The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information service of AMSAT, 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
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In this edition:
- ARISS Looks Forward to Installation of Additional Radio
- AMSAT/TAPR Banquet Honors Bob Bruninga, WB4APR (SK)
- AMSAT Member Melissa Pore, KM4CZN, is 2022 AFA Virginia Teacher of the Year
- No Changes to TLEs This Week
- ARISS News
- Upcoming Satellite Operations
- Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
- Satellite Shorts From All Over
ANS-142 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002
DATE 2022 May 21
ARISS Looks Forward to Installation of Additional Radio
An additional amateur radio system has been delivered to the International Space Station, and it is expected that astronauts will install it in the next few weeks. The installation will mean that the Amateur Radio on the ISS (ARISS) will no longer have to switch periodically between FM voice cross band repeater mode and APRS packet mode. Rather, both operating modes will be able to be activated simultaneously.
ARISS International Chair Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, made the announcement during the ARISS Forum at the Hamvention in Xenia, Ohio yesterday.
The additional equipment was delivered to the space station about six weeks ago, Bauer said. However, the demands on the astronauts’ time are such that the installation can only take place when their schedule allows. The ARISS team is hopeful that the installation can be completed in the next week or two, barring any complications.
Digital APRS messages and cross band voice contacts via the ISS are both very popular modes of operation among earthbound operators. Signals from the ISS are quite loud and easily heard with very simple equipment.
ARISS has been scheduling a switch of modes approximately once each month, so that the ARISS system is in packet mode for one month, followed by a month of FM voice repeater operation. The new capability will allow both of these popular modes to be constantly available.
[ANS thanks Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, Chair, ARISS International and Executive Director, ARISS-USA, for the above information]
AMSAT/TAPR Banquet Honors Bob Bruninga, WB4APR (SK)
The 13th annual AMSAT/TAPR Banquet was held at the Kohler Presidential Banquet Center in Kettering, Ohio on Friday, May 20. This dinner, always a highlight of the AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corp.) and TAPR (Tucson Amateur Packet Radio) activities during the Dayton Hamvention, was dedicated to honoring the life and accomplishments of long time amateur satellite and amateur packet pioneer Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, who passed away in February.
Reminiscenses of Bob and his career as a professor of engineering at the U.S. Naval Academy were offered by Bob McGwier, N4HY, and by Frank Bauer, KA3HDO. Following these presentations, a number of attendees offered anecdotes about Bob’s work — often behind the scenes — to facilitate amateur satellites and to develop enhanced modes of digital communication. Stories about Bob’s enthusiasm for creative projects and his generosity in sharing his time as teacher and mentor, were central to the memories of those who had met him and who benefited from his work.
Lively table conversations covered a broad variety of topics, including the celebration of some new amateurs who had just passed their Technician exams earlier in the day.
[ANS thanks Mark Johns, K0JM, for the above information]
AMSAT Member Melissa Pore, KM4CZN, is 2022 AFA Virginia Teacher of the Year
Melissa Pore, KM4CZN, has been named by the Air and Space Force Association to be their Virginia State Teacher of the Year. The presentation was made May 17 at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, VA, where Pore teaches. the award was presented by Linda McMahon, AFA Virginia State President.
Pore is a member of AMSAT, an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Education Committee member, and an ambassador for the ARISS program. Melissa is an educational leader in aerospace working with groups like NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN), NASA Intern Program, Space Center Houston SEEC Crew, and the Center for Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) through the International Space Station National Lab. She currently focuses her space passion as an engineering teacher.
In addition to teaching engineering and computer science, she is involved in the school’s amateur radio and engineering clubs. While she was a teacher at St. Thomas More Elementary School, Pore was associated with the STMSAT-1 project. The Earth-observation CubeSat, built entirely by students at the school, was launched in 2015 but failed to transmit any images. It was the first satellite constructed by elementary schoolers.
