SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC0123 * SpaceNews 23-Jan-95 * BID: $SPC0123 ========= SpaceNews ========= MONDAY JANUARY 23, 1995 SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA. It is published every week and is made available for unlimited free distribution. * WWW.AMSAT.ORG NEWS * ====================== Steve Bible, N7HPR, has announced that OSCAR satellite information is now available on the www.amsat.org web server. It can accessed by clicking on "Spacecraft Information" from the AMSAT home page. A summary of spacecraft information, description, and references are available for each of the amateur satellites that are operational. There will soon (hopefully) be a short description of each of the past amateur satellites, and there is a page of future amateur satellites with a description and links to other web pages where applicable. Thanks go to John Magliacane, KD2BD, for granting permission to include each of the satellites from his "Spotlight On" series that originally appeared in The AMSAT Journal. John's articles give a more detailed description of each of the satellites and some operational hints. Hyperlinks were added to John's articles to take advantage of the hypertext scheme of the World Wide Web (WWW). Thanks also go to Greg, WH6DT, who scanned in the articles for Steve, and Paul, KB5MU, for allowing Steve to participate in the AMSAT Web project. Comments, corrections, or additional information is welcomed and should be directed to Steve at: srbible@cs.nps.navy.mil. [Info via Steve Bible, N7HPR] * PACSAT GLITCH * ================= A software "glitch" occurred recently on the AMSAT-OSCAR-16 fileserver. The problem causes groundstation software such as "PB" to report the AO-16 directory captured on the groundstation PC is up-to-date when it in fact, it is not. To compensate for the directory error, PB users are asked to delete the PFHDIR.HOL file from their pacsat directories. The next time PB is run, the user will be prompted to select the number of days from which the directory should be updated. Some users have reported that entering 0 is sufficent to correctly bring the directory up to date. If this doesn't cure the problem, try using a higher number. WiSP users have reported a similar directory problem. One solution is to delete the mspe.pfh, mspe.inf, and mspe.dhl files, and select the number of days from which the directory should be updated as with PB above. * RS-15 NEWS * ============== Pat, G3IOR has reported that none of the objects from the RS-15 launch match the passes of RS-15 when Keplerian element sets emanating from NORAD, NASA, RS3A or AMSAT are used. The following made up set is giving excellent tracking, true AOS and LOS within +/- 5 seconds, perfect TCA Doppler and exact AZ and EL beam headings. They have held true for the first few weeks of January. Epoch Year: 94 Epoch Day : 360.1622250 Inclination: 64.8310 degrees R.A.A.N.: 174.9040 Eccentricity: 0.017342 Arg.of Perigee: 233.44180 Mean Anomaly: 0.0000 Mean Motion: 11.274988 orbits per day Decay: 0.000E+000 Epoch Rev: 0 When converted to the NASA 2-line format, these elements read as follows: RS-15 1 99915U 94360.16222500 0.00000000 00000-0 0 5 2 99915 64.8310 174.9040 0173420 233.4418 0.0000 11.27498800 04 G3IOR also provided the following reference orbit information for RS-15 for those tracking with OSCARLOCATORS: Reference Orbit: 04:37:56 26th December 1994 Longitude 349.031 Degrees W. Period: 127.722045 minutes. Increment: 32.161397 degrees W/orbit. [Info via Pat, G3IOR] * OZONE HOLE CAUSE FOUND * ========================== Three years of data from NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) have provided conclusive evidence that human-made chlorine in the stratosphere is the cause of the Antarctic ozone hole. UARS instruments have found chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), human-made products used in electronics and refrigeration systems, in the stratosphere. The satellite's global data set also has traced worldwide buildup of stratospheric fluorine gases corresponding to the breakdown of CFCs, according to NASA scientists. For many years, scientists have warned that the widespread use of chlorofluorocarbons in refrigeration, spray cans and foam packaging was responsible for stratospheric ozone loss. The stratospheric ozone layer protects people, animals and plants from too much ultraviolet sunlight. The Antarctic ozone hole is a dramatic example of stratospheric ozone loss, which most scientists believe is a new phenomenon caused by the release of chlorine from human-made chlorofluorocarbons. In the past few years, some debate has occurred over the origin of ozone- destroying chlorine. Sea spray and volcanic gases have been put forth as possible sources for chlorine reaching the stratosphere. The UARS data have ended that debate. Each year since 1979, the ozone layer thins dramatically over Antarctica. This sudden change in the ozone was first noticed by researchers in Antarctica and soon confirmed by NASA satellites. The unpredicted Antarctic ozone loss gave scientists a challenging puzzle. Aircraft observations in 1987 showed convincingly that the high concentrations of chlorine monoxide over Antarctica were destroying ozone in the lower stratosphere. Most scientists were convinced that a series of chemical reactions involving chlorine monoxide and ozone led to the formation of the ozone hole. Under international treaties controlling the use of ozone-depleting chemicals, the amounts of CFCs in the atmosphere no longer are increasing. However, CFCs survive in the atmosphere for many years before being destroyed by ultraviolet light, and the ozone hole is expected to persist at current levels through this decade. (Their stability was one of their biggest assets when they were developed for industrial use in the 1930s.) Unless other conditions change, scientists expect the ozone hole to weaken and disappear in the 21st century. UARS was the first satellite launched as part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth, a comprehensive study of how the Earth's global environment changes, and how human activities contribute to that change. Mission to Planet Earth includes satellites, Space Shuttle instruments, aircraft research and ground teams. Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, manages UARS for NASA's Office of Mission to Planet Earth, Washington, DC. [Info via NASA] * THANKS! * =========== Thanks to all those who sent messages of appreciation to SpaceNews, especially: N1PPP WA3IMN VE4AMU ZL4TBN F5DGQ EA8BVU * FEEDBACK/INPUT WELCOMED * =========================== Mail to SpaceNews should be directed to the editor (John, KD2BD) via any of the following paths: FAX : 1-908-747-7107 PACKET : KD2BD @ KS4HR.NJ.USA.NA INTERNET : kd2bd@amsat.org -or- magliaco@pilot.njin.net SATELLITE : AMSAT-OSCAR-16, LUSAT-OSCAR-19 MAIL : John A. Magliacane, KD2BD Department of Engineering and Technology Advanced Technology Center Brookdale Community College Lincroft, New Jersey 07738 U.S.A. <<=- SpaceNews: The first amateur newsletter read in space! -=>> /EX