SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC0904 * SpaceNews 04-Sep-95 * BID: $SPC0904 ========= SpaceNews ========= MONDAY SEPTEMBER 4, 1995 SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA. It is published every week and is made available for unlimited free distribution. * NAKED-EYE COMET DISCOVERED * ============================== After a long drought it seems that comets are suddenly breaking out all over. On August 17th, the veteran Australian observer William Bradfield discovered a new comet in the constellation Crater. This is Bradfield's 17th comet he has discovered. Comet 1995-Q-1, its name for now, has a tail more than 1 degree long. In announcing the discovery, Brian Marsden added that the European Southern Observatory in Chile has photographed the comet with its 1-meter Schmidt telescope. The image showed "two wavy tails," up to 3 degrees long. From their mountaintop site in Chile, observers could see the comet with the unaided eye. Its position at 0h Universal Time on August 18th was right ascension 11h 01.5m, -13d 27' (2000.0 coordinates). That means the comet currently is visible only from the Southern Hemisphere, but it's moving northeastward about 1 degree per day. This discovery comes at a very opportune time for an upcoming event in Brisbane, Australia. The city's residents are being asked to turn off their lights from 8 to 10 p.m. on Sunday, August 20th. If they do so they might be rewarded with a fine view of Bradfield's new comet. [Info via Keith Stein] * UKRAINIAN, CHILEAN SATELLITES FAIL TO SEPARATE * ================================================== The first Chilean satellite, FASAT-ALPHA, failed to separate from the first Ukrainian satellite SICH-1. The two spacecraft were launched on 31-Aug-95 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in norther Russia. Several attempts have been made to separate the two satellites, but these have not been successful so far. If the Chilean satellites does not separate, the Ukrainian satellites will still be able to operate. FASAT-ALPHA's operations will not be activated until it separates since it is programmed to start its functions after being jettisoned from SICH-1. FASAT-ALPHA will be using a downlink frequency between 400-401 MHz. [Info via Keith Stein] * OSCAR STATUS REPORT * ======================= PACSAT AO-16: Normal BBS. DOVE DO-17: 27th August 1995 12:52 UTC S Band has been switched OFF. We will continue to tune the power budget and bring S Band operation to you as soon as possible. 73 Dove Team (VK7ZBX) WEBER WO-18: Also seen this week spect, wod and photo-14 19:35 21-Aug-95 sending Week 3 WOD BCR 0x21 BCR +10V V 0x22 BCR SetPoint 0x29 +Y Array Cur 0x2F Bat 1 Temp 0x33 RC TX power 0x36 +Y Array Temp Monday, new spectrum. Digipeater on -- 145.9 MHz. LUSAT LO-19: LUSAT-1 to AMARG August 12. AX.25 downlink on 437.150 mhz. [d/l not very strong but mostly useable - vk7zo] CW experiment on 437.125 mhz. [g3ruh modem keeps tune nicely] CW telemetry welcome. LU8DYF Typical cw frame the last 2 letters change : Lusat Hi Hi uo aud abn au6 adu avt a6u a4u ae6 decoded by ear B-) Fuji FO-20: Still sending CW telemetry groups on both d/l. [Info via Graham Ranft, VK7ZO] * LUSAT CW TELEMETRY INFO * =========================== The LUSAT CW telemetry was turned on two weeks ago. It will be on for two more weeks on 437.125 MHz. During this period the BBS downlink will be at 437.150 MHz with the normal PSK TX, (not raised cosine). The beacon is sending eight data channels and one status channel at 12 WPM with a output power near 900 mW. Numerical data was been coded in such a way as to increase transmission efficiency. The numerical coding is as follows: 1= .- 2= ..- 3= ...- 4= ....- 5= . 6= -.... 7= -... 8= -.. 9= -. 0= - The following is the data of each channel and the formula neccesary to obtain the correct telemetry value: + 5 Volts CH1= 636/N1= Volts + 10 Volts CH2= .064*N2= Volts CW TX Temp CH3= .354*(134.7-N3)= Deg. C. TX POWER CH4= ((10.9+N4)^2)/40.1= mWatts FRAME TEMP CH5= .356*(136-N5)= Deg. C. +10 V Current CH6= .7*N6= mA +Z V Panel CH7= .15*N7= Volts +8.5 V CH8= .056*N8= Volts The message format is the following : LUSAT HI HI VL N1 N2 N3 N4 N5 N6 N7 N8 V is the letter EPROM program version. The program was repeated seven times to avoid crash radiation degradation. If the first test is out of service, the second will be on. L is the RAM microprocessor result test. If L=0, the RAM is OK. If L=E, there has been an error detected. [Info via Gustavo, LW2DTZ of AMSAT Argentina] * MORE SOLAR ACTIVITY NEWS * ============================ The hints suggesting of a new solar cycle are continuing to increase. Recently, two