SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC0330 * SpaceNews 30-Mar-98 * BID: $SPC0330 ========= SpaceNews ========= MONDAY MARCH 30, 1998 SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA. It is published every week and is made available for non-commercial use. * NEW SPUTNIK PLANNED * ======================= The spare Sputnik satellite that was delivered to Mir along with the Sputnik model that was deployed from Mir late last year is expected to undergo an upgrade and be deployed from Mir in the latter part of 1998. The upgrade will consist of replacing the battery and control boards, and install circuitry that will allow the satellite to make voice announcements in French, Russian, and English. [Info via Miles Mann, WF1F] * OSCAR-11 UPDATE * =================== After ground control operations that took place during the third week of March, the 145.826 MHz VHF-FM beacon is now transmitting normally. Strong signals have been received from UoSAT-OSCAR-11. Telemetry shows that the S-band beacon is ON. Telemetry also indicates that there is a reduction in the 14 volt line current of about 50 mA and a reduction in the +5 volt current of about 25 mA. The reason for these changes is not widely known. A new WOD survey of channels 1, 2, 3, 61 (magnetometers) dated 19-Mar-98 has been started. Anyone using this survey should note the unusual starting time of 16:00:05 UTC. [Info via Clive Wallis, G3CWV] * TECHSAT LAUNCH NEWS * ======================= Speaking on behalf of AMSAT, Shlomo Menuhin 4X1AS announced that at long last (barring any major difficulties) the Israeli Amateur Radio TECHSAT II produced at the Technion University in Haifa will be launched in late April or early May 1998. The satellite will sport a packet radio store and forward mailbox operating at 9600 baud. The satellite will be launched from Kazakhstan, and Shlomo will be on hand to represent AMSAT. [Info via Assi Friedman, 4X1KX/KK7KX] * STS-90 ORBITAL DATA * ======================= The nominal orbital data for STS-90 was posted on the AMSAT web page at: http://www.amsat.org/amsat/sarex/orbit.html STS-90 is scheduled for launch on 16-Apr-98 at 18:19 UTC. Based on this launch date and time, the following Keplerian elements were computed from a nominal NASA state vector: STS-90 1 99990U 98106.79323509 .00057478 13761-7 95196-4 0 12 2 99990 39.0116 358.0277 0021068 2.9536 200.1873 16.01509467 13 Satellite: STS-90 Catalog number: 99990 Epoch time: 98106.79323509 Element set: 1 Inclination: 39.0116 deg RA of node: 358.0277 deg Eccentricity: 0.0021068 Arg of perigee: 2.9536 deg Mean anomaly: 200.1873 deg Mean motion: 16.01509467 rev/day Decay rate: 5.74780e-04 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 1 Checksum: 302 [Info via Ken Ernandes, N2WWD] * MIREX FILTER PROJECT ARRIVES ON MIR * ======================================= The Progress 38 cargo rocket that arrived at Mir in mid-March delivered the new MIREX-DCI antenna filter to the Russian Mir space station. The filter will be used to prevent interference from a commercial VHF-FM transmitter on-board Mir from affecting the sensitivity and performance of the 2-meter packet radio station on-board Mir. The MIREX-DCI filer is a custom designed antenna cavity filter that will block the offending signal with a combination of passband and notch filters. The filter system is tentatively planned for installation in the April/May time frame. The MIREX team would like to thank all of the supporters of the filter project, including DCI Digital Communications, Inc, SAFEX, and the SAREX Working Group. [Info via Miles Mann, WF1F -- MIREX Director of Educational Resources] * 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, KITSAT-OSCAR-25 <<=- SpaceNews: The first amateur newsletter read in space! -=>> <<=- Serving the planet for 10 years -=>> /EX