SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC1111 * SpaceNews 11-Nov-96 * BID: $SPC1111 ========= SpaceNews ========= MONDAY NOVEMBER 11, 1996 SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA. It is published every week and is made available for non-commercial use. * MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR LAUNCHED * ================================= Mars Global Surveyor sailed into a cloudless sky atop a Delta II launch vehicle at 12:00:49.99 p.m. Eastern time (9 a.m. Pacific time) on 07-Nov-96 from launch pad 17A at Cape Canaveral Air Station, FL. The launch was delayed a day due to clouds and upper-level winds on the first day of the launch window on Wednesday, November 6. Automated Delta rocket operations went just as planned following launch. The three-stage Delta vehicle and its nine solid-fuel strap-on boosters lifted the spacecraft to an altitude of 115 kilometers (70 miles) above Earth. The second stage boosted the payload to a circular parking orbit 185 kilometers (115 miles) above Earth about 10 minutes after launch, where the spacecraft coasted for about 30 minutes before reaching its proper position over the eastern Indian Ocean. The Delta's third stage fired for about 90 seconds to spin up Mars Global Surveyor to 60 rpm and send the Mars craft on its way. The spacecraft's solar arrays were deployed at about 5:52 Universal Time (9:52 a.m. Pacific time). Telemetry indicated that one of the solar panels did not fully open, but the spacecraft team had the array fully unfolded within a day. Surveyor's radio signal was acquired on time, about 70 minutes after launch, at about 6:11 Universal Time (10:11 a.m. Pacific time), by the 34-meter (112-foot) antenna of NASA's Deep Space Network at Canberra, Australia. [Info via JPL] * MIR QSL CARD UPDATE * ======================= Dr. Dave Larsen, N6CO (ex N6JLH) who is acting as Mir QSL manager for the US and Canada, wishes to point out some of the common mistakes made by those requesting Mir QSL cards. First of all, hams frequently forget to tell Dave who they had a voice contact with on Mir. Please remember to indicate this information on your QSL cards. Hams without QSL cards are asked to send postcards from their home town rather than a letter. Sergje Samburov, RV3DR, really likes to receive postcards from the US. Dave will be sending the next batch of QSL cards with one of the Russian cosmonauts after the first of the year, so if you only sent a letter to Dave and no QSL card, please send a postcard and indicate "postcard for Sergje" on the back of the card. All cards sent to Dave are hung on the wall of the Club station in Moscow, and it is difficult to hang letters on the wall. Also, remember to send an SASE when requesting a QSL card. The envelope needs to be at least 4.25 inches by 9.5 inches in size. "Green stamps" sent by many hams are very much appreciated as they help to defer the cost for those who forget to send SASEs. At the present time, Dave is also handling QSLs for contacts made with John Blaha, KC5TZQ, who is currently on-board Mir. Questions regarding Mir contacts and QSLing maybe directed to Dr. Dave Larsen at: N6CO @ N0ARY.#NOCAL.CA.US.NOAM (packet) or doc@volcano.net (Internet). * NINE YEARS OF SpaceNews * =========================== SpaceNews had a very non-eventful start approximately nine years ago this month. What started out innocently enough as simply a collection of news items posted to a packet radio BBS in Neptune, New Jersey has grown to cover the entire globe plus the Russian space station Mir, and is now available in at least five different languages -- all the result of reader interest. Publishing a free electronic news journal every week for nine years is certainly a labor of love. It takes devotion, committment, and time that on many occasions must be "invented". My thanks go to all who continue to assist in the distribution of SpaceNews, and translate it into languages other than English, and those who send news items suitable for inclusion in SpaceNews. * FEEDBACK/INPUT WELCOMED * =========================== Comments and input for SpaceNews should be directed to the editor (John, KD2BD) via any of the paths listed below: WWW : http://www.njin.net/~magliaco/ PACKET : KD2BD @ KS4HR.NJ.USA.NA INTERNET : kd2bd@amsat.org, magliaco@email.njin.net SATELLITE : AMSAT-OSCAR-16, LUSAT-OSCAR-19 <<=- SpaceNews: The first amateur newsletter read in space! -=>> /EX