Mark Johns – Page 24

ANS-185 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for July 4

July 4, 2021July 4, 2021 by Mark Johns

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: [email protected]

You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

In this edition:

“Clean Sweep” on Satellites Possible in 2021 13 Colonies Event
MIR-SAT1 Designated as MIRSAT-OSCAR 112 (MO-112)
Youth on the Air Camp 2021 to be On the Satellites
The AMSAT-SA Space Symposium on 10 July
VUCC Awards-Endorsements for July 1, 2021
Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for June 30, 2021
NASA to Air Departure of SpaceX Cargo Dragon from Space Station
ARISS News
Upcoming Satellite Operations
Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
Satellite Shorts From All Over

ANS-185 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 185
To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2021 July 4

“Clean Sweep” on Satellites Possible in 2021 13 Colonies Event

The 2021 edition of the annual 13 Colonies special event is July 1, 2021-1300 UTC to July 8, 2021-0400 UTC. This year, a “clean sweep” (working stations in all 13 states that were the original 13 U.S. Colonies) is possible via satellite! Yes, one or more stations in each state have volunteered to be active on the satellites this year.

More info on 13 Colonies is at http://www.13colonies.us/ including information on the exchange, logging, individual state QSLs, and certificates. DXsummit is recommended for spotting, and many of the satellite ops are active on Twitter and self-spot there as well.

The special event stations will identify with special calls as follows:
K2A – New York
K2B – Virginia
K2C – Rhode Island
K2D – Connecticut
K2E – Delaware
K2F – Maryland
K2G – Georgia
K2H – Massachutsets
K2I – New Jersey
K2J – North Carolina
K2K – New Hampshire
K2L – South Carolina
K2M – Pennsylvania
WM3PEN – Philadelphia bonus station
GB13COL – Great Britain bonus station
TM13COL – France bonus station

[ANS thanks Steve Greene, KS1G (one of the K2B/Virginia activators) for the above information]

MIR-SAT1 Designated as MIRSAT-OSCAR 112 (MO-112)

On June 22, 2021, MIR-SAT1 was deployed from the International Space Station by JAXA. MIR-SAT1 is a project of the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council and carries a digipeater and camera experiment. Further information is available at https://spacemauritius.com.

At the request of the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council, AMSAT hereby designates MIR-SAT1 as MIRSAT-OSCAR 112 (MO-112). We congratulate the owners and operators, thank them for their contribution to the amateur satellite community, and wish them a long mission and continued success on this and future projects.

ANS thanks Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations / OSCAR Number Administrator, for the above information.

Join the 2021 President’s Club!
Score your 2″ 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin.
This gold finished coin comes with
Full Color Certificate and Embroidered “Remove Before Flight” Key Tag
Donate today at
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
You won’t want to miss it!

Youth on the Air Camp 2021 to be On the Satellites

The first Youth on the Air (YOTA) camp for young radio amateurs in North, Central, and South America begins on July 11 in West Chester, Ohio. Among other activities, campers will be operating special event station W8Y from both the National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting in West Chester Township and from the camp hotel. The camp will run until July 16.

“We are at 23 campers,” said Camp Director Neil Rapp, WB9VPG. “We are very excited to finally bring this program to the Americas. Our young people are bringing an incredible lineup of hands-on sessions for their peers. We hope this pilot gives us the information we need to replicate this camp over multiple locations for years to come. We also hope this brings a more robust community of young hams into amateur radio.”

The long-awaited summer camp for up to 30 hams aged 15 through 25 had been set to take place in June 2020, but it had to be rescheduled until summer 2021 because of COVID-19 pandemic concerns. The camp for young hams in the Americas took its cue from the summer Youngsters on the Air camps held for the past few years in various IARU Region 1 countries.

W8Y will be on the air as campers complete projects, between sessions, and during free time. Dedicated operating times on HF will be Monday, July 12, 0100 – 0330 UTC; Tuesday, July 13, 0000 – 0330 UTC and 1800 – 2130 UTC. Dedicated satellite station operating times will be Thursday, July 15, 1400 – 1700 UTC, and Friday, July 16, 1500 – 1700 UTC.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact is currently set for either Wednesday, July 14, at 1503 UTC, or KM4BUN operates as K8O during YOTA Month 2020.

Thursday, July 15, at 1416 UTC. It will be streamed live on the Youth on the Air YouTube channel. The camp opening observance on Sunday, July 11, 2100 – 2230 UTC, will feature keynote speaker Tim Duffy, K3LR. The hour-long closing ceremony on Friday, July 16, will get under way at 1700 UTC. The YouTube channel will also feature a daily video highlighting the activities of the previous day.

ARRL and The Yasme Foundation donated project kits for the campers. X Tronics provided temperature-controlled soldering stations. The brochure on the Youth on the Air website includes more details about the camp. For additional information, contact Camp Director Neil Rapp, WB9VPG.

[ANS thanks ARRL for the above information]

Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows,
and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through
AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards
Keeping Amateur Radio in Space.
https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/

The AMSAT-SA Space Symposium on 10 July

The programme for the 2021 AMSAT SA Space Symposium has been published on the SARL and AMSAT SA websites.

Attendance for AMSAT SA and SARL members is free. There is a small charge for non-members.
The symposium will be held on the BlueJeans platform starting at 08:00 UTC on Saturday 10 July 2021.

The keynote address will be delivered by Val Munsami, the CEO of the South African National Space Agency. Dr Gary Immelman ZS6YI will talk about a novel way to get going on QO-100, amateur radios first geostationary satellite.

Dr Pierre Cilliers will talk about space weather activities at SANSA in Hermanus, Dr Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, lead of the HAMSci in the USA will present a paper entitled “The Ionosphere from your Backyard”, Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP and Anton Janovsky, ZR6AIC will review the development of AfriCUBE and Burns Fisher, WB1FJ of AMSAT NA will talk about Raspberry Pi in my shack, a push-button user interface”.

More details about the presentation will be released in the coming week. Keep an eye on http://www.amsatsa.org.za/

[ANS thanks Southgate ARC for the above information]

AMSAT’s GOLF Program is about getting back to higher orbits, and it all
begins with GOLF-TEE – a technology demonstrator for deployable solar
panels, propulsion, and attitude control. Come along for the ride. The
journey will be worth it!

https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF

VUCC Awards-Endorsements for July 1, 2021

Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period June 1, 2021 through July 1, 2021. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month!

Congratulations to Christy KB6LTY on achieving the AMSAT GridMaster!

CALL	June	July
K8YSE/7	842	872
KK5DO	781	793
NS3L	695	697
WD9EWK(DM43)	650	655
N9IP	635	640
PS8ET	550	600
VE6WK	404	512
VE1VOX	400	507
KF6JOQ	453	503
WB7VUF	404	455
W8LR	425	453
AK8CWDM37	425	451
KS1G	427	451
K5TA	400	450
KC7JPC	New	399
VE4MM	New	350
VE1CWJ	New	335
KN2K	253	300
N7ZO	275	300
AB1OC	267	285
EA2AA	251	280
N8URE(FM19)	263	279
KK4CF	100	200
K3HPA	150	176
RA3DNC	142	156
N8MR	115	154
KC1MMC	New	150
N1KM	New	150
VE3KY	128	150
WA7HQD	149	150
WD9EWK(DM54)	125	145
KC2JED	New	132
DL1DUO	New	130
HC2FG	New	130
WD9EWK(DM45)	106	127
DF2PI	New	116
N2VAJ	New	103
KE7RTB	New	100

If you find errors or omissions. please contact me off-list at <mycall>@<mycall>.com and I’ll revise the announcement. This list was developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for the two months. It’s a visual comparison so omissions are possible. Apologies if your call was not mentioned.

Thanks to all those who are roving to grids that are rarely on the birds. They are doing a lot of the work!

[ANS thanks Ron Parsons, W5RKN, for the above information]

Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition?
Get your AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff
from our Zazzle store!
25% of the purchase price of each product goes
towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space
https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear

Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for June 30, 2021

MIR-SAT1 (Mauritian Infra-Red Satellite 1) was launched from the Japanese ISS Kibo module at 10:55 UTC on 6-22-2021.

MIR-SAT1 has been identified as NORAD Cat ID 48868 as per Pierros Papadeas, SV1QVE and Nico Janssen, PA0DLO.

