SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC0811 * SpaceNews 11-Aug-97 * BID: $SPC0811 ========= SpaceNews ========= MONDAY AUGUST 11, 1997 SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA. It is published every week and is made available for non-commercial use. * MIR NEWS * ============ The following messages were downloaded by Claudio Ariotti, IK1SLD, in Italy from Mike Foale, KB5UAC onboard the Mir space station: Stat : PR Posted : 08/02/97 22:57 To : ALL From : R0MIR @ BBS : BID : Subject: Mir status TNC lost pwr again. We are getting ready for Anatoli and Pasha to dock with us on 7th August. Vassily and Sasha leave on their Soyuz on 14th August. Mike remains during the first of 2 eva's to do repairs after the collision. on shuttle, sts-86, in the middle of October. Greenhouse space plants, 2 of them, are showing cotyledons, and the earth seeds are doing even better. Mike. kb5uac. ==== Stat : PR Posted : 08/08/97 12:04 To : ALL From : R0MIR @ BBS : BID : Subject: Mir Status Mir 24 with the crew of Rodnik successfully docked, and we are enjoying the company of Anatoli Solovev and Pavel Vinogradov. Anatoli and Pasha are settling in and we have already moved my seat and spacesuit over to their Soyuz have a big bag of baggage in the seat where my suit lay, in their Soyuz. We are conducting handover activites now, and then will prepare for EVA in the node on the 20th, and outside on Spektr, to do initial repairs, on the 3r be with Anatoli for the node eva, and I will be with Anatoli, for the Spektr EVA. Lots to do Here, so forgive us if we cannot reply to you and all your very welcome good wishes. I try to monitor each day, and pass on your mecrew members. I think Pasha and Anatoli will be active on the radio, once they are settled in. Mike. The following Keplerian data for Mir was provided by Ron Parise, WA4SIR, at the Goddard Space Flight Center: Mir 1 16609U 86017A 97221.29728613 0.00003652 00000-0 51235-4 0 5120 2 16609 51.6534 179.0470 0004810 5.5587 354.5438 15.59640980655318 Satellite: Mir Catalog number: 16609 Epoch time: 97221.29728613 (09 AUG 97 07:08:05.52 UTC) Element set: NORAD-512 Inclination: 51.6534 deg RA of node: 179.0470 deg Mir Space Station Eccentricity: 0.0004810 Orbital Elements Arg of perigee: 5.5587 deg Mean anomaly: 354.5438 deg Mean motion: 15.59640980 rev/day Semi-major Axis: 6766.8275 Km Decay rate: 0.37E-04 rev/day*2 Apogee Alt: 391.69 Km Epoch rev: 65531 Perigee Alt: 385.18 Km * HOUSTON AMSAT NET NEWS * ========================== The Houston AMSAT Net is reaching another milestone in its history. In the next few weeks, Internet users will be able to hear the Houston AMSAT Net live on the World Wide Web using Real Audio. Scott at North American Internet, who had been digitizing the Houston net from commercial satellite, will no longer be able to do it. Last week Bruce Paige, KK5DO, digitized the net to Real Audio, and found it worked just fine. Scott will have a live stream available for the Houston people at the beginning of September. What this means to you, is that you can now hear the Houston AMSAT Net live as it is happening anywhere in the world via Real Audio. You can participate in the Net by calling in, checking in, or asking a question which will be answered live, or you can check in via email or use the IRC where a group from the net chat while the net is in progress. Houston AMSAT Net audio via the Real Audio can be fed into repeater systems allowing repeater users to hear net audio on their transceivers. The other important feature of the use of the digitized Real Audio feed is that if a particularly interesting event should develop during the week when the net is not in progress, the Real Audio feed can be updated by appending to the end of the net. What Bruce plans on doing is making a note on his web page (http://www.phoenix.net/~paigecom) that particular minutes (51:01.3 to 53:03.4, for example) were added on August 9 to the digitized audio file. The Houston group also plans to carry their net over the 50 minutes allocated on the satellite feed (Tuesday, 8PM CDT on SBS 6, T13B, 6.2 MHz at 74 degrees). This means if there is an especially heavy news week, they can continue the net locally and continue the feed over the Internet. The satellite transponder time used to relay the Houston AMSAT Net is generously donated by the W0KIE Network, and space for the Real Audio feed is donated by North American Internet. [Info via Bruce Paige, KK5DO] * MARS PATHFINDER NEWS * ======================== NASA's Mars Pathfinder spacecraft has successfully concluded its primary science mission and fulfilled all of its objectives by returning a wealth of new information about the planet Mars. The robotic lander, which continues to explore an ancient outflow channel in Mars' northern hemisphere, completed its milestone 30-day mission on 03-Aug-97, and has captured far more data on the atmosphere, weather and geology of Mars than scientists expected. In all, Pathfinder returned 1.2 gigabits of data and 9,669 images of the Martian landscape. The rover's performance easily surpassed its designers' minimum expectations. Engineers designed the roving vehicle's electronics, battery power and hazard avoidance features to see it through at least a week of safe roving, not knowing beforehand what conditions it might encounter on Mars. After 30 days, the rover is still healthy and has clocked 52 meters (171 feet) distance, circumnavigated the lander and taken 384 spectacular views of rocks and the lander. Atmospheric-surface interactions, measured by a meteorology package onboard the lander, are confirming some conditions observed by the Viking landers 21 years ago, while raising questions about other aspects of the planet's global system of transporting volatiles such as water vapor, clouds and dust, said Science Team Leader Dr. Timothy Schofield. The meteorology mast on the lander has observed a rapid drop-off in temperatures just a few feet above the surface, and one detailed 24-hour measurement set revealed temperature fluctuations of 30-40 degrees Fahrenheit in a matter of minutes. Pathfinder landed within 20 kilometers (13 miles) of the targeted landing site on 04-Jul-97. The landing site coordinates in Ares Vallis were later identified as 19.33 degrees north latitude, 33.55 degrees west longitude. Pathfinder's performance in the Martian atmosphere will be of great value to Mars Global Surveyor, which will aerobrake through the Martian atmosphere to circularize its orbit when it reaches Mars on 11-Sep-97. The Pathfinder navigation team, led by Peter Kallemyn of JPL, estimated horizontal wind velocities in the upper atmosphere, which accelerated the spacecraft's descent velocity by about 13 meters per second (20 to 25 miles per hour). After being suspended from a 20-meter (65-foot) bridle and firing its retro rockets, a 5.8-meter (19-foot) diameter cluster of airbags softened Pathfinder's landing, marking the first time this airbag technique has been used. The spacecraft hit the ground at a speed of about 18 meters per second (40 miles per hour) and bounced about 16 times across the landscape before coming to a halt. The airbag seems to have performed perfectly and sustained little or no damage. To top it off, the spacecraft even landed on its base petal, consequently allowing its thumb-sized antenna to communicate the successful landing to a jubilant team on Earth only three minutes after touch down. Science data from the surface of Mars will continue to be collected and transmitted to Earth, then analyzed by scientists, as Pathfinder enters its extended mission. The lander was placed in a two-day hibernation period to recharge its battery after the conclusion of the primary mission, and the flight team will begin to power the lander battery off each Martian night now to conserve energy. The rover's batteries remain in good condition, but are not rechargeable. [Info via the Mars Pathfinder Web Page] * THANKS! * =========== Thanks to all those who sent messages of appreciation to SpaceNews, especially: Claudio Ariotti, IK1SLD Rick Walter, WB3CSY * 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