SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-202.01 ESA/CNES PRESS RELEASE HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 202.01 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 20, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-202.01 Nr 25-96 - Paris, 27 June 1996 Ariane-5 and Cluster update At its meeting on 25 and 26 June 1996, the ESA Council was informed in detail of the measures taken after the Ariane 501 failure and of the proposed approach to revive the scientific objectives of the Cluster mission. Council noted that following the Ariane 501 flight failure on 4 June, the ESA Director General, Jean-Marie Luton, and the CNES Chairman, Alain Bensoussan, set up an Esquire Board to determine the causes, investigate whether the qualification and acceptance tests were appropriate and recommend corrective action to eliminate the causes of the anomaly and other possible weaknesses in the system(s) found to be at fault. At the same time, they decided to strengthen the investigative powers of the Launcher Qualification Review, in particular by setting up specialized audits (see ESA/CNES joint press releases N s. 21 and 22 of 10 and 14 June). The Esquire Board started work on 13 June and will report by mid-July. The Launch Qualification Committee resumed its activities on 14 June. The ESA Director General and the CNES Chairman will have to rule on the Esquire Board's recommendations and the Launch Qualification Committee's requirements. The ESA Executive will then be able to determine - with CNES - the technical and programmatic implications for the Ariane-5 development program. The Esquire Board's findings and recommendations and their implications will be made known to the press soon afterwards. The Ariane Launcher Program Board (the ESA delegate body that supervises the program) will meet on 12 August, when the ESA Executive will present the programmatic implications. On the payload side, the Cluster Science Working Team (SWT) met on 17 and 18 June to assess the situation after the loss of the Cluster mission and to explore ways in which its scientific objectives could be revived. The SWT proposed the following approach: a. integration of the Cluster structural model with flight spare subsystems (the Phoenix project) together with a rebuild of three spacecraft identical to the originals. This scenario offers alternative options: 1. integration and testing of the Cluster spare (Phoenix), storage and launch at a later date together with the three rebuilt satellites, and a2. integration and preflight of Phoenix as soon as possible and production and launch of the three rebuilt satellites at a later date. The SWT stressed that the case for an early launch of Phoenix was largely dependent on whether the follow-on program was also approved. A further option would call for: 2. use of the Cluster spare (Phoenix) as outlined above, augmented by three new "mini" satellites funded and produced by ESA Member States that would carry subsets of the Cluster instrumentation. This mission would thus fly one main spacecraft and three "companion" spacecraft, as described in an early proposal for Cluster. On 21 June the Space Science Advisory Committee (SSAC, the highest scientists' advisory body reporting to both the ESA Director General and the Science Program Committee) discussed the Cluster situation and recommended that as an initial step the Cluster spare model be made ready for flight, aiming for a launch in spring or summer 1997, and then that the various options for recovery of the Cluster science be evaluated by the full science advisory structure of the Science Program in the immediate future. Also on 21 June the Science Program Committee (SPC, ESA's delegate body that defines the scientific policy of the Agency) met to discuss the recovery options and in particular the feasibility of proceeding with preparation of the Cluster spare model as recommended by the SSAC. It also discussed the potential consequences for the Horizon 2000 program. The final decision on whether to proceed with the Phoenix project is expected at the next SPC meeting, scheduled for 2-3 July in London. Iterations on how best to achieve the scientific aims of the Cluster mission will continue during the summer for further discussion in the forthcoming months. A final decision on the full mission recovery plan is expected to be taken by the SPC meeting on 6-7 November. [ANS thanks Peter Guelzow DB2OS for this bulletin.