SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC0315
* SpaceNews 15-Mar-99 *


BID: $SPC0315


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			       SpaceNews
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		 	 MONDAY MARCH 15, 1999


* NEW MIR HAM *
===============
AMSAT France is proud to inform the amateur community that Air Force
General Jean-Pierre HAIGNERE and ESA astronaut is the owner of a
personnal radio amateur callsign, FX0STB.

Jean-Pierre is operating the MIR VHF FM station on 145.985 MHz.

The QSL manager for FX0STB is:

Radio Club F5KAM
QSL manager MIR
22, rue Bansac
63000 CLERMONT FERRAND
France

[Info via Bernard, F6BVP, President AMSAT-France]


* SEDSAT NEWS *
===============
Dennis Wingo has been working with the SEDSAT numbers that Mr. John Simon
has been providing the SEDSAT team, and some interesting facts have come
to light.  The satellite is power positive right now with a max solar
array power, averaged over all faces of 24.7 watts.  This is over the
theoretical maximum.  How is this so?  Well, in looking at the power
numbers since launch it seems that when the satellite is in its
most favorable day/night geometry like now, there is a significant
contribution (2-5 watts) from the Earth's albedo.  This was not
predicted and is a welcome help to the power budget. 

The satellite has been active for over four months now!  The stated
minimum design life of SEDSAT that we wanted was six months.  It is just
too bad the problems with the receivers or we would have such a beautiful
bird.  However, the engineering telemetry from the satellite is verifying
our design choices way back in the beginning of the design.  The temperature
deltas are all less than five degrees C per orbit and only about 10C per
min/max sun cycle.  This is a wonderful thing in that wide temperature
variations are one of the primary reasons for on orbit failures of
satellite systems. 

Also, Dennis thinks that he has finally figured out that the -X and -Y
facets are reversed in the telemetry transmissions.  The currents, when
averaged over long periods, confirm closely to the measured flash data
that Ted Edge did for the SEDSAT team at the NASA MSFC SunSpot chamber.

Dennis feels that we can claim now at least partial victory for the
SEDSAT satellite.  Most of the engineering goals have been met.  It is
just a total shame that the imaging system has not been able to fulfill
its mission due to the probable loss of both receivers.  However, Chris
Bond and company have set up the UAH ground station finally and maybe
with the reset box controllers can figure out if either one of them
are functional at all.

[Info via Dennis Ray Wingo]


* SpaceNews NEWS *
==================
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* 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, KITSAT-OSCAR-25


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/EX