SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-131.01 Apology from G4DPZ AMSAT News Service Bulletin 131.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 11, 2003 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-131.01 I must apologies for the non-arrival of the 17th April edition of ANS. Those in AMSAT-UK already know that yours truly had an operation several weeks ago and the recovery has been a slow process. So my mind hasn't quite been on the ball and a few things have been let slip. Hopefully things are now on the mend! [ANS thanks Dave Johnson, G4DPZ, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-131.02 ARISS Contact Schedule AMSAT News Service Bulletin 131.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 11, 2003 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-131.02 ARISS contacts are off limits for the next several weeks due to the crew handover. (***) The latest ARISS announcement and successful school list is now available on the ARISS web site. Several ways to get there. Latest ARISS announcements and news http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt Successful school list http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf or http://ariss.gsfc.nasa.gov The GSFC website is having problems. Go directly to the RAC site. click on English (sorry I don't know French) you are now at http://www.rac.ca/ariss/ click on News [ANS thanks Charlie Sufana AJ9N, ARISS for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-131.03 HAM RADIO IN SPACE: TWO-MAN EXPEDITION 7 HAM RADIO CREW ARRIVES AT ISS AMSAT News Service Bulletin 131.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 11, 2003 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-131.03 A two ham Expedition 7 crew arrived at the International Space Station on April 28th to replace the crew currently on board. Two men... cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, RK3DUP and astronaut Ed Lu, KC5WKJ, have arrived.... the first team ever to get to the I S S aboard a Russian spacecraft. They replace 3 men... Commander Ken Bowersox, KD5JBP, Don Pettit, KD5MDT, and Nikolai Budarin, RV3FB. That team flew back to earth on the third of May. [ANS thanks Roy Neal, K6DUE Amateur Radio Newsline, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-131.04 AMSAT-DC Meeting and Space Seminar AMSAT News Service Bulletin 131.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 11, 2003 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-131.04 The recent, May 4, 2003, annual AMSAT-DC Meeting and Space Seminar was a great success. If you have never attended one of the meetings, you have really been missing a lot. There were eight talks, several very interesting Show 'n' Tells and time to network. Steve, KS1G, brought in his very portable AO-40 and LEO satellite station; Gil, N3RZN, demonstrated some innovative software for image display; Paul, W4RI, spoke on efforts to protect and retain our microwave bands; Art, N3OY, shared his work on a homebrew Nova controller for radios and rotators, Ed, N2EC, showed pictures of the CARAsat Field Day 2002 efforts; Rick, W2GPS, presented his upcoming Dayton talk on ECHO (AO-E); John, W3HMS, talked about his work on a portable 24 GHz AO-40 receiving system, and I gave a status report on efforts to use WAAS GPS signals for frequency stabilization. The meeting started at 1:00 P.M. and broke up around 7:00 P.M. More details at: http://patkilroy.com/amsat-dc [ANS thanks John, WA4WDL for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-131.05 Computer Glitch Eyed in Soyuz's Wild Ride Home AMSAT News Service Bulletin 131.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 11, 2003 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-131.05 STAR CITY, Russia (AP) -- A computer error is suspected of sending three spacemen on a wild ride home that was so steep and forceful their tongues rolled back in their mouths and they could hardly breathe. Then antenna problems blocked their ability to announce a safe arrival, albeit one that was far short of the targeted touchdown site. Even so, the two astronauts and one cosmonaut who returned to Earth Sunday from the international space station were in good spirits Tuesday as they talked about their adventure. American Donald Pettit, the sickest and weakest upon return, didn't mind having a few more hours alone with his crewmates after 161 days together in orbit. He had been warned about the "mob scene" and "hustle and bustle" awaiting him in Kazakhstan, what with all the recovery helicopters! "I was actually relieved to ooze out of the spacecraft and lay on Mother Earth and have a solitude moment in which to get reacquainted," Pettit said, reflecting on his historic yet harrowing ride. They had landed nearly 300 miles off-course. [ANS thanks www.space.com for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-131.06 Team America Rocketry Challenge AMSAT News Service Bulletin 131.06 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 11, 2003 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-131.06 In honor of the 2003 Centennial of Flight, AIA and the National Association of Rocketry (NAR) are sponsoring the first national model rocket competition for U.S. high school students. They are challenging teams to design, build, and fly a model rocket carrying two raw eggs to exactly 1500 feet. A grand prize pool of $59,000 in cash and savings bonds will be shared by the top five teams. In addition, the top ten teams will compete for three $2500 grants to design, build and launch an advanced rocket with NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. Each of the top 25 teams will be invited to send one of their teachers to an advanced NASA rocketry workshop. The top 100 teams will compete in the finals at Great Meadow, The Plains, Virginia on May 10, 2003. [ANS thanks Aerospace Industries Association for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-131.07 SUN MOVIE AMSAT News Service Bulletin 131.07 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 11, 2003 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-131.07 On May 7th German astronomers witnessed something remarkable: a spacecraft and a planet crossing the face of the Sun at the same time. The planet was Mercury. The spacecraft was the International Space Station. Visit spaceweather.com to view a movie of this unprecedented double solar transit. [ANS thanks www.spaceweather.com for the above information] /EX