The current TLE for MIR-SAT1 per Space-Track are as follows:

MIR-SAT1
1 48868U 98067SP 21179.69602259 .00013025 00000-0 23878-3 0 9995
2 48868 51.6439 285.7711 0003006 182.6608 177.4342 15.49640979 1031

[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above information]

NASA to Air Departure of SpaceX Cargo Dragon from Space Station

NASA’s SpaceX Dragon cargo freighter, loaded with approximately 5,000 pounds of scientific experiments and other cargo from the International Space Station, will depart Tuesday, July 6, bound for a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean Thursday, July 8, completing the company’s 22nd commercial resupply services mission for NASA.

Live coverage of the departure will begin at 14:45z Tuesday, July 6, on NASA Television, the agency’s website, and the NASA app. NASA will not provide coverage of the splashdown.

Ground controllers at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, will command Dragon to undock from the space-facing port on the station’s Harmony module at 15:00z, with NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough monitoring aboard the station. The cargo craft will physically separate from the station five minutes later before firing its thrusters to move a safe distance away prior to a deorbit burn that will begin its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. Dragon is expected to make its parachute-assisted splashdown around 04:00z Thursday, July 8.

Splashing down off the coast of Florida enables quick transportation of the science aboard the capsule to NASA’s Space Station Processing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and back into the hands of the researchers. This shorter transportation time frame allows researchers to collect data with minimal sample exposure to gravity.

Dragon launched June 3 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy, arriving at the station a little less than 16 hours later. The spacecraft delivered more than 7,300 pounds of research investigations, crew supplies, and vehicle hardware to the orbiting outpost. Dragon’s external cargo “trunk” carried six new ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs), two of which Expedition 65 crew members Kimbrough and Thomas Pesquet, an ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut, installed during three spacewalks June 16, 20, and 25.

Some of the scientific investigations Dragon will return to Earth include:

* Lyophilization-2 examines how gravity affects freeze-dried materials and could result in improved freeze-drying processes for pharmaceutical and other industries. Freeze-drying also has potential use for long-term storage of medications and other resources on future exploration missions.
* Molecular Muscle Experiment-2 tests a series of drugs to see whether they can improve health in space, possibly leading to new therapeutic targets for examination on Earth.
* Oral Biofilms in Space studies how gravity affects the structure, composition, and activity of oral bacteria in the presence of common oral care agents. Findings could support development of novel treatments to fight oral diseases such as cavities, gingivitis, and periodontitis.

Learn more about SpaceX missions for NASA at: https://www.nasa.gov/spacex

[ANS thanks NASA 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.

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2021-07-01 04:30 UTC

Quick list of scheduled contacts and events:

TBD, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 145.800 MHz
The scheduled cosmotronaut is Pyotr Dubrov
Contact is a go for 2021-07-14 20:10 UTC

Watch for possible operation mode change sometime after ARRL Field Day. Exact date and time TBD but it will probably be after the week of 2021-07-12 to 2021-07-18.

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]

AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur
radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.

Support AMSAT’s projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/

Upcoming Satellite Operations

Upcoming Roves:
Quick Hits:

WY7AA: FI will be in FN02 starting 6/6 for a few weeks. Operating Sats. holiday style. If you need FN01, FN02, FN03, FN12 please let me know and we can try to set something up. FN01,03, and 12 will likely each be one day roves. FM and SSB

ND0C and KE0WPA: In June @kylee_ke0wpa and I, along with our resident photojournalist (Mom/Amy), will be taking a family excursion to the southwest and working some sats as time permits. Here are the less commonly worked grids from which we plan to operate. We will hit other grids too. DM67 6/15 – 6/17, DM56 6/18, DM45 6/19, DN63 7/2, DN64 7/2 & 7/3

N5LEX: CN98 last week of June.

VP2V/K3TRM: I will be operating from Tortola, British Virgin Islands as VP2V/K3TRM on July 4-17, 2021. Activity will be on 40-6M SSB & digital, and satellite.

DM62: K5TA, tentatively planning for DM62 ~9-July, when there are are several good passes mid-day, making it a doable day-trip.

EN57/67: @SeanKutzko KX9X and @Nancy_N9NCY will celebrate Sean’s birthday in the Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula July 15-19. Look for them on FM and SSB satellites, with the possibility of some Parks On The Air activity as well.

Major Roves:

WA7AA:
July 6-7 DN43 with a daytime rove to DN42/43/52/53 corner on 7/7
July 10 DN24 daytime passes
July 11 DN25 daytime passes
July 12 DN27 with a guest Gridmaster hopefully
July 13-16 DN28 holiday style
July 17 DN38 holiday style
July 18 DN47/48 daytime passes
July 21-23 DN54 holiday style
July 25-27 DN64 holiday style
July 30-31 DN63 holiday style

July 7, 10, 11, 18 will all be planned trips just for Sat passes FM and SSB. I will try to publish passes ahead of time on Twitter and QRZ. The remainder of the trip will be camping in remote areas with little to no internet or Twitter. I will get info out as I can, but I won’t be able to setup skeds ahead of time. Lots of POTA activations on Sats and HF as well.

Please submit any additions or corrections to Ke0pbr (at) gmail.com

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information]

Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

Want to see AMSAT in action or learn more about amateur radio in space?

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 and ARRL registered instructor Clint Bradford, K6LCS, is certainly keeping busy! He reports a long list of completed online presentations. 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 includes are overviews of the ARRL, AMSAT, and ARISS … and pre-presentation questions are solicited and welcome. Send Clint an email or call!

Clint Bradford K6LCS
http://www.work-sat.com
909-999-SATS (7287)

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above information]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ AMSAT is pleased to announce that the 39th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting will be held in late October at the Crowne Plaza Suites: MSP Airport – Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. The Crowne Plaza Suites is conveniently located adjacent to the American Blvd station on the Metro Blue Line, providing easy access to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, downtown Minneapolis, and the Mall of America. The AMSAT Board of Directors will meet prior to the Symposium. Further details, including final dates, hotel reservation details, tours, and other events will be shared in the coming months. (ANS thanks the 2021 Symposium Committee for the above information)

+ D-Orbit, a European launch services company, has announced that they have launched the first “amateur” satellite from the nation of Kuwait. The launch was carried out on June 30 by a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The satellite, named “QMR-KWT” means “Moon of Kuwait”, translated from Arabic, appears to have been built commercially. It will transmit 9600 bps GMSK, as well as Morse ID of LZ0KWT, and a recording of the Kuwait National Anthem on 436.5 MHz. There is no record of international frequency coordination with the IARU. More information at https://www.orbitalspace.org/qmr-kwt (ANS thanks D-Orbit for the above information)

+ On the same June 30 SpaceX launch, which carried a total of 88 small satellites into orbit, was Painani-II, a 3U cubesat built by the University of the Mexican Army and Air Force. It will transmit telemetry, images, and AX25 packet on IARU-coordinated frequencies of 437.475 and 2410.300 MHz. (ANS thanks Spaceflight.com and IARU for the above information)

+ The ANS search engines have turned up myriad references to amateur satellites across the news media this week. Small town papers around the country picked up news releases from ham groups who were anxious to get the media contact bonus points added to their Field Day logs. It appears that many of these releases mention satellites for the “cool factor,” even when no satellite operation actually took place. Misinformation was abundant in the published articles. But as they say, any publicity is good publicity! (ANS thanks Mark Johns, K0JM, for the above information)

+ The Mauritius Amateur Radio Society (MARS) is still anxious for telemetry reports from the MIR-SAT 1 satellite launched on June 22. MIR-SAT 1 transmits on 436.925 MHz and decoders are available for download at https://github.com/daniestevez/gr-satellites/blob/master/python/telemetry/mirsat1.py (Thanks to Daniel Estevez, EA4GPZ) or https://www.g0kla.com/pacsat/index.php (Thanks to Chris Thompson, AC2CZ). All received data should be uploaded to Satnogs.org, and award certificates may be received in exchange by applying to https://bit.ly/3qKyb0Q (ANS thanks Jean Marc Momple, 3B8DU, for the above information)

+ The first three “taikonauts” (as Chinese astronauts are often known) aboard China’s Tiangong space station are enjoying a menu of more than 120 dishes. Meals include shredded pork in garlic sauce, kung pao chicken, black pepper beef, pickled cabbage and many more. The foods are usually solid, boneless, in small pieces and selected to meet the astronauts’ personal tastes. CCTV also reports that astronauts use condiments such as pork sauce and Sichuan pepper sauce to help adjust to the temporary loss of sense of taste experienced in microgravity. The space agency also boasted that the station is equipped with a microwave oven, so that the crew can enjoy their food hot. (ANS thanks space.com for the above information)

+ Wally Funk, age 82, a pilot with more than 19,600 flight hours and best known as one of the “Mercury 13” group of women who passed NASA astronaut medical exams in the 1960s, will be on the first crewed New Shepard flight July 20, along with billionaire Jeff Bezos. NASA made no effort to fly the Mercury 13 women, and did not formally select any female astronauts until Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in June 1983. Funk will now be the oldest person yet to fly into space. (ANS thanks Spacenews.com for the above information)

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 additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Store.

