SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC0219 * SpaceNews 19-Feb-96 * BID: $SPC0219 ========= SpaceNews ========= MONDAY FEBRUARY 19, 1996 SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA. It is published every week and is made available for unlimited free distribution. * CHINESE LAUNCH FAILS * ======================== A Chinese "Long March 3B" rocket crashed during launch on 14-Feb-96 destroying an Intelsat VII A2 (TVRO) communications satellite, according to industry sources. The Long March rocket just barely cleared the tower before it started veering sideways, and then crashed to the earth. At that point the uplink was immediately cut. It is not clear whether the drop of the uplink was caused by interruption of power or the censor's finger on "the button". [Info via Gary Bourgois, WB8EOH] * W0CY - SILENT KEY * ===================== Another sad note. Jim McKim, W0CY, became a Silent Key 14-Feb-96. Jim was born in 1915 and first licensed in 1933. He had been involved in satellites since the launch of Sputnik I in 1957. A Life Member of AMSAT, with a Life Membership Number of 7, as well as a life member of ARRL and QCWA, Jim was known as "Mr. Ham Radio" all over central Kansas. W0CY was an ardent supporter of AMSAT. Among his activities for the organization was his stewardship of the of the Mid-America Section of the 75 Meter AMSAT Net since its inception in the 1970's. Jim McKim was also active in the Central States VHF Society and was an avid VHF'er. He was especially fond of the six meter band. His first love was CW and he was still able to copy it to the end. The heating and air conditioning business, which he headed, designed and installed the systems in the Eisenhower Library and Museum complex in Abilene, KS. Jim had also been an amateur radio equipment dealer in Salina, Kansas. His satellite activities were featured in the December 1986/January 1987 issue of Smithsonian Air & Space magazine in an article entitled: "Homebuilt Satellites." This article, by Nancy Shute, captures the essence of Jim's activity on satellites and the AMSAT 75 Meter Net. He was also featured in an article by Jim White WD0E in the May/June 1994 issue of the AMSAT Journal. W0CY's booming voice will be missed by all on the 75 Meter AMSAT Net and the bands above 50 MHz. [Info via the AMSAT News Service] * MIR NEWS * ============ Yuriy Gidzenko and Thomas Reiter carried out a 3 hour, 2 minute spacewalk on 08-Feb-96, starting around 1307 UTC from the Kvant-2 airlock. The walk was reportedly shorter than planned due to a pressurization problem in the suit of EO-20 mission commander Gidzenko. The Cosmonauts recovered some samples which had been exposed to space on the exterior of the Spektr module (the ESEF or European Space Exposure Facility) to study the effects of radiation, vacuum and debris impacts. Launch of the EO-21 crew, Yuriy Ivanovich Onufrienko and Yuriy Vladimirovich Usachyov (callsign Skif-1 and Skif-2) will take place on 21-Feb-96. [Info via Jonathan's Space Report #275] * STS-75 LAUNCH * ================= Just a reminder that space shuttle "Columbia" is scheduled for launch this week on 22-Feb-96. * RS-12 NEWS * ============== RS-12's recent switch to "Mode KT" allows its 2-meter downlink to be received and relayed through any satellite with an uplink passband within RS-12's VHF downlink passband. Such satellites include RS-10 operating in "Mode A", and FO-20, operating in "Mode JA". Careful planning can yield some interesting "dual-hop" contacts when these satellites are properly aligned in orbit. * THANKS! * =========== Thanks to all who sent messages of appreciation to SpaceNews, especially: KA3HPQ F6HLG KB9BNR * 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