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-202.02 ESA PUBLIC PRESS RELEASE NR 29-96 - ARIANE 501 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 202.02 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 20, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-202.02 ESA PUBLIC PRESS RELEASE NR 29-96 - ARIANE 501 JOINT ESA-CNES PRESS RELEASE N 29-96 - Paris, 12 July 1996 Ariane 501 PRESENTATION OF INQUIRY BOARD FINDINGS Professor Jacques-Louis Lions and Dr. Lennart Lubeck, the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Ariane 501 Inquiry Board, accompanied by Mr. Jean-Marie Luton, the Director General of ESA, and Alain Bensoussan, the Chairman of CNES, will present the findings of the Inquiry Board set up after the Ariane 501 launch failure (see ESA/CNES press releases of 6 and 10 June) at a press conference at ESA Headquarters on Monday 22 July at 1500 hours. The press conference will also be transmitted live to certain ESA and CNES establishments and offices. ANS also notes that Karl Meinzer DJ4ZC Phase 3D Project Leader, Keith Baker KB1SF AMSAT-NA Executive Vice President and Dick Jansson WD4FAB AMSAT-NA Vice President for Engineering will be meeting with ESA and ArianeSpace people in Paris beginning on the day immediately following the 23 July ESA's announcement of the Ariane 501 inquiry board findings. It is hoped that, following these meetings, more light can be "officially" shed on the implications for the launch of Phase 3-D. [ANS thanks Keith Baker KB1SF for this update.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-202.03 JAS-2 LAUNCH PREPARATIONS UNDERWAY HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 202.03 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 20, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-202.03 The Japanese amateur satellite JAS-2 was taken July 18th to Tanegashima Island, the NASDA launch site, in preparation for a launch on August 17th. The spacecraft has been inspected and its power supply system checked out. The telecommand system has been tested and tests performed on the solar cells. Stay tuned to ANS for further JAS-2 information. [ANS thanks Kazu Sakamto, JJ1WTK for this information.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-202.04 STS-79 NEWS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 202.04 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 20, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-202.04 On July 12, mission managers decided to de-stack the shuttle from its current set of solid rocket boosters and re-stack it to another set. Atlantis' boosters are being replaced as a result of an investigation that showed hot gas seepage into the field joints of the shuttle Columbia boosters during mission STS-78, which was launched on June 20. This decision will delay Atlantis' launch until mid-September. When it does go. STS-79 will be the fourth in the joint American-Russian space shuttle missions and will again include Amateur Radio. Additional the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) may be obtained electronically from many of the popular on-line electronic services (look for SAREXFAQ.TXT). ANS will carry additional information on the STS-79 mission as the launch date approaches. [ANS thanks Jennifer Hagy, Media Relations Assistant at the American Radio Relay League for this information. She can be reached at (860) 594-0328 (860) 594-0200] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-202.05 NEW ARTICLE AVAILABLE ON MAGNETIC BEARING MOMENTUM WHEELS HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 202.05 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 20, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-202.05 NEW ARTICLE AVAILABLE ON THE WEB ON AN OVERVIEW OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF MAGNETIC BEARING MOMENTUM WHEELS As all should know, the Phase 3D amateur satellite presently under construction will be 3-axis stabilized using three magnetically suspended momentum wheels. Information on this system is now available under the URL http://www.amsat.org/amsat/sats/phase3d/wheels/index.html Ralf Zimmermann, DL1FDT hopes all will enjoy reading about this innovative system of attitude control. ANS thanks Ralph Zimmermann, DL1FDT for this information. He can be reached at: dl1fdt@amsat.org [Ralf's Web site is http:www//home.pages.de/~dl1fdt/. Software is available there.