Pore wrote, “I’m so proud to have been selected by the Air and Space Force Association to be the Virginia State Teacher of the Year. I look forward to representing the AFA Steele Chapter and the state of Virginia in expanding aerospace opportunities for all. Thank you Linda McMahon and Mike Maxwell for presenting the award in front of my students snd colleagues with such powerful words and sentiments. Thank you especially to Dr. Vorbach and all the DJO Administration for providing this special day. And most importantly, thank you students and fellow teachers-we excel together. I was overwhelmed with emotions and excitement as I listened to Megan Good Tucker talk about the significance of the award in the midst of such great challenges all around us. It definitely takes passion and fortitude. Thank you for this incredible honor. I can’t wait to pay it forward! I feel like I just got rocket fuel in my jet engines!”
[ANS thanks Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations, ARRL, and Georgetown University Space Initiative for the above information]
No Changes to TLEs This Week
Two Line Elements or TLEs, often referred to as Keplerian elements or keps in the amateur community, are the inputs to the SGP4 standard mathematical model of spacecraft orbits used by most amateur tracking programs. Weekly updates are completely adequate for most amateur satellites. TLE bulletin files are updated Thursday evenings around 2300 UTC, or more frequently if new high interest satellites are launched. More information may be found at https://www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-resources/
[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above information]
ARISS NEWS
Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide.
Recent successful contacts:
Forum Accademico Italiano e.V., Köln, Germany, telebridge via ZS6JON in contact with ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti IZØUDF, operating as NA1SS. Contact took place Fri 2022-05-20 12:14:10 UTC 89 deg.
2nd All-Russian Festival “Russian Traveler”, Lipetsk, Russia, direct contact with cosmonaut Sergey Korsakov operating as RSØISS. Contact took place 2022-05-21 18:10 UTC.
Upcoming contacts:
Aznakayevo (Republic of Tatarstan), Russia, direct contact with cosmonaut Sergey Korsakov operating as RSØISS. Contact is go for Fri 2022-05-27 15:05 UTC.
MINDSHUB APS with I.C. AVIO, Ala, Trento, Italy, telebridge via ZS6JON in contact with ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti IZØUDF, operating as NA1SS. Contact is go for Sat 2022-05-28 09:03:47 UTC 80 deg.
2nd All-Russian Festival “Russian Traveler”, Lipetsk, Russia, direct contact with cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev operating as RSØISS. Contact is go for Sat 2022-28 14:15 UTC.
Children’s center in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, direct contact with cosmonaut Denis Matveev operating as RSØISS. Contact is go for Sat 2022-05-28 15:50 UTC.
Students and employees of SWGU, Kursk, Russia, direct contact with cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev operating as RSØISS. Contact is go for Sun 2022-05-29 15:00 UTC.
The latest information on the operation mode can be found at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html
The latest list of frequencies in use can be found at https://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html
[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team mentors for the above information]
Upcoming Satellite Operations
Hawaii!: K5ZM is heading to HI on May 16-26
KC1MEB & NU1U: FN33. We have not come out with a Schedule or exact dates, somewhere between the 27th and 29th of May.
Adrian (AA5UK) is heading back to the Cayman Islands after several years now that COVID travel restrictions have been lifted. He will be operating as ZF2AE/ZF8 from Little Cayman May 29 – June 2 (EK99WP) and from Grand Cayman as ZF2AE from June 2-June 3 (EK99HI). These locations favor the west and any contacts with EU will be a challenge. Gear will be FT-1634 with Alaskan Arrow antenna. I may be able to rent a car on Little Cayman (very $$$) for an afternoon and operate from FK09. This is TBD due to holiday style schedule and not guaranteed. Please follow me on Twitter @ZF2AE and @AA5UK for latest updates. QSL Direct (SASE for US, $2 for International QSL, and/or LOTW preferred. eQSL no longer accepted)
WL7T: EL84, June 24-27
W3IPA: DM42 vacation planned for Jul 30- Aug 6th will be on FM passes vacation style. I will be close to DM41 so might be able to work a gridline. Will post more updates closer to that week!
ND9M/MM: “I’m on my merchant marine ship anchored just off Saipan and expect to be here a few weeks. I’m on from the ship as ND9M/MM in QK25, but I’ll try to be QRV as ND9M/KHØ from the island itself over the next few weekends, probably Fridays in the afternoon and evening, possibly Saturday evenings as well. I’ll post my island activities on Twitter (@ND9M) as they firm up.”
