SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC0205 * SpaceNews 05-Feb-96 * BID: $SPC0205 ========= SpaceNews ========= MONDAY FEBRUARY 5, 1996 SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA. It is published every week and is made available for unlimited free distribution. * AMSAT-UK CALL FOR PAPERS * ============================ The 11th AMSAT-UK Colloquium will be held at Surrey University, Guildford, Surrey, U.K., from Thursday 25th to Sunday 28th July 1996. Current intentions are to devote the Thursday to international/IARU matters and to structure other subjects across the following three days. AMSAT-UK invite authors to submit papers, about amateur radio space and associated activities, for this event; we normally prefer authors to present the papers themselves rather than having someone else read them in the authors' absence. Abstracts of Papers for presentation should be submitted as soon as possible; the date for full submissions will be announced in a future bulletin. It is likely that the final date will be about one month prior to the event in order that the "Proceedings" document be available to participants. Submissions should be sent to: Chris Jackson, G7UPN via Internet at: G7UPN@amsat.org or direct on UO-22. AMSAT-UK also invite anyone with requests for Program Topics to submit them as soon as possible to G7UPN as above or to G3RWL or G6ZRU (both available @amsat.org and on digital satellites). Invitations for papers on specific subjects will be included in the future bulletin (about end-February). An address for postal mail, plus information about UoS Colloquium Web pages, will also be included in the future bulletin. NOTE: SEND ALL OTHER INQUIRIES ABOUT COLLOQUIUM '96 TO THE AMSAT-UK OFFICE: AMSAT-UK LONDON E12 5EQ [Info via G3RWL] * OSCAR STATUS REPORT * ======================= PACSAT AO-16: Normal BBS. DOVE DO-17: In MBL mode on 2 meters. MBL frames being sent at random intervals. WEBERSAT WO-18: Not monitored this week LUSAT LO-19: Not monitored this week ITAMSAT IO-26: Not monitored this week WX Sats APT 137 MHz only: NOAA 12, 14: ON Meteor 2/21: ON Meteor 3/5 : OFF [Info via Graham, VK7ZO] * OOPS! * ========= In last week's issue of SpaceNews, U.S. Astronaut Shannon W. Lucid was mistakenly referred to as a male. Sorry for the error, and my apologies to Shannon. * DOVE NEWS * ============= DOVE is in MBL (Microsat Boot Loader) mode while controllers sort out what's wrong with the satellite. The packets being seen in the 145.825 MHz downlink are short telemetry frames sent from 'DOVE' to 'MBLCTL', which is MBL Control. They are sent at more or less random intervals from a few seconds to several minutes. The primary purpose of this mode is to allow software to be loaded. This telemetry is in a binary format that may have been published several years ago but is of little interest because testing has shown it's not especially accurate and the Microsats are seldom in this mode for very long. As controllers continue the process of troubleshooting the satellite, other "strange" downlink packets will continue. [Info via Jim White, WD0E, of the DOVE Team] * GOES-9 NEWS * =============== GOES-9, one of a new generation of U.S. weather satellites, is now on the job over the Pacific Ocean. The satellite has been positioned in orbit 22,300 miles above the equator at 135 degrees west longitude, enabling its cameras to view the western United States, Hawaii, Alaska and much of the Pacific Ocean, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. GOES-9 was launched May 23 and was positioned over the Gulf of Mexico for testing. Starting in December, the satellite was slowly moved 3,130 miles westward to its present location. The new satellite teams with GOES-8 to give full weather-camera coverage of the United States and adjacent waters. Louis Uccellini, director of the NOAA office of meteorology, said the advanced instruments on GOES-9 will provide digital imagery of clouds, temperatures and moisture, all of which will improve short-term weather forecasts. Both GOES-8 and GOES-9 also measure solar activity and the Earth's magnetic field. Additionally, the satellites can aid in rescue services by relaying distress signals from people, ships and airplanes. GOES-8 was launched April 13, 1994, and is now positioned at 75 degrees west, overlooking the east coasts of North and South America and well into the Atlantic Ocean. GOES-7, which had been in service for eight years, is being replaced by GOES-9. The older satellite remains in orbit and will be maintained on a standby status. [Info via the Associated Press] * W6OLO SK * ============ Jim Woods, KC7FG reports of the passing of Nick Marshall, W6OLO. Nick died on 25-Jan-96 in his sleep at the age of 81. Nick had been an Amateur Radio operator since the 1930s, was one of the founders of Project OSCAR, and one of the principals behind the early OSCAR satellites. He was active with Lockheed Martin at their Palo Alto Research Laboratory as a staff scientist up until his death. He was a charter member of the LERA (Lockheed) Amateur Radio Club in 1957. Nick always looked to the future and welcomed great challenges. He actively promoted a repeater on the moon and a mission to Mars. He will be truly missed. [Info via Jim Woods, KC7FG] * 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/~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