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. Contact info [at] amsat.org for additional student 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

ANS-178 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for June 27

June 27, 2021 by Mark Johns

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: [email protected]

You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

In this edition:

* AMSAT Announces Candidates for 2021 Board of Directors Election
* 39th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting Announced
* MIR-SAT1 Released into Orbit from the ISS on June 22, 2021
* MIR-SAT1 Platinum Award Winners
* ARRL Field Day: Active satellites listing
* FO-29 Operation Schedule for July 2021 (UTC)
* Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for June 24, 2021
* ARISS News
* Upcoming Satellite Operations
* Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
* Satellite Shorts From All Over

ANS-178 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 178.01
To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2021 June 27

AMSAT Announces Candidates for 2021 Board of Directors Election

The nomination period for the 2021 Board of Directors Election ended on June 15, 2021. The following candidates have been duly nominated:

Joseph Armbruster, KJ4JIO
Robert Bankston, KE4AL
Jerry Buxton, N0JY
Zach Metzinger, N0ZGO

To comply with AMSAT’s Bylaws, an election will be held via AMSAT’s Wild Apricot membership system. Instructions for voting will be emailed by July 15, 2021 to all members who are in good standing as of July 1, 2021.

As four seats on the Board of Directors are up for election this year, all four candidates will be seated on the Board when the voting period concludes on September 15, 2021.

(Note: If they have not already done so, members can instantly create their membership account at that same page so they can inspect their record. A membership account is not the same as an AMSAT Store account.)

[ANS thanks Jeff Davis, KE9V, AMSAT Secretary for the above information]

39th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting Announced

AMSAT is pleased to announce that the 39th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting will be held in late October at the Crowne Plaza Suites: MSP Airport – Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.

The Crowne Plaza Suites is conveniently located adjacent to the American Blvd station on the Metro Blue Line, providing easy access to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, downtown Minneapolis, and the Mall of America.

The AMSAT Board of Directors will meet prior to the Symposium.
Further details, including final dates, hotel reservation details, tours, and other events will be shared in the coming months.

[ANS thanks the 2021 Symposium Committee for the above information]

MIR-SAT1 Released Into Orbit from the ISS on June 22, 2021

From Jean Marc Momple, 3B8DU: “Deployment of MIR-SAT1 into orbit from the ISS on June 22, 2021 at 10:55 UTC was broadcast live on JAXA Youtube channel starting at 10:35 UTC (14:35hrs local time). URL:

A video clip is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqXMy3NDZn0

Awards are offered by the Mauritius Amateur Society (MARS) see URL: https://mars3b8.wordpress.com/news/ good luck and good hunt.

Daniel Estévez, EA4GPZ, adds: For those interested in decoding this satellite, I have put up a short video in collaboration with UNOOSA showing how to use gr-satellites and GQRX to decode MIR-SAT1:
https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/access2space4all/index.html
https://spacemauritius.com/

Chris Thompson G0KLA/AC2CZ adds: “I have released an updated version of the Pacsat Ground station which now does a better job displaying the decoded beacons from Mir-Sat-1. It also fixes several small bugs in the conversions and in decodes. This also fixes a bug that impacts FalconSat-3 file downloads in some cases.

Download it from here: https://www.g0kla.com/pacsat/index.php
Let me know any issues or problems you see. Please continue to download telemetry for Mir-Sat-1 during their commissioning period. All telemetry is sent to SatNogs assuming you check “Send Server Telemetry” on the File.

You can see that your Mir-Sat-1 telemetry was uploaded here: https://dashboard.satnogs.org/d/TaZh29gnz/mir-sat1?orgId=1&refresh=30s

A post launch comment by Jean Marc: “We got a superb media coverage in 3B8 and FR on TV about MIR-SAT1 promoting amateur radio role and contribution to the project. I confirm that MIR-SAT1 is alive and TLM has been received by many stations, the firsts being by US stations, I also decoded well the TLM with Chris PsatGroundstation V0.41b which was successfully uploaded to Satnogs.

I wish to thanks all who sent me personal messages or through Twitter that they received the first MIR-SAT1 signals, it was a great joy to have confirmation that the birds was alive.

I also wish to thanks many HAMs to have supported the project from its initial stage, just to name a few which have been instrumental to make it happen, namely Chris Thompson, AC2CZ, Daniel Estevez, EA4GPZ, Graham Shirville, G3VZV, Hans Blondel-Timmerman, PB2T, Pierros Papadeas, SV1QVE, and Patrick Dohmen, DL4PD, of Satnogs, but also many others worldwide and 3B8 peers who contributed in one way or another to make it happen.

I confirm that for the moment MIR-SAT1 is on TLM mode only and will keep all posted about progress.
As a personal note, today is a great day for me, just a childhood dream becoming true inspired by Neil Armstrong little step and well before obtaining my HAM license at the age of 16 and making my firsts satellite QSO on AO-07/AO—08 in 1980, thus enjoying the champagne right now writing. He adds:
“1) Thanks to all to who captured the signals of MIR-SAT1 and uploaded data to Satnogs DB, this is really useful to the MIR-SAT1 team.
2) 10 successful participants for the Platinum Award have been selected for having successfully uploaded at least a valid frame to Satnogs DB and applied for same, certificates will be issued and announcement of the winners will be published soon.
3) However, many have uploaded data to Satnogs but have not applied for the Award, they can still do so for the Gold certificate and their past upload data still valid, it a first come first serve game.
4) The telemetry frequency which was 4 minutes actually made it harder to decode particularly on low elevation, it is just a coincidence that it was set to 50 seconds for testing purposes when the Gold Award opens today (Platinum closed today).
5) The satellite is in good health and commissioning tests are being performed presently by the MIR-SAT1 team.
6) Digipeater and image broadcast activation date not yet decided as 5) above must be completed successfully and also having some more data about power available for same.
Will keep you informed”

ANS thanks Jean Marc Momple, 3B8DU, Daniel Estévez, EA4GPZ, and Chris Thompson G0KLA/AC2CZ for the above information]

MIR-SAT1 Platinum Award Winners

Winners of MIR-SAT1 Awards are:

S59ZM
PY4ZBZ
K4OZS
N6RFM
G8AFC
DK3WN
N8MH
JA0CAW
PU7ORD
3B8GL

Congratulations to them.

Their certificate has been sent by MARS a few minutes ago.

To note that the award criteria is based on following: First that one received telemetry of MIR-SAT1 and second the participation form on the MARS WEB has been submitted.

There are a few who successfully received MIR-SAT1 telemetry (even before the winners above) and uploaded same to Satnogs but have not submitted the participation form. They are still eligible for the Gold Award if they request same by filing their application on URL: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdCAAKTMtTmARDwrjIE_Coai1WR9b2zUFjBPFbOghMe63gqdg/viewform

Good luck for the Gold Award.

ANS thanks Jean Marc Momple, 3B8DU, for the above information]

https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF

ARRL Field Day: Active Satellites Listing

Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, has posted a list of the satellites likely to be active on Field Day at: https://www.amsat.org/satellites-likely-to-be-active-on-field-day-2021/

ARRL Field Day stations are reminded that only one satellite contact is admissable for the satellite “bonus” of 100 points. To assist as many stations as possible in their effort to make a contact, please make just a single contact and go to other modes. Please remember that satellites AO-7 and AO-91 HAVE POWER LIMITATIONS and should be accessed with care. Please note the limitations in the posted page and use those as operation guidelines.

Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, adds: “APRS operators, please note any errors on the operational status of APRS satellites as shown on this page: http://aprs.org/sats.html
I just updated it, so it will be a good resource for APRS satellites for Field Day”

[ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, AMSAT Executive Vice President, N8HM, and Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, for the above information]

FO-29 operation schedule for July 2021 (UTC)

Hideo Kambayashi, JH3XCU has posted the July operational schedule for FO-29 on the JARL website:

July
3rd 00:06- 10:20-
4th 00:55- 13:00-
10th 00:41- 10:57- 23:46-
11th 11:48- 13:32-
17th 01:15- 13:17-
18th 00:20- 12:23-
24th 00:05- 10:20- 23:12-
25th 12:58-
31st 00:39- 10:50- 23:44-
Aug.
1st 11:48-
Source: https://www.jarl.org/Japanese/3_Fuji/fuji3-202106.htm

[ANS thanks Hideo Kambayashi, JH3XCU, for the above information]

Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for June 24, 2021

The following satellite was deployed from ISS on 6-14-2021 and has been added to this week’s AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution:

MIR-SAT1 (Mauritian Infra-Red Satellite 1) was launched from the Japanese ISS Kibo module at 10:55 UTC on 6-22-2021. The NORAD Cat ID has not yet been determined. However, SatNOGS generated keps can be found on the Libre Space Community web site at: https://bit.ly/3vWRqF6

TLE (KEPS) have been updated and are available on the AMSAT website at: https://www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-resources/

[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above information]

ARISS NEWS: Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of June 27, 2021

No new sessions have been announced for the coming week. However the session for Ecole publique de Bellême in Bellême, Pôle scolaire Igé/Le Gué de la Chaine in Belforêt en Perche, and Ecole de Nocé in Perche en Nocé, was rescheduled for June 26, 2021 at 11:25 am CEST (Bellême, France) (9:25 am UTC, 5:25 am EDT, 4:25 am CDT, 3:25 am MDT, 2:25 am PDT).

Three schools in France will participate in this ARISS contact: Ecole de Nocé, Pôle scolaire Igé/Le Gué de la Chaine and Ecole publique de Bellême. These are rural schools about 90 miles west of Paris and will involve about 360 students, age 6 – 15 years old. The schools have partnered with the amateur radio club (callsign F4KLQ) in preparation for this contact. Student-members of the ham club receive training from the adult members who have knowledge in the fields of radio, aeronautical, and the space sciences. Ham radio workshops include the topics: Orne Sky Sat, the Yaourtocom 2000, SSTV, Morse code, radio communication, and radio directional finding.

[ANS thanks Dave Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS PR for the above information]

AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur
radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.

Support AMSAT’s projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/

Upcoming Satellite Operations

Quick Hits:

WY7AA: I will be in FN02 starting 6/6 for a few weeks. Operating Sats. holiday style. If you need FN01, FN02, FN03, FN12 please let me know and we can try to set something up. FN01,03, and 12 will likely each be one day roves. FM and SSB

EA4M: : Hi guys later in June I’ll be in IN73 on holidays, probably for a week or so, I will try some birds stay tuned on tweeter for schedules.

WA5RR: I’m looking at doing a rove in DL98 with an overnight stay in Eagle Pass, TX around the last week in June. Details to follow.

VP2V/K3TRM: I will be operating from Tortola, BVI as VP2V/K3TRM on July 4-17, 2021. Activity will be on 40-6M SSB & digital, and satellite.

N5LEX: CN98 last week of June.

DM62: K5TA, I’m tentatively planning for DM62 ~9-July, when there are are several good passes mid-day, making it a doable day-trip for me….

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager for the above information]

Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

Satellites on Field Day: Seth Kutzko, KX9X, made an outstanding presentation to the RATPAC group on Satellites and Field Day. The session was held on Thursday May 27 during a weekly RATPAC meeting. Seth presented more than just a “how to”, his tips and tricks were very valuable for new entrants and his cautions were particularly well taken. This presentation is a must for any Field Day group that is contemplating chasing the 100-point bonus. Dan Marler, K7REX has made the presentation, documents, and the video available:

To View Video: https://vimeo.com/556034517
To Download Video: https://vimeo.com/user107547861/download/556034517/954b837d38
To Retrieve Documents: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cktvhfz1lhvv8hr/AADzoAi0HiGccLLG6IdnY24Aa?dl=0Radio

AMSAT Ambassador Clint Bradford K6CLS is planning the following presentations:
Conejo Valley (CA) – October 21
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 includes are overviews of the ARRL, AMSAT, and ARISS … and pre-presentation questions are solicited and welcome. Send Clint an email or call!
Clint Bradford K6LCS, http://www.work-sat.com. Tel:909-999-SATS (7287)

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, AMSAT Italia, Dan Marler, K7REX RATPAC Leader and ARRL Idaho Section Manager, and Clint Bradford, K6CLS AMSAT Ambassador for the above information]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ A number of questions have been asked about the operation status of Falconsat-3. Mark Hammond N8MH reports: “I suspect that FS-3 has just “crashed” and needs some attention. Usually that involves getting it back to a primitive level of operation and testing, and then reloading all of the spacecraft’s software. So, it’ll take some time. But I really do think we can recover it. Last reload was over 3.5 years ago! It takes a lot of preparation and sometimes multiple attempts to get all software loaded and running. Keep the hope :). Probably a couple weeks. [ANS thanks Mark Hammond, N8MH, AMSAT Director and Command Station for the above information]

+ Tiangong has a crew, and China has a vision. Shenzhou-12 launched three Chinese astronauts on a Long March-2F from the Gobi Desert and ferried them to Tiangong (here’s a video of the docking). This means there are now two long-duration crewed habitats in Earth orbit for the first time since the 1970s when Skylab and Salyut stations both hosted humans on-orbit (Mir’s last crew departed just a few months before Expedition-1 arrived at the ISS). The three astronauts are slated to stay in the new station’s Tianhe core module for up to three months, breaking China’s 30-day record set during their last crewed spaceflight five years ago. [ANS thanks the Orbital Index for the above information]

+ A history of US research, development, and production of solar photovoltaic cells, which was driven by space applications early on. “In 1958, the U.S. Navy bolted solar panels to Vanguard 1, the second American satellite in space.” A commentary: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/06/why-the-us-doesnt-really-make-solar-panels-anymore-industrial-policy/619213/ [ANS thanks the Orbital Index for the above information]

+ CubeSat developments: Some interesting work in the CubeSat arena is documented at several links. Here are some discussions of:
Deployable mirrors: https://bit.ly/2TZNrdT
Wooden satellite construction: http://n.pr/2T3UqCd
Flexible tapemeasure antennas: https://bit.ly/3wSSmvH
[ANS thanks the Orbital Index for the above information]

+ A reminder for ARRL/AMSAT Field Day: JAMSAT has posted the FO-99 operating schedule for June at https://www.jamsat.or.jp/?p=1438 (ANS thanks JAMSAT for the above information)

+ Congratulations to Christy Hunter, KB6LTY, on working and confirming her 488th grid square in the continental United States. Christy worked John Brier, KG4AKV, operating portable in FM25 for the last grid she needed on June 11th. Christy is the 31st recipient of AMSAT’s GridMaster Award. More details about the GridMaster Award can be found at https://www.amsat.org/gridmaster/ [Thanks to Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director of Contests and Awards]

+ Congratulations to Jim Clary, ND9M. Jim is the 57th recipient of the AMSAT Rover Award. Jim applied for and received this award after working from numerous wet grids during his recent journey on the USNS Sgt. William R. Button through the Panama Canal to Saipan. More details about the AMSAT Rover Award can be found at https://www.amsat.org/amsat-rover-award/ [Thanks to Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director of Contests and Awards]

+ A new distance record has been claimed on TO-108. F4DXV completed a QSO with A65GC on 18-Jun-2021 at 08:55 UTC, covering a distance of 5,298.6 km. Also, a new distance record has also been claimed on the ISS crossband repeater. G0ABI worked VE1PK on 29-May-2020. This transatlantic QSO covered a distance of 4,403 km. All claimed satellite distance records can be found at https://amsat.org/satellite-distance-records/ [Thanks to Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, AMSAT Executive Vice President]

/EX

73 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space,
This week’s ANS Editor, Jack Spitznagel, KD4IZ
kd4iz at frawg dot org

ANS-171 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for June 20

June 20, 2021 by Mark Johns

The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information 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://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 dot org.