N8MR: EN 57,67,56 8/6 through 8/13. More to come as date gets closer.
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information]
Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events.
AMSAT Ambassador Schedules
Clint Bradford, K6CLS: Upcoming “How to Work the “Easy” Satellites” talks are scheduled:
Cal Poly Pomona – TBD
WARA – Orange County CA – June 11
Notes: “And it “feels” like lives are improving here in So California, as that meeting for WARA in June will be (hopefully) an IN-PERSON show! (Have to tune up my projector and dust off the DaLite projection screen!)
Think a 90-minute lively, informative, and fun “How to Work the Easy Satellites” Zoom presentation would be appropriate for your convention or club? Always included are overviews of the ARRL, AMSAT, and ARISS. And pre-presentation questions are solicited and welcome.”
Send an email or call!
Clint Bradford K6LCS
AMSAT Ambassador; ARRL Affiliated Club Coordinator, instructor
http://www.work-sat.com
909-999-SATS (7287)
Jack Spitznagel, KD4IZ: SDR applications – Ways to use the RF “Swiss Army Knife” An intro to the AMSAT Fox-In-A-Box Image
Scheduled (tentatively live) July 18, 2022 the Frederick Amateur Radio Club, Frederick, MD
For information on this presentation and availability, contact Jack Spitznagel, KD4IZ (kd4iz at arrl dot org)
Scheduled Events with AMSAT involvement:
Hamfests and Conventions
+ 2022 Rocky Mountain ARRL Division Convention
October 7, 2022 – October 9, 2022
Event Center at Archer
3921 Archer Pkwy
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82007
https://wyhamcon.org/site.
[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above information]
Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ NASA’s InSight Mars lander mission will likely conclude by the end of the year as power levels for the spacecraft continue to decline, project officials confirmed May 17. Project leaders said science operations will likely end in July as the output of the spacecraft’s two solar panels, coated with dust, drops below critical levels. (ANS thanks SpaceNews.com for the above information)
+ The rumors are flying after satellite operator Globalstar announced an agreement this week with “a large, global customer” to build out a new communications network, just months after announcing that an unidentified “potential customer” had put up more than $300 million to finance the purchase of 13 new satellites. The scuttlebutt is that Apple is behind these deals, with the goal of using Globalstar to provide satellite connectivity to a future iPhone. (ANS thanks qz.com for the above information)
+ U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced a bill to create a Space National Guard, which may be a way for the Space Force to retain personnel as they leave active duty. (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information)
+ An orbital launch attempt by Chinese startup iSpace suffered failure early Friday, May 13, following on from two failures last year. The fourth Hyperbola-1, a four-stage solid rocket, lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 3:09 a.m. Eastern May 13. Apparent launch footage appeared on a Chinese social media site shortly after launch but a period of silence followed, extending well past the time at which a similar launch could have been declared successful. (ANS thanks SpaceNews.com for the above information)
+ The aging shuttle-era spacesuits aboard the International Space Station have been declared “no-go” for operational, normally planned spacewalks pending analysis to determine what led to excess water getting into an astronaut’s helmet during a March excursion, officials confirmed on May 17. But the bulky spacesuits — “extra-vehicular mobility units,” or EMUs — can still be used for emergency repairs or to resolve other unexpected issues if agency managers agree after assessing the overall risk. (ANS thanks SpaceflightNow for the above information)
+ A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft launched from Space Launch Complex 41, Thursday, May 19, 2022, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) is Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test and will dock to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. OFT-2 launched at 6:54 p.m. ET, and will serve as an end-to-end test of the system’s capabilities. (ANS thanks NASA for the above information)
Join AMSAT today at https://launch.amsat.org/
In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership to:
* Societies (a recognized group, clubs or organization).
* 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 student rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status.
* Memberships are available for annual and lifetime terms.
Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional membership information.
73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space!
This week’s ANS Editor, Mark Johns, K0JM
k0jm at amsat dot org