Tag Archives: ISEE-3

Mar 31 2015

ISEE-3 Spacecraft on BBC World Service

BBC World Service Click Radio Show Audience - Credit Kate Arkless Gray

BBC World Service Click Radio Show Audience – Credit Kate Arkless Gray

Radio amateur Dennis Wingo KD4ETA along with freelance science writer and broadcast journalist journalist Kate Arkless Gray were on the BBC World Service Click radio show.

The show – Space and Citizen Science – was broadcast live from the BBC Radio Theatre, London on Tuesday, March 31, 2015.

Prior to the broadcast Kate Arkless Gray, who hopes to become an astronaut, tweeted:
“Goodness. Didn’t realise #BBCClickRadio was actually going out live. No pressure, says @billt [Bill Thompson], it’s only going to a third of the world. Ah”

Dennis KD4ETA described how in 2014 radio amateurs and other volunteers gained control of of the NASA-abandoned ISEE-3/ICE spacecraft. They even succeeded in firing the spacecraft thrusters. During the show Dennis managed to squeeze in a mention of amateur radio satellites and CubeSats.

The BBC description reads:

Our excitement over space has taken on new dimensions with nations such as India showing they too have the technical expertise and energy to mount a mission to Mars. Citizen Science has also shown how ordinary people can make important contributions to the space adventure.

Myriad groups of volunteers have launched their own ambitious projects: such as the team who decided to awaken a spacecraft, more or less forgotten by NASA; and another team who plan to build the first crowd-funded moon lander. In a special edition of Click, Gareth Mitchell and Bill Thompson are joined by a panel of experts to explore our fascination with Space, and to discuss how our knowledge of life beyond earth benefits from the input of volunteers and Citizen Science.

Listen to a recording of the show at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02mnn3c

Podcast http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/worldservice/digitalp/digitalp_20150331-2005a.mp3

Telegraph newspaper – Meet the British woman fighting to go into space
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/9937173/Meet-the-British-woman-fighting-to-go-into-space.html

ISEE-3/ICE Thrusters Fired
https://amsat-uk.org/2014/07/09/isee-3ice-spacecraft-fires-thrusters-for-a-return-to-earth/

Watch the presentation on ISEE-3/ICE given to the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium in July 2014 https://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/colloquium-2014/presentation-videos/

Aug 3 2014

ISEE-3 Presentation Video Now Available

ISEE-3 - ICE Spacecraft - Image credit NASA

ISEE-3 – ICE Spacecraft – Image credit NASA

Mario Lorenz DL5MLO and Achim Vollhardt DH2VA from AMSAT-DL Bochum gave a presentation on the ISEE-3 (ICE) spacecraft to the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium in Guildford, on July 26, 2014.

The video of the presentation which included a live demonstration of telemetry reception from the spacecraft can now be viewed on the web or downloaded to your PC. The presentation slides and a recording of ISEE-3 telemetry are also available.

The International Sun-Earth Explorer (ISEE-3) is a NASA spacecraft that was launched in 1978 to study Earth’s magnetosphere. It was repurposed and renamed the International Cometary Explorer (ICE) in 1983 to study two comets and has been in a heliocentric orbit since then, traveling just slightly faster than Earth. It’s finally catching up with Earth from behind with the closest approach expected in August, 2014.

Since NASA no longer has the capability to receive and command the spacecraft a group of amateurs, with NASA’s permission, decided to do it for themselves.

Bochum Amateur Radio Facility

Amateur Radio Facility at Bochum

On March 1-2, 2014 radio amateurs at the Bochum Amateur Radio Facility in Germany were able to detect the beacon signal from the spacecraft over a distance of 43 million km. After some changes to the ground equipment and aligning the receive antenna to the predicted position in the sky, the 2 GHz beacon signal could positively be identified due to its frequency, the position in the sky and the frequency shift due to the radial velocity (Doppler shift).

The 20m dish at Bochum was used to receive the signals. In 2003, AMSAT-DL converted this former industrial monument into a fully functional groundstation for deep space probes. Since 2009 the facility is being used by volunteers almost full time as ground receive station for data from the STEREO mission with its two spaceprobes monitoring the sun from different viewing angles.

In June Dennis Wingo KD4ETA and other volunteers succeeded in commanding the spacecraft using the Arecibo dish in Puerto Rico.

Links to the ISEE-3 presentation video, slides and a recording of the ISEE-3 telemetry signal are at
https://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/colloquium-2014/presentation-videos/

Watch 2014 ISEE-3 Reboot Trajectory by Mike Loucks

 

Jul 24 2014

ISEE-3 Spacecraft Presentation in Guildford on Saturday

ISEE-3 - ICE Spacecraft - Image credit NASA

ISEE-3 – ICE Spacecraft – Image credit NASA

Achim Vollhardt DH2VA and Mario Lorenz DL5MLO from AMSAT-DL Bochum will be giving a presentation on ISEE-3 (ICE) from 1:50-2:40pm (1250-1340 GMT) on Saturday, July 26 at the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, GU2 7XZ. The event is open to all.