In this edition:

AMSAT Announces Candidates for 2021 Board of Directors Election
ARISS Slow Scan Television Event set for June 21-26, 2021
PSAT2 Improved Coverage Is Here (Updated)
MIR-SAT1 Schedule for Deployment from the ISS
The IARU Participating in the CEPT Working Groups
Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
Upcoming Satellite Operations
ARISS News
Satellite Shorts from All Over

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-171.01
ANS-171 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 171.01
From AMSAT HQ PO Box 27, Washington, DC 20044-0027
June 20, 2021
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-171.01

AMSAT Announces Candidates for 2021 Board of Directors Election

The nomination period for the 2021 Board of Directors Election ended on June 15, 2021. The following candidates have been duly nominated:

Joseph Armbruster, KJ4JIO
Robert Bankston, KE4AL
Jerry Buxton, N0JY
Zach Metzinger, N0ZGO

As four seats on the Board of Directors are up for election this year, all four candidates will be seated on the Board when the voting period concludes on September 15, 2021.

To ensure that they receive their voting instructions, members should make sure their current email address is up to date in AMSAT’s records. Members should log into the AMSAT Membership Portal at https://launch.amsat.org/ and check their account for their current email address. If a member has moved or changed their email address, they are encouraged to update their contact information at this time. (Note: If they have not already done so, members can instantly create their membership account at that same page so they can inspect their record. A membership account is not the same as an AMSAT Store account.)

[ANS thanks Jeff Davis, KE9V, AMSAT Secretary for the above information]

ARISS Slow Scan Television Event set for June 21-26, 2021

ARISS reports there will be an “Amateur Radio on Shuttle, MIR and ISS” Slow Scan TV (SSTV) event from June 21-26, 2021. Transmissions from the International Space Station will be on 145.800 MHz FM using the PD120 format.

The ARISS team will be transmitting SSTV images continuously from June 21 until June 26. The images will be related to some of the Amateur Radio activities that have occurred on the Space Shuttle, MIR space station and the International Space Station.

The scheduled start and stop times are:

Monday, June 21 – Setup is scheduled to begin at 09:40 UTC (transmissions should start a little later).

Saturday, June 26 – Transmissions are scheduled to end by 18:30 UTC.

The signal should be receivable on a handheld with a 1/4 wave whip. If your rig has selectable FM filters try the wider filter for 25 kHz channel spacing.

Those that recently missed the opportunity during the limited period of MAI transmissions should have numerous chances over the six day period to capture many, if not all 12, of the images.

Check the ARISS SSTV blog for the latest information at http://ariss-sstv.blogspot.com/.

Pass predictions for the ISS pass times are available at https://www.amsat.org/track/.

Useful SSTV info and links https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/iss-sstv/

[ANS thanks AMSAT UK for the above information.]

Join the 2021 President’s Club!
Score your 2″ 4-Color Accent Commemorative Coin with Polished Gold Finish,
Full Color Certificate and Embroidered “Remove Before Flight” Key Tag
By donating today at
https://www.amsat.org/join-the-amsat-presidents-club/
You won’t want to miss it!

PSAT2 Improved Coverage Is Here (Updated)

Bob Bruninga, WB4APR reports, WPSAT2 (NO-104) has been in a great operating period from June 10-22, 2021 in the northern hemisphere due to its highly elliptical orbit. Passes have been in the evening but moving earlier each day. Conversely, for the two weeks following, it will be low on the horizon for northern hemisphere mid-latitudes stations and favor the southern hemisphere.

“Normally its low inclination orbit (28 degrees) favors lower latitude locations. But the elliptical orbit assures that there are times, two weeks out of every month, when the elevation angle rises as much as 20 degrees to bring higher latitude stations into the footprint.

“PSAT2 has been enabled for APRS on 145.825 and it should be 4 times stronger (+6 dB) than PSAT. PSAT2 requires your radio to be in narrow band mode.

“Also it has the APRS-to-Voice enabled for your enjoyment. See http://aprs.org/psat2.html for how to use the A2V feature.

“Also enabled is the PSAT (NO84) digipeating. And its HF to UHF transponder is always on for PSK31. See http://aprs.org/psat.html for further information.

[ANS thanks Bob Bruninga, WB4APR for the above information]

MIR-SAT1 Scheduled for Deployment from the ISS

Jean Marc Momple, 3B8DU reports it now official that MIR-SAT1, the first Mauritius Amateur Radio 3B8 satellite, will be deployed from the ISS on June 22, 2021 at 10:55 UTC. The deployment will be made using the robotic arm on the Japanese Experiment Module nicknamed Kibo.

MIR-SAT1 is a 1U CubeSat mission with the following objectives:

1. Verify the performance of the on-board subsystems by receiving telemetry from the satellite and establish communication to and from the satellite (command and control).
2. Collect images of Mauritius and the Mauritian EEZ for capacity, building, experiment and research.
3. Experimental communication with other islands via the satellite (for scientific and/or emergency purposes), through a Radio Amateur digipeater payload.
4. V/U 9600bps GMSK digipeater may be open for Radio Amateur communication worldwide when the satellite not used for all above.

Further details can be found at https://spacemauritius.com.

Experimental decoders are already available:

+ AMSAT Pacsat Ground Station Software by Chris Thompson, G0KLA/AC2CZ is a decoder for the PacSat protocol, designed for FalconSat-3 now with support for Mir-Sat1. More information and the download is available at: https://www.g0kla.com/pacsat/index.php.

+ GR-Satellites by Daniel Estévez, EA4GPZ is a collection of GNU Radio decoders. More information and the download is available at:
https://github.com/daniestevez/gr-satellites/blob/master/python/telemetry/mirsat1.py.

These decoder will be used by local schools and Universities to capture the signals from the bird and hopefully create inspiration for our 3B8 youngsters to space science and STEM per AMSAT Ambassador program goals.

Jean Marc remarks, “It is so great to have the support of above experts. I wish to put on record my appreciation for the all the advice they provided to the 3B8 team and their fully unconditional support in the Ham spirit of brotherhood. ‘Grand merci Chris et Dani.’ Without you we ham’s will not have a clue about what is the status of the bird.”

In addition, the Mauritius Amateur Radio Society (MARS) is creating special awards open to all participating Hams/SWL’s worldwide. These awards will be issued to those decoding MIR-SAT1 telemetry and forwarding same to SatNOGS.

– A Platinum award will be issued to the first 10 ground station applying for MIR-SAT1 Award after having forwarded the telemetry to SatNOGS.
– A Gold award will be issued to the next 20 ground station applying for MIR-SAT1 Award after having forwarded the telemetry to SatNOGS.
– A Silver award will be issued to the next 30 ground station applying for MIR-SAT1 Award after having forwarded the telemetry to SatNOGS.
– A Bronze award will be issued to the next 50 ground station applying for MIR-SAT1 Award after having forwarded the telemetry to SatNOGS.

Complete information on the awards program can be found at https://mars3b8.wordpress.com/2021/06/19/mir-sat1-special-award/.

[ANS thanks Jean Marc Momple, 3B8DU for the above information.]

AMSAT’s GOLF Program is about getting back to higher orbits, and it all
begins with GOLF-TEE – a technology demonstrator for deployable solar
panels, propulsion, and attitude control, now manifested for launch on
NASA’s ELaNa 46 mission. Come along for the ride. The journey will be
worth it!

https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF

The IARU Participating in the CEPT Working Groups

IARU volunteers have been participating in the CEPT FM and SE Working Groups looking after the Amateur Radio and Amateur Satellite Service interests. CEPT WG-SE #88 took place during April and WG-FM #99 took place at the end of May.

The report from the IARU Region 1 site says:

WG-FM’s project teams tackle a wide range of civil spectrum applications and are developing important regulatory deliverables relating to wireless power transfer and the 23cm band RNSS coexistence topic amongst other things. Work on both these topics is ongoing.

