AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-279 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites.
The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * AMSAT SYMPOSIUM - Procrastinator ALERT!! * Space News in October CQ Magazine * Cubesat Spaceport Coming to Jacksonville, Florida * AMSAT-DL Satellite Symposium * Two Ham Astronauts Depart NASA * High altitude Ham Radio balloon to study comets * Amateur Satellites in World Radio Online * YURI UT1FG/MM ALERT! * AMSAT Journal Call for Articles * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-279.01 ANS-279 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 279.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. DATE October 6, 2013 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-279.01 AMSAT SYMPOSIUM - Procrastinator ALERT!! The 2013 AMSAT Space Symposium & Annual General Meeting will be held November 1-3, 2013 at the Houston Marriott South at Hobby Airport Some important deadlines loom. The cutoff date for hotel reservations is Oct 16, 2013. Reservations for the Marriott at Hobby can be made at the following link http://tinyurl.com/kz26tk9 or by calling 713-943-7979 Ask For The AMSAT Block or Use the Code AMSAMSA Registration for the Symposium continues for $45.00 At the door registration is $55.00. Registration includes a copy of the Proceedings. Symposium Registration can be made at the AMSAT Store http://tinyurl.com/2013Symposium-Registration Don't forget the Saturday Evening Banquet, $45.00 and the Sunday morning Area Coordinators' Breakfast, $15.00 For the most up to date information visit the 2013 ASMAT Symposium website page. http://ww2.amsat.org/?page_id=1555 [ANS thanks the AMSAT Office for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Space News in October CQ Magazine The October, 2013 CQ Magazine includes news of interest to the amateur satellite world. Ham Radio News on page 2 reports on AMSAT's filing for clarification on the status of amateur satellites under new US Government regulations. VHF Plus columnist Joe Lynch, N6CL discusses the filing in more detail on page 89. Other news of amateur radio in space in this issue include: + News of the HamTV transmitter launched to the ISS is covered on page 88. + OSCAR 7 gets mention on page 2. + Video from the NASA Cubesat workshop on page 90. + The 2013 AMSAT Space Symposium in Houston is mentioned on page 91. [ANS thanks CQ Magazine for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Cubesat Spaceport Coming to Jacksonville, Florida NASA awards first CubeSat-class launch services contract (30 September 2013) NASA has selected Generation Orbit Launch Services Inc., of Atlanta, Ga., to provide a CubeSat-class launch via the NASA Launch Services Enabling eXploration and Technology (NEXT) contract. NEXT is an element of a strategic initiative led by NASA's Launch Services Program (LSP), focused on assuring long-term launch services while also promoting the continued evolution of the U.S. commercial space launch market. The NEXT launch service will deliver three 3U-configuration CubeSats to a 264-mile orbit via a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)- licensed launch aboard Generation Orbit's GOLauncher 2 rocket in August 2016 from Cecil Field Spaceport in Jacksonville, Fla. NEXT is a pathfinder contract for future acquisitions of launch services for low-cost and/or high-risk tolerant payloads. It sets the groundwork for LSP to utilize different contracting strategies that tailor the spectrum of government insight and approval based on the risk tolerance of the spacecraft. The total cost value for the NEXT launch service is approximately $2.1 million. This new contract resulted from a competitive award set-aside for small businesses only. GOLauncher 2 will launch CubeSats as the primary payload via the NEXT contract due to their ability to tolerate the higher risk of a new nano-class rocket while also helping to provide additional opportunities for the many CubeSats awaiting launch opportunities under NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI). [ANS thanks NASA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-DL Satellite Symposium The AMSAT-DL satellite symposium and AGM will be held in Bochum, Germany on Saturday, October 5, 2013. The AMSAT Deutschland Facebook page says “There will be certainly some exciting news!” The radome of the amateur radio facility at Bochum houses an impressive 20 metre dish antenna that was used to bounce amateur radio signals off the planet Venus. The AMSAT-DL Symposium lecture schedule Saturday 05.10.2013 10:15 – 10:30 Welcome 10:30 – 11:15 Stereo A / B status and Turbo Code introduction, experience report by Mario Lorenz, DL5MLO 11:15 – 11:45 Coffee break 11:45 – 12:15 Asteroid Defense by Wolfgang Wittholt, Fernuni Hagen 12:15 – 12:45 Space Generantion Advisory Council (SGAC) Small Satellite Project Group (SSPG) presentation and objectives by Dennis Mattes 12:45 – 14:00 Lunch break 14:00 Current and new projects / project progress / etc then an official part of the AGM with elections. AMSAT-DL event announcement