Outstanding achievement! John - AG9D
On Sun, Mar 9, 2014 at 8:17 AM, Peter Guelzow <peter.guel...@kourou.de>wrote: > > > see also: > > http://www.amsat-dl.org/index.php/news-mainmenu-97/199-ice-satellite-received-in-bochum > > --------------------- > > AMSAT-DL and Bochum Observatory receive signal from retired NASA spacecraft > > On March 1st and 2nd, 2014 radio amateurs were able to detect the beacon > signal from the retired NASA deep space probe ICE (International > Cometary Explorer) at the Bochum Observatory (Germany). After some > changes to the ground equipment and aligning the receive antenna to the > predicted position in the sky, the beacon signal could positively be > identified due to its frequency, the position in the sky and the > frequency shift due to the radial velocity (Doppler shift). > > For this detection the 20m radio telescope from the Bochum Observatory > was used. In 2003, AMSAT-DL converted this former industrial monument > into a fully functional groundstation for deep space probes. Since 2009 > the facility is being used by volunteers almost full time as ground > receive station for data from the STEREO mission with its two > spaceprobes monitoring the sun from different viewing angles. > > The International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 (ISEE-3) was launched in 1978 and > became the first spacecraft to orbit the Earth-Sun L1 Lagrange point, > measuring the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and the > Sun. It was the first spacecraft to detect the stream of particles > ("solar wind") approaching Earth. In 1982, the spacecraft was renamed > the "International Cometary Explorer" (ICE) and diverted to the Moon, > where its gravitational pull placed ICE on a heliocentric orbit. In > 1985, the comet Giacobini-Zinner was visited (the first time a comet had > been encountered by a spacecraft), followed by observation of Halley's > Comet in 1986. While the instrumentation on board was still functional > and fuel for more trajectory maneuvers was available, support for the > ICE mission was terminated in 1997, though the spacecraft transmitter > was left on. It was last detected by the NASA Deep Space Network in > 2008. Its orbit however results in the spacecraft returning to > Earth-Moon space in August of 2014. A small propulsive maneuver and > lunar flyby could allow ICE to be directed into an Earth-Sun L1 halo > orbit and perhaps resume a science mission, depending on instrument > health. However in February 2014 a NASA study determined that the > required resources to contact the spacecraft were not available anymore > and due to budgetary constraints no further contact attempts were > planned. In light of the recent observations and the available > facilities in Bochum, additional studies about the economic feasibility > to add a suitable uplink are being done. > > We would like to thank Jeremy Bauman from KinetX Aerospace (Tempe AZ, > USA) for providing the ICE trajectory solution which was essential in > finding the spacecraft and Jon D. Giorgini from the Jet Propulsion > Laboratory (Pasadena CA, USA) for his support. > > > > About AMSAT-DL: > > AMSAT-DL (short for AMSAT-Germany) is an organization consisting of > engineers, scientists, students, radio amateur operators and space > enthusiasts. They design, develop, build, operate and use satellites in > their spare time. In addition to ca. 600 members of AMSAT-DL other > national AMSAT organizations count in total about 6000 members. AMSAT-DL > is one of the few space organizations which lead satellite projects from > the drawing board through design stage and construction into the > operative service. AMSAT-DL projects strictly follow the open-source > principle so technologies and procedures can be used by third parties. > This includes also lessons learned and scientific results obtained > during the satellite's operation. > > About the Bochum Observatory: > > The Bochum Observatory is a recognized and sponsored higher-education > institution of the state Nordrhein-Westfalen (Germany) and is also > funded by the 'Landeszentrale für politische Bildung NRW'. Next to > optical sky surveys the focus of the current work is the recording of > earth monitoring data from satellites. The main task is the scientific > analysis and the public presentation of this data to understand the > function of the 'earth system' and to characterize the effects and risks > of human actions in the context of globalization. > > > > contact AMSAT-DL: Dr. Achim Vollhardt, icet...@amsat-dl.org > > contact Sternwarte Bochum: Thilo Elsner, i...@iuz-bochum.de > <mailto:i...@iuz-bochum.de>, +49 177 50 70 797 > > > > --- > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > _______________________________________________ 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