The CEPT Radio Amateur Forum Group (RAFG) is hosted by WG-FM and is chaired by the IARU for the time being. Its main task is maintenance of the CEPT Recommendations TR61-01 and TR61-02. A proposal to merge the activities of the RAFG into project team FM58 (Maritime) has been made but the final decision has been held over until the next WG-FM meeting. The RAFG was tasked at this meeting with a new work item to consider the feasibility of developing an electronic database of CEPT wide amateur licensing documentation. This was supported by six administrations.
https://cept.org/ecc/groups/ecc/wg-fm/fm-radio-amateur-fg/client/introduction/

In WG-SE technical spectrum sharing studies are taking place covering;

• Wireless power transfer including consideration of electric vehicle charging (WPT- EV).
• UWB radiodetermination in 116 – 250 GHz.
• Vehicular radar systems in 77 – 81 GHz.
• Security Scanners in the range 60 – 90 GHz.
• 23cm band RNSS coexistence (related to the WRC item and reported in detail elsewhere)
https://www.iaru.org/spectrum/iaru-and-itu/wrc-23/agenda-item-9-1-topic-b/

Amateur service frequency bands are within the scope of all these studies and fall under the remit of the IARU R1 SRLC
https://www.iaru-r1.org/about-us/committees-and-working-groups/srlc/

A summary report of the WG-SE meeting is at
https://www.iaru-r1.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CEPT-WGSE88-April-2021-report.pdf

The WG-FM meeting is at
https://www.iaru-r1.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/WGFM-99-May2021-Report.pdf

Working Group FM Meeting 99 documents
https://cept.org/ecc/groups/ecc/wg-fm/client/meeting-documents/?flid=28918

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information.]

Upcoming Satellite Operations

EM72, June 21-25, 2021
N4DCW be there all week. Operating vacation style, but DM him if you need a sked. He’ll have a decent Eastern horizon for those on the other side of the Atlantic.

IN73, Later June
EA4M will be in IN73 on holidays, probably for a week or so. He will try some birds. Check Twitter for schedules.

DL98, Last week in June
WA5RR is looking at doing a rove in DL98 with an overnight stay in Eagle Pass, TX. Details to follow.

CN98, Last week of June
N5LEX

DN63, July 2, 2021; DN64, July 3, 2021
ND0C and KE0WPA along with their resident photojournalist (Mom/Amy) will be taking a family excursion to the southwest and working some sats as time permits. Among the less commonly worked grids from which they plan to operate are DN63 7/2, DN64 7/2 & 7/3. Check @kylee_ke0wpa for info.

Tortola, BVI, July 4-17, 2021
VP2V/K3TRM will be operating from Tortola, BVI on 40-6M SSB & digital, and satellite.

DM62, ~July 9, 2021
K5TA is tentatively planning when there are several good passes mid-day, making it a doable day-trip for him.

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR for the above information.]

ARISS News

+ Completed Contacts

Gagarin From Space. Performing a radio amateur session with school children in the city of Great Ustyug, Velikiy Ustyug, Russia, direct via UB1QBM.
The ISS callsign was RSØISS.
The downlink frequency was 145.800 MHz.
The astronaut was Oleg Novitskiy
Contact was successful on Saturday, June 12, 2021 at 09:15 UTC.

Collège Albert Camus, La Norville, France and Université Paris-Saclay, Saint-Aubin, France multi-point telebridge via ON4ISS.
The ISS callsign was FXØISS.
The downlink frequency was 145.800 MHz.
The astronaut was Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG.
Contact was successful on Thursday, June 17, 2021 at 11:40:45 UTC.

+ Upcoming Contacts

Ecole publique de Bellême, Bellême, France, Pôle scolaire Igé/Le Gué de la Chaine, Belforêt en Perche, France, and Ecole de Nocé, Perche en Nocé, France, multi-point telebridge via ON4ISS.
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be FXØISS.
The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 437.525 MHz.
The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG.
Contact is go for: Friday, June 25, 2021 at 08:34:42 UTC.

A multi-point telebridge contact means that each student will be on the telebridge from their own home.

+ Current Status of ISS Stations

IORS (Kenwood TM-D710GA) – STATUS – ACTIVE. supporting cross band repeater operation (145.990 up [67 Hz tone] /437.800 down MHz). Next mode change to packet operations targeting after Field Day. Supporting USOS scheduled voice contacts, packet and voice repeater ops.

Service Module radios:
Kenwood TM-D710E – STATUS – Radio usually off.
Supporting ROS scheduled voice contacts and SSTV.

Watch for possible operation mode change sometime after ARRL Field Day. Exact date and time TBD.
The latest information on the operation mode can be found at:
https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html

[ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N for the above information.]

Satellite Shorts from All Over

+ AMSAT Receives $403 from AmazonSmile

AMSAT has received its quarterly notification from AmazonSmile that it has made a charitable donation to the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, in the amount of $403.32 as a result of qualifying purchases made by its members who have selected AMSAT.

Thanks to AMSAT shoppers at smile.amazon.com, their everyday purchases have generated $7,097.98 in donations to the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation so far.

[ANS thanks AmazonSmile for the above information.]

+ Where are the Women in STEM?

Do you have a young lady in the family who is looking for ways to get involved in the world of science? When it comes to science influencers, Emily Calandrelli is a household name for a new generation of space enthusiasts. If you have kids, you may know her from “Emily’s Wonder Lab” on Netflix, which brought DIY science experiments into viewers’ homes during the pandemic lockdown. She’s also the long-running host of “Xploration Outer Space,” and a speaker and the author of the Ada Lace children’s book series. While Emily’s communication style is fun and accessible, she has a rigorous science and engineering background underpinning her work, with two master’s degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Check out Emily’s website, The Space Gal at http://www.thespacegal.com/women-in-stem for ideas on how to engage your youngster in the adventures of space.

[ANS thanks Via Satellite for the above information.]

+ Fly the SpaceX ISS Docking Simulator!

“Now arriving at docking port #1…” Think you have “all the right stuff”? The SpaceX ISS Docking Simulator lets you try your hand at safely docking your Dragon space capsule to the ISS. In fact, they say it is the exact same interface that astronauts use on the job. Be sure to check the instructions tab for a quick overview of how the controls work. It’s fun! Try your hand at it at https://iss-sim.spacex.com/.

[ANS thanks SPACEX for the above information.]

+ Chinese Astronauts Enter Tiangong Space Station for First Time

Three Chinese astronauts floated into the country’s new Tiangong space station Thursday, becoming the first people to board China’s outpost in orbit after a successful launch from a military base in the Gobi Desert to start a three-month mission. The three astronauts will spend the next three months testing systems on-board the station, three times longer than any previous Chinese human spaceflight mission. In total, China has now launched 12 astronauts into orbit on seven crewed Shenzhou missions since 2003.

Read the complete story at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-171-Tiangong.

[ANS thanks Spaceflight Now for the above information.]

Not an AMSAT member? Join now at https://launch.amsat.org/

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 additional benefits. President’s Club donations may be made at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-PresClub.

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 six post-secondary years in this status. Contact info at the amsat dot org for additional student membership information.

73,
This week’s ANS Editor,
Frank Karnauskas, N1UW
n1uw at amsat dot org

ANS-157 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins for June 6

June 6, 2021 by Mark Johns

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: [email protected]

You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/ans.amsat.org/

In this edition:

Call for Nominations – 2021 AMSAT Board of Directors Election
EASAT-2 and Hades Launch Delayed Again
Satellite Controllers Announce Schedule Changes
VUCC Awards-Endorsements for June 1, 2021
The AMSAT SA Dual Band 70cm/2M Yagi Mark II Now Available
No Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for June 3
Amicalsat 6 June S-band Transmission
ARISS News
Upcoming Satellite Operations
Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
Satellite Shorts From All Over

ANS-157 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 157
To: All RADIO AMATEURS
From: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation
712 H Street NE, Suite 1653
Washington, DC 20002

DATE 2021 June 6

Call for Nominations – 2021 AMSAT Board of Directors Election

AMSAT solicits nominations for the 2021 AMSAT Board of Directors election, to be held in the third quarter of the year. The seats of the following four incumbent Directors expire in 2021 and will be filled by this year’s election:

Jerry Buxton N0JY
Drew Glasbrenner KO4MA
Patrick Stoddard WD9EWK
Michelle Thompson W5NYV

Further, up to two Alternate Directors may be elected for one-year terms.