http://tinyurl.com/AMSAT-DL-Symposium AMSAT-DL http://tinyurl.com/AMSAT-DL [ANS thanks Southgate ARN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Two Ham Astronauts Depart NASA NASA astronauts Gregory E. Chamitoff, KD5PKZ and Ronald J. Garan KF5GPO are leaving the agency. Chamitoff is joining the faculty of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, and the University of Sydney in Australia. Garan will work on a range of new entrepreneurial and humanitarian efforts. "Greg and Ron will certainly be missed by the Astronaut Office," said Bob Behnken, KE5GGX, NASA's chief astronaut. "Greg's passion for sharing the spaceflight experience will serve him well as he begins a new adventure in academia and continues to inspire the next generation of innovators and explorers. I'll miss Ron both as a contributor to our office and as a classmate. The entire office is grateful for their service to NASA." Chamitoff began his 18-year NASA career in 1995 as a space shuttle guidance and control officer in mission control at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston. He was selected as an astronaut in 1998. He flew in space twice, in 2008 as a flight engineer and science officer for Expeditions 17 and 18 aboard the International Space Station, and as a mission specialist during STS-134 in 2011, the penultimate shuttle mission. During his most recent mission, Chamitoff participated in two spacewalks to complete assembly of the International Space Station, taking part in the installation of the Alphamagnetic Spectrometer. He has spent more than 198 days in space. Garan, who joined the agency in 2000, is ending a 13-year NASA career that included more than 178 days in space and four spacewalks. Garan flew in space twice, first in 2008 as a space shuttle Discovery mission specialist on STS-124, and again in 2011 aboard the International Space Station as a flight engineer for Expeditions 27 and 28. Garan retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 2009 after 25 years of service. He has logged more than 5,000 flight hours in more than 30 aircraft types. He recently served within NASA’s Open Government Initiative. For Chamitoff's biography, visit: http://go.nasa.gov/gcruuu For Garan's biography, visit: http://go.nasa.gov/1998pSo For information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov EDITOR's NOTE: Due the the U.S. Governmaent shut down the above links may not work until which time governmaent services are restored. [ANS thanks Southgate ARN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- High altitude Ham Radio balloon to study comets An amateur radio balloon operating on 145.765 MHz will be launched on Sunday from Bangalore, India The National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad with Dhruva Space, India's first small satellite start-up, is supporting the Indian Institute of Astrophysics with its high altitude balloon campaign to study the comet ISON. The Helium filled balloon plans to launch on September 29, 2013 in the early morning from the Hoskote campus of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore. The payload will carry a 145.765 MHz APRS packet radio transmitter and a GPS GSM tracker, both of these are extremely important in keeping track of the balloon in flight, as it rises up to 40 km reaching the upper stratosphere. NIAR are extensively involved in the efforts of tracing and safely recovery of the payload. On the afternoon of September 29 there will be a presentation given on "Amateur Radio For High Altitude Ballooning” by Dhruva Space. Mr S.Ram Mohan, VU2MYH, Director, National Institute of Amateur Radio will speak on APRS technologies for tracking. National Institute of Amateur Radio (NIAR) http://www.niar.org/ [ANS thanks Southgate ARN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Amateur Satellites in WorldRadio Online The October issue of WorldRadio Online reports on the IARU's announcement that Fox-1 will operate in Mode U/V with a 435.180-MHz uplink and a 145.980 downlink. It also links to AMSAT on YouTube's video taken at the Dayton Hamvention. Other spories covered include a video link on operating via SO-50, and a report on the delivery of the HamTV transmitter to the ISS. WorldRadio Online is a pay for subscription service. [ANS thanks WorldRadio Online and CQ Communications, Inc. for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- YURI UT1FG/MM ALERT! Frank, K4FEG received an email from Yuri, UT1FG/mm from port in Uruguay. He will be leaving port today and he will be sailing SOUTH to go around the southern tip of South America and will be making port in Chile. He will be taking on loads in 4 ports in Chile before heading NORTH towards Panama. Here is the list of Ports of call for the "SILVER" the ships callsign is: 5BNC3. He is expected arrival at San Antonio, Chile is October 14, 2013. 