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-202.06 MIR SAFEX EQUIPMENT OPERATING HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 202.06 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 20, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-202.06 According to reports, the SAFEX II equipment onboard MIR's PRIRODA module has been powered on since July 12. Currently it is operating in the "QSO Mode" connected to the digital speech recorder. Ont can listen to a short message recorded from the cosmonauts on 437.925 MHz. Note: At present it is only possible to LISTEN to the repeater's automated message. The other modes are expected to be tested in the next weeks. Reports are sought concerning SAFEX signals. It is asked that such reports be sent to DL3LUM. ANS is indebted to Joerg, DL3LUM and Thomas, DL2MDE for this information. DL3LUM, a member of HAM Radio Group at DLR Oberpfaffenhofen, club station DF0VR, SAFEX team, OV C-23 (Ammersee), can be reached by the following means: Via Packet: DL3LUM@DB0AAB.#BAY.DEU.EU Via E-mail: joerg.hahn@dlr.de Via Telephone from the U.S.: 011 49-8153-28-2335 (QRL) 011-49-8105-386936 (home) Via FAX: 011-49-8153-28-1135 /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-202.07 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC ON THE SATELLITES HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 202.07 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 20, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-202.07 S. Badessi wishes to announce that he is planning to operate on the satellites from Dominican Republic during the next 4 weeks. Authorities have granted him reciprocity to his Italian license, so the assigned callsign is I0WTD/HI8. He will operate from Sata Domingo city, an estimated locator of FK58bl (not sure about the last two letters). Custom papers have been prepared in advance, so hopefully there will be no major problems entering the equipment's. As the primary mission is relaxing holidays, he will not be at the radio all time long. The following schedule (all GMT) has been identified when he can be expected to be available on AO-13 if everything goes as expected: August 1 00:00-08:40 22:00-(07:36) August 2 20:51-(06:09) August 7 03:44-08:20 _ 14:26-14:44 August 8 02:30-08:24 13:08-13:32 August 13 00:00-06:00 21:50-(04:20) August 14 23:13-(02:25) Operation is also planed the same days on RS-12, on AO-10 (FMing permitting) and maybe on RS-10 and RS-15. Low power (about 30W from the transmitter will be used, so CW will be the principal mode. at downlink of 145.885 (phone on request) when conditions permit. QSLs should go direct or via bureau using Dutch callbook address PA3FWP. I)WTD expresses the hope of meeting as many as possible on the birds. [ANS thanks Stefano (PA3FWP/I0WTD/AE4GY) for this bit of DX information.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-202.08 1996 AMSAT ANNUAL MEETING HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 202.08 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 20, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-202.08 1996 AMSAT ANNUAL MEETING and Space Symposium November 8 - 10, 1996 Tucson, Arizona Conference Hotel: Holiday Inn -City Center 1-800-HI-TUCSON (448-8276) Forums: P3D satellite developments and ground station ideas. Progress reports on many new satellite projects such as JAS-2, SEDSAT, UNAMSAT-B, ASUSAT, etc. New amateur radio developments in satellite operations & related fields Beginners Forums: A special series of presentations for the satellite newcomer covering all aspects of amateur satellites including terminology, tracking, along with analog and packet satellite operations. Displays: Displays of the latest amateur radio satellite's under development and new developments in ground station hardware and software. Demonstration Stations: Analog and packet satellite demonstration stations operating all of the amateur radio satellites. A special opportunity for the newcomer to see how easy it is to become "satellite active". AMSAT Annual Banquet ( Saturday Night): Excellent food, Special Speaker, Awards Presentation and Prize Drawings Kitt Peak Radio Telescope Tour: Special tour of the 12M millimeter wave radio telescope (60 - 350 ghz) and the 25M Very Long Baseling Array radio telescope along with