Author Archives: m0xtd

Dec 21 2011

Soyuz rocket blasts off for International Space Station A Russian Soyuz rocket, carrying three astronauts, has blasted off to the International Space Station from Kazakhstan.

The rocket carrying Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko RN3DX, Nasa astronaut Don Pettit KD5MDT and the European Space Agency’s Andre Kuipers PI9ISS lifted off under freezing conditions at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The crew, who will stay at the International Space Station until March, are on a mission to bring the station back up to full manpower after an August cargo launch accident disrupted flights.

The all-veteran crew is scheduled to reach the orbital outpost at 1522 GMT on Friday. They will join station commander Dan Burbank and two Russian cosmonauts who arrived last month, bringing the complex back to its full staff of six.

With the space shuttles’ retirement, Nasa is dependent on Russia to fly crews to the station, a service that currently costs the United States about $350 million (£222 million) a year.

The station, a $100 billion project of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada, is a multi-purpose research laboratory for biology, physics, astronomy and other studies that orbits about 240 miles above Earth.

Dec 20 2011

PW-SAT on BRITE TV

PW-Sat with antennas deployed

PW-Sat with antennas deployed

The Polish amateur radio satellite PW-SAT built by students at the Warsaw University of Technology was featured on BRITE TV.

The Internet TV channel BRITE TV, covers the construction of the first Polish scientific satellites BRITE-PL 1 – Lem and BRITE-PL 2 – Hevelius which will be part of the BRITE constellation. Sometimes the TV channel covers other topics related to space technology.

Episode 14 talks about the CubeSat PW-SAT, built by students of Warsaw University of Technology working with the Space Research Centre PAS, due to be launched on Vega at the end of January.

PW-SAT carries a single channel transponder that will operate in a similar way to the amateur satellite AO-16. The uplink on 435.020 MHz will be FM and the downlink on 145.900 MHz will use the BPSK telemetry beacon transmitter to produce Double Sideband (DSB) that can be received on an SSB radio.

Watch BRITE-TV – Episode 14 – PW-SAT (in Polish)

PW-SAT Blog http://ska.meil.pw.edu.pl/pwsat_blog_pl/?lang=en

PW-Sat to launch in January http://www.uk.amsat.org/2011/12/15/pw-sat-to-launch-in-january/

For more information on PW-Sat in Google English see http://tinyurl.com/CubeSatPW-Sat

BRITE Constellation http://www.univie.ac.at/brite-constellation/

BRITE-PL in Google English http://tinyurl.com/BRITE-PL

AMSAT-UK publishes a colour A4 newsletter, OSCAR News, which is full of Amateur Satellite information.
Free sample issue at http://www.uk.amsat.org/on_193_final.pdf
Join online at http://tinyurl.com/JoinAMSAT-UK

Dec 19 2011

AMSAT-UK FUNcube Dongle and EME

Bill Dzurilla, NZ5N demonstrates how to use the AMSAT-UK FUNcube Dongle to receive signals that have been bounced off the surface of the Moon.

Dec 19 2011

Cuban TV features Amateur Satellite Operation

Hector Luiz Martinez CO6CBF was interviewed on Cuban TV about his amateur radio satellite operating.

Hector, CO6CBF, got his first license at the age of 11 and has been licensed for 11 years. He first became interested in satellites when he heard about the deployment of Suitsat from the International Space Station and he began to search for information about space communications. He eventually built an antenna and made his first satellite contact on January 27, 2011 via the AO-51 satellite.

Since then he has had a contact with an astronaut on the International Space Station and was recently awarded the first satellite VUCC from Cuba. The satellite VHF/UHF Century Club (VUCC) is awarded for contacts with stations in 100 grid squares.

Hector is one of only three radio amateurs in Cuba who are active on the satellites.

Watch the Spanish language TV interview which starts with Hector assembling his satellite antenna

Dec 18 2011

Space Station School Contact Video

A video has been released of the contact between ISS commander Daniel C. Burbank KC5ZSX and students at Hirano Elementary school, Kobe City.

Watch ARISS ham radio contact with Hirano branch of Kobe Youth Nurturing Council, Kobe-city

Further information: http://www.southgatearc.org/news/december2011/ariss_event_1212.htm

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) http://www.ariss.org/

Dec 18 2011

Three Radio Amateurs to launch to ISS

NASA astronaut Don Pettit KD5MDT

NASA astronaut Don Pettit KD5MDT

On Wednesday, December 21, three radio amateurs will fly to the International Space Station (ISS) for a 6 month stay.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit KD5MDT, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko RN3DX and Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers, PI9ISS continue preparations for their planned Soyuz launch to the ISS on on December 21 at 0816 EST (1316 GMT).

The SpaceFlightNow web site posted a photo album of the ISS Expedition 30 crew this week during inspections and fit checks in the seats: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/exp30/111209fitcheck/

The European Space Agency has released a video of Andre Kuipers’ mission which can be viewed at:
http://spaceflightnow.com/station/exp30/kuipers.html

The Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft will be encapsulated in the aerodynamic shroud and then mated to its rocket booster next week in preparation for rollout to the launch pad on December 19. After launch the Soyuz will fly a two-day trek to rendezvous with the station for a planned automated docking December 23 at 1020 EST (1520 GMT).

These three hams are headed for a half-year mission aboard the ISS as members of Expeditions 30 and 31.

Source ANS

Watch the launch and docking live on NASA TV
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/december2011/nasa_tv_to_cover_launch_of_ham_radio_trio.htm