A valid nomination for Director must be written and requires either one Member Society or five current individual members in good standing to nominate an AMSAT member. Written nominations, with the nominee’s name, call sign, and contact information, as well as the nominators’ names, call signs, and contact information, should be sent to the AMSAT Secretary:

Jeff Davis, KE9V
1909 S. Batavia Avenue
Muncie, IN 47302-2044
ke9v at amsat.org

A copy should be sent to Executive Vice President Paul Stoetzer, at n8hm at amsat.org.

The AMSAT bylaws require that the nomination be written and in the form specified by the Secretary. The Secretary has elected to accept written nomination materials via mail or in electronic form, including e-mail or electronic image of a paper document. Fax transmissions cannot be accepted.

No matter what means are used, petitions MUST be received by the Secretary no later than June 15th. The Secretary will verify the qualifications of candidates and nominating members or Member Societies as petitions are received, and will notify candidates whether their nominations are in order by the end of June.

[ANS thanks Jeff Davis, KE9V, AMSAT Secretary, for the above information]

EASAT-2 and Hades Launch Delayed Again

Spain’s URE reports the launch of EASAT-2 and Hades satellites have suffered another delay

A translation of the URE post reads:

EASAT-2 and Hades, the communications satellites for radio amateurs built by AMSAT-EA, will not be able to be launched in June with SpaceX as planned, as the FAA (the American Aviation Administration) has rejected the license to the integrator Momentus Space, on whose orbital transfer vehicle Vigoride was to be mounted the AlbaPOD ejector from Alba Orbital, within which are the satellites of AMSAT EA, as well as other organizations and universities.

The reasons for the FAA’s rejection stem from the company’s capital structure, which, according to the American agency, could endanger the national security of the United States. The next launch opportunity could come in December.

EASAT-2 and Hades were to have been launched in January this year aboard a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket, but the Momentus license was also rejected by the FAA at the time.

Both satellites are FM and FSK voice repeaters, also having digitized voice recordings. Hades also incorporates an SSTV camera developed by the University of Brno in the Czech Republic and EASAT-2 incorporates as an experimental load a basaltic material from Lanzarote, similar to lunar basalts, provided by the research group on meteorites and planetary geosciences of the CSIC in the Institute of Geosciences, IGEO (CSIC-UCM) and that it could be used as a construction material on the Moon. This project was promoted and has the collaboration of the ETSICCP (UPM).

The frequencies coordinated with the IARU for both satellites are the following:

EASAT-2
• 145.875 MHz uplink, Modes: FM voice (without sub-tone) and FSK 50 bps
• 436.666 MHz downlink, Modes: FM voice, CW, FSK 50 bps, FM voice beacon with AM5SAT callsign

HADES
• 145.925 MHz uplink, Modes: FM voice (without sub-tone) and FSK 50 bps
• 436.888 MHz downlink, Modes: FM voice, CW FSK 50 bps, SSTV Robot 36, FM voice beacon with callsign AM6SAT

Source URE https://tinyurl.com/IARU-Spain

Read the May 2021 AMSAT-EA newsletter in English at
https://www.amsat-ea.org/app/download/12773993/AMSAT-EA-Boletin_05-2021.pdf

[ANS thanks Southgate ARC for the above information]

Satellite Controllers Announce Schedule Changes

AO-73
After several months of being in full Sunlight, AO-73 has now entered a period of eclipses. The transponder was commanded “on” on May 30, and the team will evaluate performance over the coming days. An initial check of telemetry suggests the Lithium Ion cells are functioning well and satellite power budget is nominal.

[ANS thanks David Bowman, G0MRF for the above information]

IO-86
Effective immediately the activation of FM voice repeater on IO-86 (the amateur payload on LAPAN-A2/ORARI satellite) will be reduced, to preserve the life of the repeater (already more than 5 years old) while waiting for the successor , the LAPAN-A5. If required for emergency communication, we will activate the repeater full as usual.

[ANS thanks Yono Adisoemarta, YD0NXX of the AMSAT Indonesia Technical Team for the above information]

NO-104 and NO-84
PSAT2(NO-104) will enter about 2 weeks of good USA coverage between about 10 to 22 June. Normally its low inclination orbit favors the southern USA. But the orbit is also elliptical and so there are times when the elevation angle to more northern stations rises as much as 20 degrees, bringing higher latitude stations into the footprint.

Currently it’s VHF Xponder has been in DTMF & APRS-to-Voice (A2V) mode but with the ISS digipeater being inactive, we will enable PSAT2 for normal APRS operations plus the A2V feature. Its HF/UHF transponder will remain in linear operation for PSK31 SSTV and Voice. See http://aprs.org/psat2.html for how to use the A2V feature.

We also note that PSAT(NO-84) has awakened from poor sun angles and we will try to activate its digipeater.

[ANS thanks Bob Bruninga, WB4APR for the above information]

FO-99
JAMSAT has published an updated operating schedule for NEXUS, FO-99, at https://www.jamsat.or.jp/

[ANS thanks JAMSAT for the above information]

VUCC Awards-Endorsements for June 1, 2021

Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period May 1, 2021 through June 1, 2021. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month!

CALL	May	June

WC7V	1232	1250
AA5PK	1074	1115
N8RO	1080	1096
N3GS	687	705
NS3L	681	695
K7TAB	627	656
WD9EWK(DM43)	640	650
N5BO	525	580
AC9O	475	549
AF5CC	477	525
K5IX	450	489
KS1G	413	427
W8LR	400	425
KJ4M	171	357
IK0WGF	258	324
DF2ET	250	300
N7ZO	250	275
N8URE(FM19)	243	263
KN2K	200	253
EA2AA	153	251
N3CAL	181	204
RA3DNC	110	142
AC9DX	100	141
N2ZN	120	135
VE3KY	103	128
DG9MA	New	125
KP4RV	105	125
SQ5NRY	New	105
NR1Z	New	104
KC1MEB	New	102
W4IPA	New	101
NU1U	New	100
XE1MYO	New	100

If you find errors or omissions. Please contact me off-list at <mycall>@<mycall>.com and I’ll revise the announcement. This list was developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for the two months. It’s a visual comparison so omissions are possible. Apologies if your call was not mentioned.
Thanks to all those who are roving to grids that are rarely on the birds. They are doing a lot of the work!

[ANS thanks Ron Parsons, W5RKN for the above information]

https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF

The AMSAT SA Dual Band 70cm/2M Yagi Mark II Now Available

AMSAT SA has launched Mark II of its dual band 70 cm/2 m handheld beam antenna with a new, easier to hold handle and improved coaxial terminations. The Yagi has been retuned for maximum performance in the amateur radio 2 m and 70 cm satellite bands. The coax cable is terminated crimped brass lugs instead of being soldered making it environmentally more robust. The driven element has been adjusted to accommodate the change in the connection. More about the Yagi. The antenna has a 50-ohm designed driver. The Yagi has a unique element called an ‘Open Sleeve’ which is a director very close to the driven element. The driven element is sized for 2 m. When operating on 70 cm the ‘Open Sleeve’ acts as part of the driven element on 70 cm (the third harmonic of 2 m).

The original concept was developed in 1946 by Dr J T Bolljahn of the Stanford Research institute but was not introduced into amateur radio until the 1950s. The AMSAT SA version is based on a design by DK7ZB with modifications by WB5CXC. The first South African version was a collaboration between Guy Eales, ZS6GUY and Gary Immelman, ZS6YI. It was developed for YOTA 2018 where young people successfully used the antenna operating satellites using hand-held transceivers.

The mechanical structure was redesigned by Gary Immelmann ZS6YI. A choke around the boom was added to isolate the antenna from the coax and reduce the effect human contact has on the antenna. A handle was added on the boom end which makes it more comfortable to hold and further isolates the antenna from the handler. The AMSAT SA Yagi is manufactured in one of Gary Immelmann’s factories in Vereeniging. It has two elements on 145 MHz and 3 elements on 435 MHz.

For its size, the antenna has excellent gain: 145 MHZ: 4.12 dBd or 6.3 dBi and 435 MHz: 6.23 dBd or 8.4 dBi. The Yagi is broadband with measured SWR being almost flat over the entire bands. The antenna is plug and play, no tools are needed except for soldering on a connector to suit the application. It comes complete in a carry bag with full instructions. This antenna can be assembled and dissembled in minutes. The price of the MKII Yagi is R400 for AMSAT SA and SARL members. Non-members pay R500 (approximately $36.75 US). The courier charge is R120 (approximately $9 US, Postnet to Postnet). Ask for a quote for other courier options. Find more details and order forms on http://www.amsatsa.org.za/

[ANS thanks AMSAT SA for the above information]

No Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for June 3

No amateur satellite additions or deletions have occurred in this week’s distribution.

