle Atlantis lands at the Kennedy Space Center on July 4. This mission will carry the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment, SAREX payload. SAREX allows ham radio operators and school students to talk to the astronauts while they are in orbit by amateur radio. A detailed fact sheet for the STS-70 SAREX mission follows: STS-71 Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) Information Sheet Mission: STS-71 Space Shuttle Atlantis Historic First Docking with the Russian Space Station MIR Launch: June 23, 1995, 21:08 UTC (7 minute launch window) MIR Docking: June 26, 1995, 14:30 UTC Orbit: 51.6 degree orbital inclination Mission Length: 9 days (Nominal) Amateur Radio Operators: Charlie Precourt (KB5YSQ), Pilot, and Ellen Baker, (KB5SIX), Mission Specialist Operating Mode: FM Voice Callsigns: KB5YSQ and KB5SIX Frequencies: All operations in split mode. Do not transmit on the downlink frequency. Since both SAREX and the MIR amateur radio station are expected to be operational throughout this flight and since the two vehicles share the same downlink frequency, 145.55, downlink frequency contention between the MIR radio station and SAREX would be expected. Because of this, the SAREX Working Group have made the following frequency changes for the STS-71 mission. STS-71 Voice Frequencies The following frequencies are used for two-way voice communications with the Shuttle astronauts. Downlink: 145.84 MHz Worldwide Uplinks: 144.45, 144.47 Worldwide Note: The crew will not favor any specific uplink frequency, so your ability to communicate with SAREX will be the "luck of the draw." For all operations, Earth stations should listen to the downlink frequency and transmit only when the Shuttle is in range and the astronauts are on the air. Info:Goddard Amateur Radio Club, WA3NAN, Greenbelt Maryland, SAREX Bulletins and Shuttle Retransmissions 3860 KHz, 7185 KHz, 14,295 KHz, 21,395 KHz, 28,650 KHz and 147.45 MHz (FM) ARRL Amateur Radio Station, W1AW, Newington, CT SAREX News Bulletins 3990, 7290, 14,290, 18,160, 21,390, and 28,590 KHz and 147.555 MHz (FM) NASA Spacelink computer information system, Phone: (205) 895-0028 or via Internet: spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov, ARRL BBS (203) 666-0578 JSC ARC BBS (713) 244-5625, 9600 baud or less. GSFC ARC BBS on internet: wa3nan.gsfc.nasa.gov Mission bulletins also available on internet via AMSAT ANS and through your local PBSS. School Group Participation: 5 school groups will participate in SAREX with pre-scheduled direct and telebridge contacts. These include 4 in the U.S., and one in Russia. Keplerian Elements: STS-71 1 99971U 95182.64126116 .00004001 00000-0 25599-3 0 86 2 99971 51.6471 85.3203 0005502 102.6430 257.5145 15.57450161 1230 Satellite: STS-71 Catalog number: 99971 Epoch time: 95182.64126116 = (01-Jul-95 15:23:24.96 UTC) Element set: 008 Inclination: 51.6471 deg RA of node: 85.3203 deg Space Shuttle Flight STS-71 Eccentricity: .0005502 Prelaunch element set JSC-008a Arg of perigee: 102.6430 deg Launch: 23-Jun-95 21:08:37 UTC Mean anomaly: 257.5145 deg Mean motion: 15.57450161 rev/day Gil Carman Decay rate: 4.001e-05 rev/day^2 NASA Johnson Space Center Epoch rev: 123 Checksum: 260 Note: These elements are valid from post-separation on July 1 at 14:49 UTC until the deorbit burn on July 4 at 14:54 UTC. QSL Cards: Send reports and QSLs to ARRL EAD, STS-71 QSL, 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111, USA. Include the following information in your QSL or report: STS-71, date, time in UTC, frequency and mode (FM voice or packet). In addition, you must also include a SASE using a large, business-sized envelope if you wish to receive a card. The Sacred Hearts Academy Radio Club, Honolulu, Hawaii has generously volunteered to distribute the QSL cards for this mission. [The AMSAT News Service (ANS) would like to thank Frank H. Bauer, (KA3HDO) AMSAT V.P. for Manned Space Programs for this bulletin item.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-168.02 WEEKLY OSCAR STATUS REPORTS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 168.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD JUNE 17, 1995 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-168.02 Weekly OSCAR Status Reports: 17-JUN-95 AO-13: Current Transponder Operating Schedule: L QST *** AO-13 TRANSPONDER SCHEDULE *** 1995 May 22 - Jul 31 Mode-B : MA 0 to MA 70 | Omnis : MA 230 to MA 25 Mode-BS : MA 70 to MA 110 | Mode-S : MA 110 to MA 112 |<- S beacon only Mode-S : MA 112 to MA 135 |<- S transponder; B trsp. is OFF Mode-S : MA 135 to MA 140 |<- S beacon only Mode-BS : MA 140 to MA 180 | Alon/Alat 180/0 Mode-B : MA 180 to MA 256 | Move to attitude 225/0, Jul 31 Note: The Mode-B beacon is ON during the Mode-S transponder operations only. Please do NOT uplink to the B transponder during Mode S only, as it inter- feres with Mode-S operations. [G3RUH/DB2OS/VK5AGR] RS-10: N2CQR/HI8 reports that he had a strong signal into Santo Domingo on 17 June (0154UTC). VE2SPY was calling CQ with very nice audio. N3OJB was heard making his first RS-10 QSO. [N2CQR/HI8] RS-12: N2CQR/HI8 reports that on 4 June RS-12 provided HI8JQA with his intitiation into the Satellite Communicator's Club. It wasn't exactly DX - HI8JQA's first Satellite QSO was with N2CQR/HI8 (also in Santo Domingo). HI8JQA went on to work another station in the U.S. [N2CQR/HI8] MIR: N2CQR/HI reports that while the MIR packet system is now sometimes turned off (Norm Thagard is conserving space in the TNC) and voice contacts seem to have become less frequent (the crew has been busy with space walks and experiments). MIR fans were treated to a spectacular series of visible MIR passes during the June 11 - 14 time period. MIR was flying close to the day-night terminator, so shortly after the onset of darkness earthbound observers could clearly see the spacecraft zoom through the skies. With the earth's axis now in its summertime configuration, observers in northern latitudes were able to see MIR on successive passes late into the night - for them the spacecraft was illuminated by sunlight coming over the north pole. Also, Jay Apt (N5QWL) received in a packet message dated 6/14/95, from Dr. Thagard explaining that he has been turning off the MIR packet station to conserve space in the TNC buffer for uploads over Russia in the present busy period near the end of the MIR-18 crew's stay. He mentions that the packet TNC has only 14K of memory, and has been routinely filled in 10 hours. Many of the messages have been store-and-forward. This traffic might be handled via other means. He sends his best wishes to the ham community, and thanks everyone for the morale-boosting messages when he needed them most. [N2CQR/HI8 & NTQWL] The AMSAT NEWS Service (ANS) NEEDS YOUR HELP! The ANS looking for volun- teers to contribute weekly OSCAR status reports. If you have a favorite OSCAR which you work on a regular basis and would like to contribute to this weekly bulletin, please send your observations to WD0HHU at his CompuServe address of 70524,2272, on INTERNET at wd0hhu@amsat.org, or to his local packet BBS in the Denver, CO area, WD0HHU @ N0QCU. Also, if you find that the current set of orbital elements are not generating the correct AOS/LOS times at your QTH, PLEASE INCLUDE THAT INFORMATION AS WELL. The information you provide will be of value to all OSCAR enthusiasts. /EX