new regions were defined by the Cal Tech group at Big Bear Solar Observatory. Both of these regions had the correct magnetic polarity for the new solar cycle, but the southern-most region (located at S07) was too close to the solar equator to be easily distinguished as a new cycle region. The northern-most region, however, had the correct magnetic polarity and was located at N38, which is the nominal distance from the solar equator for a new-cycle region. This brings the total number of observed possible new-cycle solar regions to three. These observations are indeed very interesting, particularly considering they are appearing almost one full year earlier than some models predict. This raises a question as to whether the predicted timing of the next solar maximum is correct or possibly off by as much as one year. One of the most common and respected models used world-wide to predict the next-cycle maximum is the McNish-Lincoln method which has been in wide-spread use for years. The present predictions (which ignore the fact that new-cycle spots have already been identified) suggest the next solar maximum should occur between January and April in the year 2000 with a smoothed sunspot number of 108 (a fair bit lower than the smoothed value of 158.5 which was observed as the cycle maximum for the current solar cycle [cycle #22] in July 1989). These same models also predicted the minimum of the current solar cycle to occur sometime between April and June of 1996 with a smoothed sunspot number of 6. These predictions are only based on observed historic solar cycle sunspot numbers and do not take into consideration actual physical processes which lead to solar cycle minimums and maximums. And they have been known to be frequently in error with regards to timing. For example, the rise of the current solar cycle was only 34 months. No other recorded solar cycle has had such a short rise-time to a solar maximum from a solar minimum. It may therefore only be a minor surprise if the current solar minimum is achieved earlier than anticipated. The recent observations imply that the predicted solar cycle maximum may actually occur sometime early in late 1998 or early 1999. The implications also suggest we may begin to see more frequent influential major solar events erupting from the Sun later in 1996 or 1997 with a full resumption of regular major solar events capable of possibly strongly affecting our various industries (hydro, GPS, HF radio and navigation, satellite health, upper-atmosphere characteristics, etc) possibly as early as 1998. Considering the importance and influence of solar activity on many global industries and space-based ventures, the accurate prediction of the nature and timing of the new solar cycle is of great importance. These recent observations add fuel to the fire that the new solar cycle may already be upon us, if not very near. [Info via WB9ANQ] * STS-69 ELEMENT SET * ====================== STS-69 1 99969U 95999A 95250.68212214 .00007146 00000-0 63502-4 0 12 2 99969 28.4665 43.6365 0004877 272.2897 87.7275 15.64891157 20 For information about the Shuttle Elements Mailing List, send the command "info elements" to "listserv@thomsoft.com" or read about the list with your web browser at [Info via Gary Morris, KK6YB] * OSCAR-13 NEWS * ================= QST de G3RUH 1995 Sep 02 [Sat]. A fine adjustment to OSCAR-13's attitude will take place on perigees 5531/2 and 5532/3, so between Sep 04 [Mon] 0242-0534 and 1409-1700 UTC, users may hear the Mode-B beacon "FM-ing" slightly. This is quite normal under these conditions. Final attitude will be ALON/ALAT 228/-1. QST de G3RUH 1995 Sep 02 [Sat]. OSCAR-13 experiences total solar eclipses by the Earth from 1995 Sep 02 [Sat] until 1995 Dec 18 [Mon]. The maximum duration is 131 minutes on Sep 10. The transponders will be OFF from MA 60-140 during this period. Since the squint angle is poor at this time, with the low-gain omni-directional antennas in use, users will not be seriously inconvenienced. The Mode-S beacon will be ON from MA 135-140 for command purposes. AO-13 re-entry Keplerian element sets are available via anonymous FTP at: ftp.amsat.org/amsat/satinfo/ao13/decaykep.zip This file was last updated on 02-Sep-95 [Sat]. The file includes a detailed explanation for these data. [Info via James R. Miller, G3RUH] * FEEDBACK/INPUT WELCOMED * =========================== Comments and input for SpaceNews should be directed to the editor (John, KD2BD) via any of the paths listed below: FAX : 1-908-747-7107 FTP : pilot.njin.net cd to /pub/SpaceNews WWW : http://www.njin.net:80/~magliaco/ 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