FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE

Number 93-02       August 29, 1993

Phase 3-D Engineering Model Construction Update

     Dick Jansson (WD4FAB), AMSAT-NA Vice President for 
Engineering, reports that teams from AMSAT-DL and AMSAT-NA 
are well along in their efforts to construct an Engineering Model of 
the Phase 3-D spaceframe in Germany.  During the past two months, 
AMSAT-DL President Dr. Karl Meinzer (DJ4ZC) along with Werner 
Haas (DJ5KQ), Konrad Mueller (DG7FDQ), Wilfried Gladish and 
workers Diana Cronau, Birget Rheil and Anuschka Geis joined 
forces with Dick and a team of Weber State University (WSU) 
students to tackle the project at the University of Marburg.  The 
WSU team was led by Ralph Butler and Jaim Parsons.  They and 
their students had also been constructing tooling templates as well as 
machining various structural parts for the proposed Model.  Dick 
indicates that while some structural parts still remain to be completed 
on the Model, all the essential structural elements are now in place.

     "It was a tremendous effort," Dick noted upon his return to the 
United States last Monday (August 23rd).  He went on to say that, 
"We've now confirmed that our structural designs can be successfully 
manufactured into a lightweight flight spaceframe."

     During the Marburg effort, the team also took delivery of flight 
hardware for the Phase 3-D electronic module cases.  These cases are 
constructed in kit form and contain fully interchangeable parts that 
will allow assembly of any one of five different versions of the 
design.  The cases will ultimately house the vital electronic 
components of the Phase 3-D satellite.  All of the module case work 
was done by WSU students.

     In the course of the Model's construction, Dick reports the team 
racked up some rather impressive statistics.  Together, they drilled 
over 9,900 holes and performed over 19,000 deburring (finishing) 
operations on the structure.  The Equipment Panels, alone, had over 
3,200 holes drilled in them. The high point of the project came when 
the internal Heat Pipes (a part of the Phase 3-D thermal balancing 
structure) were successfully mated with the surfaces of the interior 
Equipment Panels -- on the very first try!  Dick likened this feat to 
someone "bowling six 300 games in a row".  He confirmed that such 
success was a direct result of the professional approach employed by 
each member of the team.

     Construction of the Engineering Model space frame marks a 
major milestone in the Phase 3-D development effort.  It provides 
designers of the all-important electronic, propulsion and attitude 
control systems with a "hands on" platform to test the "fit-and-form" 
of their designs, many of which are also now nearing completion.  It 
also gives the WSU students a massive "template" for building the 
actual flight model spaceframe, a task that's now scheduled to begin 
in earnest starting this September at WSU.

For more information contact:

Keith C. Baker, KB1SF
1324 Fairgrounds Road
Xenia, Ohio 45385-9514
"kb1sf@amsat.org"