SB SAREX @ AMSAT $STS-70.009
SAREX Update & Keps 7/18

Silver Spring, MD
July 18, 1995 at 05:00 UTC

The Space Shuttle Discovery crew reports that, to date, nearly 500 terrestrial
based packet stations have worked the Shuttle and the crew have confirmed
over 60 voice QSOs.  The SAREX team had a very busy day today with successful
school group contacts at the Gulf Middle School in New Port Richey, Florida,
the Milford HS in Highland, Michigan and the Schenectady Museum in Schenectady,
New York.

The successful school group contacts clears another planned school group
backup contact for possible general voice or packet QSOs.  While the SAREX 
team cannot guarantee that the SAREX station on the space shuttle will active, 
there is a strong possibility that KC5FVF, KC5OZX or the packet station 
W5RRR-1 will be on the air on Tuesday July 18 at 12:49 UTC.  Please listen 
to the 145.55 MHz downlink before transmismitting to the Shuttle.

The following is the latest orbital elements as provided by Gil Carman, WA5NOM
of the Johnson Space Center.

STS-70
1 23612U 95035A   95198.57687142  .00028696  00000-0  83889-4 0    80
2 23612  28.4632 297.1097 0021964 184.3973 175.6495 15.90940114   655

Satellite: STS-70
Catalog number: 23612
Epoch time:      95198.57687142   =    (17-Jul-95   13:50:41.69 UTC)
Element set:     008
Inclination:       28.4632 deg
RA of node:       297.1097 deg            Space Shuttle Flight STS-70
Eccentricity:     .0021964               Keplerian element set JSC-008
Arg of perigee:   184.3973 deg           from NASA flight Day  5 vector
Mean anomaly:     175.6495 deg
Mean motion:   15.90940114 rev/day                Gil Carman
Decay rate:     2.8696e-04 rev/day^2       NASA Johnson Space Center
Epoch rev:              65
Checksum:              339

Submitted by Frank H. Bauer, KA3HDO for the SAREX Working Group

/EX