However, TLE (KEPS) have been updated and are available on the AMSAT-NA website
at: https://www.amsat.org/keplerian-elements-resources/

or to receive a weekly TLE (KEPS) email, subscribe to the Keplerian Elements Mailing list (page 2) by clicking on “Keps” at: https://mailman.amsat.org/postorius/lists/?page=2

[ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager, for the above information]

Amicalsat 6 June S-band Transmission

The 6 June amicalsat will transmit a picture above Europe, US and Asia.

Here is when a transmission will start :
09:35 UTC
05:58 UTC
3:18 UTC

First CW is transmitted during one second, and then the frames follow. The RTC onboard is not very accurate due to high temperature change, allow up to two minutes drift on the time given. (because this is a planned task in the satellite)

The transmission will occur on the S-band coordinated frequency: 2415.300 MHz. Due to temperature and hardware limitation the frequency might be a little lower. The modulation of the S-band downlink is GFSK 1Mbps. The downlink signal is RHCP.

A picture transmission is about 3-5 minutes long.

[ANS thanks Christophe Mercier and Julien Nicolas, F4HVX, for the above information]

ARISS NEWS

The Father’s House Christian School (Home Education Provider: Roots), Morinville, Alberta, Canada, multi-point telebridge via VK4KHZ. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS.
The scheduled astronaut is Akihiko Hoshide KE5DNI
Contact was successful: Wed 2021-06-02 14:28:53 UTC 44 deg
Congratulations to the he Father’s House Christian School students and Akihiko
Watch livestream at https://youtu.be/S0_-QFkXdi4

About Gagarin From Space. Conducting an amateur radio session with school children of Mordovia, Russia, direct via TBD. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Novitskiy
Contact is go for: Sun 2021-06-06 12:25 UTC

College Maurice Genevoix, Couzeix, France, multi-point telebridge via ON4ISS. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be FXØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG
Contact is go for: Mon 2021-06-07 13:07:41 UTC 70 deg

MAI-75 SSTV Events:
MAI-75 will be conducting their experiment of transmitting SSTV images over specific orbits that overfly Moscow on June 9 and 10. Amateurs along the ground track of these orbits should have the opportunity to receive these images as well. Modes and targeted transmission periods are listed below.
SSTV images will be transmitted at 145.800 MHz using a Kenwood TM-D710 transceiver. They are expected to use the PD-120 SSTV format.
Wed 2021-06-09: 09:35 to 13:50 UTC
Thu 2021-06-10: 08:55 to 15:50 UTC

St. Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Bombala, NSW, Australia, telebridge via IK1SLD. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS
The downlink frequency is presently scheduled to be 437.525 MHz
The scheduled astronaut is Shane Kimbrough KE5HOD
Contact is go for: Thu 2021-06-10 10:45:26 UTC 80 deg

Lipetsk, Russia, direct via TBD. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Pyotr Dubrov
Contact is go for: Fri 2021-06-11 11:40 UTC

Velikiy Ustyug, Russia, direct via TBD. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Novitskiy
Contact is go for: Sat 2021-06-12 09:15 UTC

Lipetsk, Russia, direct via TBD
The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS
The scheduled astronaut is Pyotr Dubrov
Contact is go for Sat 2021-06-12 10:55 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]

AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur
radio package, including two-way communication capability, to
be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit.

Support AMSAT’s projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/

Upcoming Satellite Operations

Upcoming Roves:
Quick Hits:

EA4M: : Hi guys later in June I’ll be in IN73 on holidays, probably for a week or so, I will try some birds stay tuned on tweeter for schedules.

VE6WK: DN49: – I’m planning a SOTA rove to DN49 on June 12 and may hit some other grids on the way there/back.

AD0DX (VA3IIR) :Long Range Rover plans: VA3IIR in FN15/25 June 18 FM and SSB

WA5RR: I’m looking at doing a rove in DL98 with an overnight stay in Eagle Pass, TX around the last week in June. Details to follow.

VP2V/K3TRM: I will be operating from Tortola, BVI as VP2V/K3TRM on July 4-17, 2021. Activity will be on 40-6M SSB & digital, and satellite.

N5LEX: CN98 last week of June.

DM62: K5TA, I’m tentatively planning for DM62 ~9-July, when there are are several good passes mid-day, making it a doable day-trip for me….

Please submit any additions or corrections to Ke0pbr (at) gmail.com

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information]

Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events

AMSAT Ambassador and ARRL registered instructor Clint Bradford, K6LCS, has a presentation scheduled for 06/15 in East Massachusetts. See http://www.work-sat.com for details.

[ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, AMSAT Events page manager, for the above information]

Satellite Shorts From All Over

+ The International Space Station’s robotic arm, Canadarm2, was struck by a piece of space debris. But luckily, it appears to be only a flesh wound, and the arm has been cleared for nominal operations while analysis on the strike continues. NASA and Canadian Space Agency officials don’t know exactly when the arm was hit – or what hit it — but the damage was noticed on May 12 during a routine inspection. The hole is quite small, approximately 5 mm (.2 inches) in diameter. (ANS thanks Universe Today for the above information)

+ An absolutely mesmerizing and very instructional video graphic on the problem of orbital debris (ie. space junk), created by the European Space Agency, may be viewed at:
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2019/02/Distribution_of_space_debris_in_orbit_around_Earth
(ANS thanks Zach Metzinger, N0ZGO for the above information)

+ A Cargo Dragon capsule took off at 1729z Thursday, June 3, on top of a Falcon 9 rocket to begin a two-day trip to the space station. This was the:
• 120th Falcon 9 flight
• 17th SpaceX launch of 2021
• 22nd SpaceX cargo flight to ISS
• 130th launch from pad 39A
This mission is set to deliver experiments, food, spare parts, a NASA-sponsored CubeSat built by middle school students in Tennessee, and other equipment to the space station’s seven-person crew. The Dragon’s entire cargo load, including pressurized and unpressurized sections, weighs in at 7,337 pounds (3,328 kilograms). That makes it the heaviest supply shipment SpaceX has ever sent to the space station. (ANS thanks Spaceflight Now for the above information)

+ Among the equipment sent to ISS on the Cargo Dragon launch, above, was the first satellite to be built by the island nation of Mauritius. It will be deployed in June by the KIBO robotic arm. The callsign is 3B8MIR (MIR-1 meaning Mauritius Imagery & Radio-communication Satellite 1). Payloads are a camera and a digipeater (bent tube) which will be made available to the HAM community worldwide when satellite is not downloading images or used for experimental purposes, the uplink will be on 145.9875 MHz and the downlink on 436.925 MHz, 9K2 GMSK, as coordinated with IARU. More information will be available on (https://spacemauritius.com) soon. (ANS thanks Jean Marc Momple, 3B8DU, for the above information)

+ China’s robotic Tianzhou 2 cargo ship launched Saturday on top of a Long March 7 rocket and docked with the core module of the country’s space station eight hours later, delivering fuel, crew supplies, extravehicular spacesuits, and other gear in preparation for the arrival of three astronauts in June. (ANS thanks Spaceflight Now for the above information)

+ American intelligence officials have found no evidence that aerial phenomena witnessed by Navy pilots in recent years are alien spacecraft, but they still cannot explain the unusual movements that have mystified scientists and the military, according to senior administration officials briefed on the findings of a highly anticipated government report. While a forthcoming unclassified version, expected to be released to Congress by June 25, will present few other firm conclusions, senior officials briefed on the intelligence conceded that the very ambiguity of the findings meant the government could not definitively rule out theories that the phenomena observed by military pilots might be alien spacecraft. (ANS thanks The New York Times for the above information)

+ The team behind NASA’s InSight Mars lander has come up with an innovative way to boost the spacecraft’s energy at a time when its power levels have been falling. The lander’s robotic arm trickled sand near one solar panel, helping the wind to carry off some of the panel’s dust. The result was a gain of about 30 watt-hours of energy per sol, or Martian day. (ANS thanks Mars Daily for the above information)

73 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space,
This week’s ANS Editor, Mark Johns, K0JM
k0jm at amsat dot org