selected optical telescopes on top of 6875' high Kitt Peak. Tucson: Excellent weather in early November with typical temperatures ranging from ~ 50 degrees F at night to ~ 75 - 78 degrees F during the day. Fun activities for the whole family: Desert Museum, Colossal Cave, Biosphere II, Pima Air and Space Museum, Titan Missile Museum, in addition to excellent golf and shopping. For more information contact: Larry Brown, NW7N nw7n@amsat.org or (520) 886 - 1957 (Evenings) or Heather Johnson, N7DZU n7dzu@azstarnet.com or (520) 749-5106 also look for the announcement on the opening of our new AMSAT Annual Meeting Web page. AMSAT membership is not required to attend, so satellite new-comers are encouraged to come and learn about AMSAT and satellite operations. Registration forms will be sent to all AMSAT-NA members and can be down loaded from our new web page ( when it becomes operational ). It is pointed out that Kitt Peak is at an elevation of 7000 feet and the temperatures will probably be about 15 to 20 degrees F cooler than in Tucson. [ANS thanks Larry Brown, NW7N, for this news item.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-202.09 OSCAR-11 REPORT 17-JULY-1996 HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 202.09 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 20, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-202.09 Last week was a good one for OSCAR-11, heard most days until Saturday. Bulletin No 074, about Amsat Colloquium and UNAMSAT launch. WOD dated 6-7-96, magnetometer channels 1, 2, 3, 61. Heard again Tuesday afternoon, bulletin No. 074, about OSCAR-13 schedule , and what's after P3D? Same WOD. Telemetry nominal, internal temperatures now showing a small increase, as the solar eclipses are reducing in duration. Date TCA (UTC) July 7 05:52 OK July 8 06:22 OK July 10 05:46 OK July 11 06:17 OK July 12 06:47 OK July 13 05:41 OK July 14 06:11 Not heard July 15 06:41 Not heard July 16 05:35 Not heard 16:34 OK July 17 06:06 OK Location Hitchin (near London). MODE-S BEACON Someone recently asked about the MODE-S beacon. The OSCAR-11 mode S beacon is switched ON, but around January 10th its current and power suddenly halved in value. ANS not heard of anybody receiving it since that date. It is suspected it may have had a partial failure. Alan G2HIO (who has received it in the past) was asked to listen for it. At this time Alan could not hear the bird. If any one does manage to hear this beacon, please let the ANS know about it! (bjarts@uslink.net). [ANS thanks Clive, G3CWV, for this bulletin.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-202.10 FD 96 REMINDER HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 202.10 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 20, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-202.10 Field Day participants are advised that the deadline for sending in FD '96 entry sheets is August 1st. Please use the form as found in the Amsat Journal, and MAIL it USPS. Yes, you can send WA5ZIB a copy via E-mail (wa5zib@amsat.org), but it could get lost in the mass quantity of E-mail that he receives. FD pictures, are welcome too. Send them along for possible inclusion in the article being prepared for the Journal. [ANS thanks Andy MacAllister, WA5ZIB, for this reminder.] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-202.11 WEEKLY SATELLITE REPORT HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 202.11 FROM AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD, JULY 20, 1996 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT BID: $ANS-202.11 MIR The SAFEX II equipment onboard MIR's PRIRODA module has been powered on since today morning. Currently it operates in the QSO mode connected to the digital speech recorder. You can listen to a short message recorded from the cosmonauts on 437.925 MHz. Note, you can only LISTEN to the repeater / automated message. The other modes have firstly to be tested in the next weeks. We are very interested on reports concerning SAFEX signals. Please send your comments to DL3LUM (joerg.hahn@dlr.de). The message can be received with a simple 70 cm handy (as performed by DL3LUM today. We plan to work in this mode until late Monday. RS-12: Operating normally. RS-10: Operating normally. KO-23: Returned to service, without loss of messages, on 19 July, 1996. KO-25: Operating normally. AO-27: Operating normally. AO-10: Operating