SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC1106 * SpaceNews 06-Nov-95 * BID: $SPC1106 ========= SpaceNews ========= MONDAY NOVEMBER 6, 1995 SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA. It is published every week and is made available for unlimited free distribution. * STS-74 NEWS * =============== NASA managers have set Nov. 11, 1995, as the official launch date for the STS-74 mission -- the second in a series of missions between the U.S. Space Shuttle and the Russian Space Station Mir. The primary purpose of the Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-74 mission is the installation of a docking module that will improve clearance between the Shuttle and Mir's solar arrays during subsequent dockings. Atlantis' crew also will return to Earth experiment samples, equipment for repair and analysis and products manufactured on the station. The Nov. 11 launch of Atlantis is planned for approximately 7:56 AM EST (1256 UTC) from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39-A. The actual launch time may vary by a few minutes based on calculations of Mir's precise location in space at the time of liftoff. The available launch period, or "window" to launch Atlantis, is approximately seven minutes each day. The STS-74 mission is scheduled to last approximately eight days. Docking with Mir will occur on the fourth day of the flight. An on-time launch and nominal mission duration would have Atlantis and her crew returning to Earth on Nov. 19 with a landing at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility, Florida, at approximately 1:28 p.m. EST (1828 UTC). The STS-74 mission will be the 15th mission for Atlantis and the 73rd for the Space Shuttle system. STS-74 data at a glance: VEHICLE: Atlantis/OV-104 LOCATION: Pad 39A TARGET LAUNCH DATE/TIME: Nov. 11 at about 7:56 AM EST (1256 UTC) LAUNCH WINDOW: 6 minutes, 57 seconds TARGET MIR DOCKING DATE: Nov. 14 TARGET KSC LANDING DATE/TIME: Nov. 19 at about 1 PM EST (1800 UTC) MISSION DURATION: 8 days, 5 hours, 4 minutes CREW SIZE: 5 (All licensed Amateur Radio Operators) ORBITAL ALTITUDE and INCLINATION: 196-245 statute miles/51.6 degrees [Info via NASA] * NEW INFO SERVER AVAILABLE * ============================= An anonymous FTP server has been made available by a French Scientific Center for the purpose of disseminating information of interest to those involved in Amateur Astronomy and Amateur Space activitites. The server provides the following information services: Kelso database (amateur, weather, synchro, manned spacecraft) Molczan database (1000 2Line orbital elements) NASA database (MIR and exotic satellites) AMSAT database (Shuttle vectors) SpaceNews (KD2BD) ANS (from amsat.org, in English and French language) Ephemerid (Solar planetary satellites (project)) Access at: Internet FTP anonymous (TCP/IP) Address: alphalma.cnrs-mrs.fr (192.134.96.21) Login: anonymous Password: your e-mail address or call, please. Directory name: astro (This is an experimental test European database). Sysop: fb1rci@lma.cnrs-mrs.fr [Info via FB1RCI] * MIR NEWS * ============ Mir status as of 30-Oct-95 The current Mir crew is busy getting used to their new environment. Packet activity on 2-meters was temporarily interrupted due to a problem with the audio feed into the PacCom TNC. This problem has been resolved and 2-Meter packet is now fully operational. Some fine tuning of the TNC's parameters are still taking place to optimize 1200 baud data throughput. The "USERS" counter has been set to 7. This means that 7 people can connect to Mir's keyboard at the same time. However if no one is at the keyboard on Mir, then all of the data sent goes into the bit bucket. It is recommended to stay OFF the keyboard ports unless someone from Mir is actually typing on the keyboard (Port call sign R0MIR). Excessive traffic on the keyboard port just causes interference to the user of the BBS (Port call sign R0MIR-1). Do not expect anyone to be at the keyboard after 21:00 UTC. This is one of the many parameters being adjusted. The status of the 440 FM packet/voice is beginning to look better. The new dual band transceiver (Kenwood TM733 European version) is now on Mir. Arrangements are being made to deliver the missing Amateur Radio related parts to Mir in the near future (coax cables, manuals, cavity filter, etc). The cavity filters are required to allow simultaneous operation on both 2-meters (Icom 228) and on 70-cm (Kenwood TM733). Sources indicate the externally mounted dual band antenna was installed 6 months ago. The Mir crew has two new Russian made 1200 baud TNCs. The TNCs are controlled by a Russian made Terminal Software program. Thomas has indicated that he has not be able to get the new TNCs to "initialize". There are people in Germany and Russia working on this problem. The Mir station is still running on 145.550 MHz simplex for voice and packet communications. There may be a frequency change in the future, but there is no confirmed date for the frequency change. During the weekend of 28-Nov-95, Sergi was active on voice and keyboard. Thomas was very active on voice working with key stations in the USA, fine tuning Amateur Radio related activities. Down link signal quality is very good, and the old noisy ventilation fan has been replaced (Do you remember the loud fan noises heard last summer everytime Mir used voice?). The Mir crew sleeps from approximately 21:00 UTC till approximately 05:00 UTC (5pm-1am EST). Most of the Mir passes over the USA are during the sleeping period of the crew. The Mir Space station will be visible in the evening sky for the next few weeks. Please update your tracking programs, and look for Mir passes 30 - 120 minutes after local sunset. Remember, only 1 station can connect to MIR's PMS (R0MIR-1) at a time, ALL others must wait. And please stay off the R0MIR keyboard port, unless it is active with communications from a Cosmonaut. [Info via G. Miles Mann, WF1F] * OSCAR NEWS * ============== Pacsat AO-16: normal BBS. Dove DO-17: Last week: Software, hardware and sound testing in progress DOVE Command Team (WD0E) This week: 10/29/95 Software load complete. S-band is on and should stay on. Accurate measurements of it's frequency (2401.220 MHz) appreciated to wd0e@amsat.org DOVE Command Team (WD0E) [telemetry dwell 30 secs] Weber WO-18: normal operations Lusat LO-19: normal BBS operations Itamsat IO-26: nothing heard on either D/L 03-Nov-95 [vk7zo] [Info via Graham, VK7ZO] * 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, 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