The Latest News from AMSAT, as of 05 October, 2008 - 1315 UTC
The ANS news archives can be searched by keyword or browsed by date to locate past articles. |
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| NASA Breaking News |
NASA Awards Future Vehicle Aircraft Research ContractsNASA has awarded research contracts worth a total of $12.4 million to six industry teams to study advanced concepts for subsonic and supersonic commercial transport aircraft that could enter service in 25 to 30 years. 10/05/08 |
NASA Spacecraft Ready to Explore Outer Solar SystemThe first NASA spacecraft to image and map the dynamic interactions taking place where the hot solar wind slams into the cold expanse of space is ready for launch Oct. 19. 10/05/08 |
NASA And The Adler Planetarium Host NASA Future Forum In ChicagoNASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale will deliver a keynote address on Friday, Oct. 10, at the Adler Planetarium, Chicago 10/01/08 |
NASA Selects Science Teams For Astrobiology InstituteNASA has awarded five-year grants to study the origins, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. 10/01/08 |
NASA Sets Media Credentials Deadlines for Next Shuttle FlightNASA has set media accreditation deadlines for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-126 mission, targeted to launch Nov. 16. 10/01/08 |
NASA to Discuss Mission to Explore the Edge of the Solar SystemNASA will hold a media teleconference on Monday, Oct. 6, at 1 p.m. EDT, to discuss the upcoming launch of the first spacecraft that will image and map the dynamic interactions taking place where the hot solar wind slams into the cold expanse of space. 09/30/08 |
NASA Extends International Space Station ContractNASA has awarded a two-year, $650 million contract extension to The Boeing Co. to continue engineering support of the International Space Station to Sept. 30, 2010. 09/30/08 |
NASA TV Coverage Set For Space Station Crew ExchangeNASA Television will broadcast the launch of the next International Space Station crew Oct. 12. 09/30/08 |
NASA'S Messenger Spacecraft Returns To MercuryA NASA spacecraft will conduct the second of three flybys of Mercury on Oct. 6. 09/29/08 |
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| AMSAT Symposium Just Weeks Away
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The 2008 AMSAT Space Symosium in Atlanta, GA is just weeks away, October 24-26. This promises to be a very interesting symposium with presentations scheduled on a wide range of topics from the simplest operations with an HT to some of the latest ideas on digital communications. Every orbit; LEO, MEO, Geo and beyond will be covered. There will also be an extended general membership meeting as well as the ever popular Field Ops Breakfast.
Martha reminds everyone that room block with the special $125 per night rate for the 2008 AMSAT Space Symposium will be gone on October 8th. PLEASE make your reservations as soon as possible. The phone number is 404-231-1234.
The AMSAT board meeting preceeds the Symposium at the same hotel Oct 23-24.
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| First Chinese Amateur Radio Satellite to be launched in June 2009
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Michael Chen, BD5RV/4, reports that he recently received an update from Alan, BA1DU, on the progress of the first Chinese amateur satellite. Things are now going smoothly. This satellite was formerly named CAS-1 and is now XW-1. It carries a beacon and three cross band transponders: FM, linear, and digital.
The satellite is planned to be launched into a Sun synchronous orbit in June 2009 by a CZ-2C rocket in Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in North China.
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| General Astrodynamics Library v0.4.0 Released
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Paul, VP9MU has released Version 0.4.0 of the General Astrodynamics Library has been released. It can be downloaded from the project website: http://homepage.mac.com/pclwillmott/GAL/index.html
Updates in this release:- Higher precision ephemerides for the Sun, Planets, and Pluto. Implemented using VSOP87. Heliocentric and barycentric routines for position and velocity provided.
- Support added for classical Keplerian models, circular, elliptical, parabolic, and hyperbolic orbits and trajectories supported. Keplerian propagation implemented using the Universal formulation.
- Release includes some additional support files, and minor updates.
- Work continues with the atmosphere, and remaining force models.
The General Astrodynamics Library (GAL) is a numerical library for C and C++ programmers. It is free software under the GNU General Public License.
The library provides a wide range of astrodynamical routines such as ephemerides, earth orientation, and orbit propagation. There are over 250 functions in total with an extensive test suite.
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| Falcon 1 Rocket Successfully Launches to Orbit
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Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) announces that Flight 4 of the Falcon 1 launch vehicle has successfully launched and achieved Earth orbit. With this key milestone, Falcon 1 becomes the first privately developed liquid fuel rocket to orbit the Earth.
"This is a great day for SpaceX and the culmination of an enormous amount of work by a great team," said Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX. "The data shows we achieved a super precise orbit insertion-middle of the bull's eye - and then went on to coast and restart the second stage, which was icing on the cake."
The Falcon 1 lifted off at 4:15 p.m. (PDT) / 23:15 (UTC) from the Reagan Test Site (RTS) on Omelek Island at the U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) in the Central Pacific, about 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii.
Preliminary data indicates that Falcon 1 achieved an elliptical orbit of 500 km by 700 km, 9.2 degrees inclination-exactly as targeted.
Falcon 1 carried into orbit a payload mass simulator of approximately 165 kg (364 lbs), designed and built by SpaceX, specifically for this mission. Consisting of a hexagonal aluminum alloy chamber 1.5 meters (5 feet) tall, the payload remains attached to the second stage as it orbits Earth.
For more information about the Falcon family of vehicles, and to watch the archived video of the Falcon 1, Flight 4 launch, visit the SpaceX website at http://www.spacex.com
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| ARISS Status - 29 September 2008
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Upcoming School Contact - Status
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) team continues its work on scheduling the next school radio contacts.
ARISS - UK School Contact, Successful
Students attending the Michael Sobell Sinai School in Harrow, Middlesex, UK experienced an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Thursday, September 25 via telebridge station WH6PN in Hawaii. Eleven students asked astronaut Greg Chamitoff, KD5PKZ, 15 questions before an audience of 200. The audio was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT server and received 15 connections from seven countries. Four television stations covered this event. The BBC article may be viewed here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7636229.stm
Astronaut Training Status
Shannon Walker, KD5DXB, participated in an ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) training session on Monday, September 22. She plans to support ARISS activities when she flies on a future ISS Expedition.
ARISS International Meeting Held
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) team held its monthly teleconference on September 23. Discussions covered the flight backup ARISS equipment, including the Kenwood D700 radio, which is expected to be swapped out at the end of the month. Other items on the agenda were Richard Garriott's ARISS schedule and SuitSat-2 progress. The minutes have been posted to the ARISS Web site. See: http://www.rac.ca/ariss/arisstel2008-09-23.htm
CLC Posts Garriott Press Release
The Challenger Learning Center (CLC) has posted a press release covering Richard Garriott and his upcoming Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contacts with CLCs across the country. See: http://www.challenger.org/about/media/release.cfm?release_id=79
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