SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-051.01
AO-51 Operations Group Formed

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 051.01
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
February 20, 2005
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-051.01

The Echo Command Team has setup an AO-51 Operations Group to help
monitor the satellite and develop the schedules of operation.  The
members were selected based on their interest and participation in
varied modes that Echo operates in, and their active membership in an
Amsat Organization.  This group receives all the e-mails that are sent
to the  “ao51-modes[at]amsat.org” e-mail address.  Current members of
the Group are:
KE4AZN, KO4MA, VE3NPC, and W0SL.

The “ao51-modes[at]amsat.org” e-mail address is the users opportunity to
request or suggest how AO-51’s schedule is setup.  It is best to get
your suggestions or requests in before work on the schedule begins.
Work on the next months schedule is started two (2) weeks before the end
of the previous month.


[ANS thanks Mike, KE4AZN for the above information]

/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-051.02
Info on India Hamsat

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 051.02
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
February 20, 2005
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-051.02

Look at the following link, of the Indiatimes for the news:

http://www.hindu.com/2005/02/02/stories/2005020200971300.htm

[ANS thanks William, PE1RAH for the above information]

/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-051.03
AMSAT Info

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 051.03
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
February 20, 2005
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-051.03

AMSAT-NA has a wonderful website (www.amsat.org) packed with
information.  You can also locate your local Coordinator and browse the
local calendar for your area.  Meet with them "face to face" and ask
questions on a one on one basis at a local hamfest or presentation and
get firsthand information.  For those that want a more personal approach
to learning about satellites in orbit today and future Hamsats, this is
a great way to start the Hamfest season.  Visit an AMSAT table or booth
at a local event.  Show your support by dropping by and purchasing the
latest "How to Manual," tracking software, renew or extend your
membership, or donate to our latest construction effort.  Express your
thoughts on AMSAT's future.  You are AMSAT!

[ANS thanks Dee, NB2F for the above reminder]

/EX
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-051.04
ISS Status - 18 Feb 2005

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 051.04
>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
February 18, 2005
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-051.04


The International Space Station crew began preparations this week for
the arrival of fresh supplies aboard a new Russian cargo ship planned to
launch at the end of the month.

Station Commander and NASA Science Officer Leroy Chiao and Flight
Engineer Salizhan Sharipov are in the fifth month of a six month stay in
orbit. The cargo craft now attached to the Station, ISS Progress 16,
will be undocked, reenter the atmosphere and burn up on Feb. 27. A new
supply craft, ISS Progress 17, is set to launch on Feb. 28 from
Baikonur, Kazakstan, and dock to the complex on March 2.

This week, several steps were taken to ensure all supplies are used from
aboard the current supply craft before it is jettisoned. On Tuesday,
Russian flight controllers used fuel from the attached Progress craft to
fire its engines for about seven and a half minutes, boosting the
Station's orbit by about two miles. Later in the week, additional
propellant was transferred from that craft into tanks aboard the Station.

Oxygen from tanks aboard the Progress is the primary method at present
for refreshing the Station cabin air. Several repressurizations of the
cabin using that oxygen are planned to deplete those tanks before the
craft is jettisoned. The Elektron system, a system that normally
generates oxygen for the cabin by recycling wastewater, has been
intentionally turned off.

On Friday, Sharipov removed equipment associated with the Kurs automatic
docking system from the Progress craft and stored it aboard the Station
for reuse. Next week the crew will spend several hours stowing unneeded
gear and trash aboard the cargo ship.

Other tasks completed by the crew this week included a semi-annual,
thorough inspection of the special exercise treadmill. Over the course
of several days, the crew partially disassembled the treadmill, which
includes a special vibration isolation system to prevent exercise from
disturbing sensitive experiments on the Station, to inspect its
components. All was found in good condition, except for the loss of one
small, non-essential battery used to operate a timer.

Mission Control powered up the Mobile Base System, a type of rail car
base for the Station's robotic arm that allows it to move up and down
the truss, to check its operation. Controllers found that they could not
receive video from a television camera mounted on a mast on the base
system, nor would the camera respond to pan and tilt commands. Engineers
are evaluating the problem and planning possible troublehsooting. The
camera is among several exterior Station cameras planned to be used next
week during a test of ground-commanded remote control of the robotic arm
from Mission Control. Chiao and Sharipov took time out from their
activities to speak with attendees at the European Space Agency
Conference on Space in Brussels, Belgium, this week.

For more on NASA, the crew's activities aboard the Space Station, future
launch dates and Station sighting opportunities from anywhere on the
Earth, visit:

www.nasa.gov

[ANS thanks Arthur, N1ORC for the above information]

/EX