normally. OSCAR-11 Is now transmitting. Telemetry nominal. WOD dated 26 June chans 1,2,3,61 magnetometers. New bulletin (No 71) dated 22nd June, about Ariane 5, and IO-26. AO-13: .Oscar-13 experiences total solar eclipses by the Earth from 1996 Jul 08 [Mon.] until 1996 Jul 27 [Sat]. The maximum duration is 2 hours 2 mins on Jul 19. The transponders are OFF from MA 20-120 during this period. Since the squint angle is poor at this time, with the lo-gain omni-directional antennas in use, users will not be seriously inconvenienced. *** AO-13 TRANSPONDER SCHEDULE *** 1996 Jun27 - Sep 02 Mode-B : MA 0 to MA 140 | Mode-BS : MA 140 to MA 240 | Mode-B : MA 240 to MA 256 | Alon/Alat "220/0" Omnis : MA 250 to MA 140 | Move to attitude 180/0, Sep 02-??? Please note that the higher powered engineering beacon 145.985 MHz is currently ON for two periods: MA 0-40 and MA 160-170. Eventually, this will be turned on full time for the duration of AO-13's functional existence. The drag effects at perigee are causing the ALAT to rise slightly each orbit. The initial orientation for this period will more accurately be ALON/ALAT 220/-10 with ALAT progressively rising during this time period. At the end of this two month session, perigee height will be 170 km and re-entry (drag) effects will be even more noticeable. For a limited time after Sep 02, it MAY BE POSSIBLE to move AO-13 back to the 180/0 orientation. However, maintaining this orientation will become increasingly difficult. If this move takes place, the following schedule will be placed in effect. By October but perhaps earlier, it will become necessary to move AO-13 to ALON/ALAT 90/0 to provide limited protection of the omni antenna from perigee heating and to reduce the drag associated deflection of the ALAT. >From this point until the demise of the electronics AO-13 will be Mode-B only, full-time omni antenna, much as with AO-10. The next few months will be an interesting time, and the command team welcomes suggestions to make use of this unique opportunity to observe an amateur spacecraft as it approaches re-entry. Full details of re-entry, around 1996 Dec 05-19, can be found in: Up-to-date information about AO-13 operations is available on the AO-13 general (GB) and engineering (EB) beacons. The GB (145.812 MHz), when active, transmits bulletins and telemetry at 400 bps PSK, alternating with CW at 0 & 30 minutes past the hour, and RTTY at 15 & 45 minutes past the hour. The EB (145.985 MHz), when active, transmits exclusively at 400 bps PSK. The current EB schedule is listed above. It may also be intermittently activated by command stations at other times to facilitate command functions. Eventually, the EB will be activated full time for the remainder of AO-13's functional life. These bulletins are also posted to Internet, ANS, Packet, PacSats etc., and many international newsletters. Internet users wanting the latest AO-13 information should always check: ftp://ftp.amsat.org/amsat/satinfo/ao13/ http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ Telemetry is archived at: ftp://ftp.amsat.org/amsat/satinfo/ao13/telemetry/ The active command stations are listed below, and constructive feedback about operations is always welcome. Peter DB2OS Graham VK5AGR Ian ZL1AOX James G3RUH Stacey WB4QKT They may be reached via Internet (callsign@amsat.org) and KO-23. Please remember to state a return address clearly. WEBERSAT-OSCAR-18: (WO-18) has experienced many software crashes recently. Efforts are underway by the command team to identify the cause, and make the appropriate corrections. Controllers all hope that WO-18 will be operational again very soon sending telemetry, photos, weekly whole orbit data (WOD), and light spectra of the Sun or Earth. ITAMSAT-OSCAR-26 returned to the air on 01-Jun-96. The satellite was copied on Friday 07-Jun-96 at KD2BD in New Jersey transmitting telemetry, WOD, LSTAT, BCRXMT, TIME, and STATUS frames. In addition, the satellite was sending the following text message: IY2SAT-1>AMSAT : ** 5th June 1996 ** IHT 3.1 is running. Digipeater is ON. WOD is underway. 73 de ITAMSAT Command team. The satellite was using its 435.820 MHz downlink transmitter, and digipeating was possible via ITMSAT-1 using any one of its four uplink frequencies (145.875 MHz, 145.900 MHz, 145.925 MHz, or 145.950 MHz). [Please send your Satellite reports to bjarts@uslink.net or to wt0n@amsat.org] /EX