1st port San Antonio/Chile - FF46 2nd port Las Ventanas/Chile - FF47 3rd port Coquimbo/Chile - FG40 4th port Punto Patache - FG49 [ANS thanks Frank, K4FEG for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Journal Call for Articles The AMSAT Journal is continuously searching for news, articles, and photos related to all of the activities of amateur radio in space. In the past this has included satellite development, satellite history, ground stations, antennas, hardware devel- opment, software. We find that some items related to SDR, VHF, UHF, and microwave operating or roving are directly applicable to satellite operations. Educational outreach has been identified as a key area which AMSAT may use to leverage launch opportunities. The Journal welcomes news, photos, and articles of ARISS contacts, University research and development, and STEM programs. Amateur satellite operators have the gear and expertise to also receive interesting transmissions from non-amateur spacecraft and EME. Articles discussing how this is done are useful to our readers discovering they can do more with the station they have built. The deadlines for each AMSAT Journal, which is published six times per year, are: ISSUE DEADLINE --------------------- -------------- 1. January/February December 20 2. March/April February 20 3. May/June April 20 4. July/August June 20 5. September/October August 20 6. November/December October 20 Our editors will work with you to finalize your article for publi- cation. Please send the following: 1. Electronic copy of your article in any of the popular word pro- cessing formats (MS-Word, OpenOffice, plain-text Notepad, etc.) PDF files containing a custom layout with embedded graphics can- not be used. 2. Your text must be single column wide. You do not need to do any formatting to make it appear in the 3 column layout of the fin- ished magazine. We have to remove all your hard work of pre- formatting before publication so save yourself the problems of trying to get columns to line up, etc. 3. You may send a copy of your article with the photos where you recommend they appear with the text but this is not the version that will be published. This gives the editors some cues to maintain continuity with photos/captions and text. 4. We require a text-only copy your article. Embedded photos will not publish during the layout process. You can leave in a ref- erence in the text related to the photo associated with that point in your article as shown here: ... text ... text ... text ... text ... text ... text ... ... text ... text ... text ... text ... text ... text ... (Insert Graphic 1234 here) Figure 2. Sample Lorem Ipsum Text ... text ... text ... text ... text ... text ... text ... ... text ... text ... text ... text ... text ... text ... 5. Send a separate text file with the captions to each of the graphics. 6. Send photos and graphics as separate files. Use as high resolu- tion pixel format as you can. The preferred graphic format for the Journal is JPG. The Journal can publish additional graphic formats including GIF, BMP, and PNG. Contact the editor before submitting these formats. Note that a photo which appears nicely on a web page does not publish well on the high resolution finished magazine product. Photos from digital cameras in mega-pixels work well. You do not need to compress or shrink the file for us. 7. If you use printed circuit board software or schematic drawing programs we can usually import a PDF copy of the diagram into the publishing software. Please do not send PDF formatted copies of the article however. 8. We can freely republish papers you have submitted to prior AMSAT Symposiums. If you have a good idea that you would like to get out the AMSAT Journal is an excellent way to expand your audience. We find that 200-300 copies of the Symposium Proceedings are dis- tributed. The AMSAT Journal reaches 4000 additional satellite operators. 9. If your article was previously published in another AMSAT organi- zation's Journal, or magazine (QST, CQ, CQ VHF, etc.) we will work with you to secure the permission to republish your work. Our Journal editors will be happy to work with you to assist getting your article published. We can help you develop an idea into a fin- ished article as well as a ready-to-print submission. Ask us via e-mail and we can get rolling with your article. During the preparation process it is quite likely that an editor working on the article might personally contact you with questions and suggestions. Those suggestions might include extra pictures or maybe additional references, keeping in mind that some readers might not have an extensive background on the topic being discussed. Send your articles and photo/graphics files as attachments to e-mail to jour...@amsat.org. [ANS thanks JoAnne, K9JKM for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + A Successful contact was made between Sarnelli De Donato Middle School, Polignano a Mare, Bari, Italy and Astronaut Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP, using callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2013-09-21 10:03 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridged via W6SRJ. The ARISS Mentor was IKØWGF "Sarnelli De Donato" School is a middle school. It serves the educational needs of the town because it is the only middle school in town. It caters for boys and girls, aged 11-14. Located in one of the region's tourist areas, it is in the suburbs of the pleasant town of Polignano a Mare, in the south-east of the APULIA region, south-east of Italy. In its Curriculum the school focus on: Space Communication, Media Communication, the Environment, Science activities in lab. The school has a gym, an auditorium, a music room, two computer rooms, a new scientific laboratory, a video room, 22 classrooms. At present there are 526 students on roll and they attend the regular class daily, from 8.00 am to 1.00 pm. + A Successful contact was made between Collège de la Combraille, La Mouniaude À Chatelguyon, France, and Astronaut Luca Parmitano , KF5KDP, using callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2013-09-28 08:39 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridged via VK5ZAI. The ARISS Mentors were ON4WF and F6ICS. "Combraille High school is located 4 hours south from Paris in beautiful Auvergne region. Our students aged 11-15 study non vocational subjects. Three foreign languages are taught : English, German an Spain. The school house has a scientific workshop. It focuses on the yearly launch of a sounding balloon in partnership with French Center for Space Studies (C.N.E.S.). The school has had an astronomy club for five years now. "We have night star gazing sessions, practice sun observations, take digital pictures of the sun and the stars, experiment measuring terrestrial meridian ( Eratosthenes experiment ), built a telescope (Newton type), participate in science fairs and exhibits, organize sessions for the public of the local area. Our school club has even sparked off the creation of a local club (Les Astronomes de la Combraille) We own and use: One DOBSON 250mm telescope, Two NEWTON 115 x 900 mm, One tracking 120 x 1000mm, One Herschel helioscope, One digital reflex camera, One CCD webcam." + A Successful contact was made between Polska Akademia Dzieci (Polish Academy of Kids), Gdansk, Poland, and Astronaut Luca Parmitano KF5KDP using callsign NA1SS. The contact began Sat 2013-10- 05 11:37:33 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridged via W6SRJ. ARISS Mentors were SP3QFE and IN3GHZ "Language Laboratories, School of Genius (SG), is one of the first Language schools In Poland (est. in 1968). Till today it is a unique scientific and educational unit, where each student has individually designes programme of learning in a foreign language, including Astronomy, Neuropsychology and Robotics. Classes at SG are individually prepared for each student (including post- and prenatal teaching ). Individual programmes include updated ICT tools carefully adapted to the Ss' interest. Language is only the tool used to communicate. "The Project Polish Academy of Kids is the first university run by kids on an international scale, where Young Scientists can freely choose the field of scientific interest. Lecturers are from 6 to 2 years old and examine magnetic levitation, the missing links of vertebrates' evolution or dogs, cats and stick insects. They decide about the scope of research and we, adults, only help them with the technical aspects and show reliable sources of knowledge. We work under the patronage of Ministry of Science and Education, Patent Office, Ministry of Education, Jagiellonian University and many others. For more details visit website: akademiadzieci.edu.pl. Polish Academy of Kids was nominated the Science Populariser 2011 and 2012 in the contest organised by Science and Scholarship in Poland (Polish Press Agency and Ministry of Science and Higher Education) while the co-founders of Polish Academy of Kids were awarded the Pol-Cul prize for their contribution to children's development in Poland and wonthe award of distinction for the best voluntary initiative in Pomerania." Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule Scuola Media Statale “Salvo D’Acquisto”, Cesano Maderno, Italy, telebridge via VK6MJ Contact is a go for: Mon 2013-10-07 07:48:49 UTC S. K. Seri Suria, Bangsar, Selangor, Malaysia, direct via 9M2RPN Contact is a go for: Wed 2013-10-09 09:31:14 UTC Exp. 36/37 on orbit Fyodor Yurchikhin RN3FI Karen L. Nyberg Luca Parmitano KF5KDP Exp. 37/38 now on orbit. Welcome aboard! Oleg Kotov Sergey Ryazansky Michael S. Hopkins KF5LJG [ANS thanks ARISS and Charlie, AJ9N for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + Alan, WA4SCA, reports that the AMSAT News Service is being picked up and redistributed by the Taiwan Amateur Satellite Association, TAMSAT. + The October issue od SatMagazine is now online http://preview.tinyurl.com/SatMagazine + NASA Mars mission escapes government shutdown, will launch NASA says it next mission to Mars has been cleared for takeoff amid fears the U.S. government shutdown could cause it to miss its launch window. See http://tinyurl.com/ANS279-Mars for full story [ANS thanks Mars Daily for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, EMike McCardel, KC8YLD kc8yld at amsat dot org _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