It is hoped to have a live demonstration of telemetry reception from the spacecraft during the presentation.

The International Sun-Earth Explorer (ISEE-3) is a NASA spacecraft that was launched in 1978 to study Earth’s magnetosphere. It was repurposed and renamed the International Cometary Explorer (ICE) in 1983 to study two comets and has been in a heliocentric orbit since then, traveling just slightly faster than Earth. It’s finally catching up with Earth from behind with the closest approach expected in August, 2014.

Since NASA no longer has the capability to receive and command the spacecraft a group of amateurs, with NASA’s permission, decided to do it for themselves.

Bochum Amateur Radio Facility

Amateur Radio Facility at Bochum

On March 1-2, 2014 radio amateurs at the Bochum Amateur Radio Facility in Germany were able to detect the beacon signal from the spacecraft over a distance of 43 million km. After some changes to the ground equipment and aligning the receive antenna to the predicted position in the sky, the 2 GHz beacon signal could positively be identified due to its frequency, the position in the sky and the frequency shift due to the radial velocity (Doppler shift).

The 20m dish at Bochum was used to receive the signals. In 2003, AMSAT-DL converted this former industrial monument into a fully functional groundstation for deep space probes. Since 2009 the facility is being used by volunteers almost full time as ground receive station for data from the STEREO mission with its two spaceprobes monitoring the sun from different viewing angles.

In June Dennis Wingo KD4ETA and other volunteers succeeded in commanding the spacecraft using the Arecibo dish in Puerto Rico.

Admittance to the Colloquium is £10 a day. You can register in advance at http://shop.amsat.org.uk/shop/category_10/Colloquium-2014-Fri-25-July-to-Sun-27-July.html registration can also be done on the day.

The schedule and map is at https://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/colloquium-2014/

Live video streaming https://amsat-uk.org/2014/07/23/batc-to-webstream-space-colloquium/

Jul 9 2014

ISEE-3/ICE spacecraft fires thrusters for a return to Earth

ISEE-3 - ICE Spacecraft - Image credit NASA

ISEE-3 – ICE Spacecraft – Image credit NASA

AMSAT-DL report a team of engineers, space enthusiasts and radio amateurs have succeeded in firing the thrusters of the NASA-abandoned ISEE-3/ICE spacecraft.

The plan on Tuesday, July 8, was to fire the thrusters for a total of 7 sequences with breaks for telemetry analysis. While this would have resulted in a velocity change of 7 m/s, the course correction is required for the lunar swing-by on Aug 10, 2014 then to enter a stable orbit around Earth. However after the first firing sequence the remaining sequences were cancelled due to the returned telemetry data, which is being analyzed. A second attempt was planned for July 9.

The ISEE-3 Reboot Project (IRP) team attempted this main trajectory correction maneuver following a first short thruster firing on July 2, which increased the rotation rate of the spacecraft to the required value. This was possible due to international collaboration between the IRP, and a team of AMSAT-DL and Bochum observatory with its 20 m diameter radio telescope which received and processed critical real-time data of the maneuvers.

Amateur Radio Facility at Bochum

Amateur Radio Facility at Bochum

While the IRP has access to the Arecibo observatory which, at 305 m diameter, is the largest single-dish radio telescope in the world, downlink support from Bochum is required as Arecibo cannot transmit and receive simultaneously.

Two members of the AMSAT-DL Bochum team will be giving presentations on their reception of ISEE-3 at the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium on Saturday, July 26, 2014 at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, GU2 7XZ, United Kingdom. The event is open to all, further details at https://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/colloquium-2014/

Real-time telemetry from ISEE-3 is displayed at http://amsat-dl.org/

ISEE-3 http://spacecollege.org/isee3

Read the Daily Mail story at
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2684345/Zombie-spacecraft-rescued-abyss-fires-thrusters-time-20-years.html

Jun 2 2014

ISEE-3 Spacecraft Reboot Project Update

ISEE-3 - ICE Spacecraft - Image credit NASA

ISEE-3 – ICE Spacecraft – Image credit NASA

Dennis Wingo KD4ETA has released an update on the attempts by volunteers, including radio amateurs, to gain control of the NASA ISEE-3 spacecraft.

The International Sun-Earth Explorer (ISEE-3), a spacecraft that was launched in 1978 to study Earth’s magnetosphere and repurposed in 1983 to study two comets. Renamed the International Cometary Explorer (ICE), it has been in a heliocentric orbit since then, traveling just slightly faster than Earth. It’s finally catching up to us from behind, and will be closest to Earth in August, 2014.

In his report Dennis says that the spacecraft was successfully commanded into engineering telemetry mode and he mentions the work of radio amateurs Achim Vollhardt DH2VA (AMSAT-DL Bochum) and Phil Karn KA9Q.

[Achim Vollhardt DH2VA and Mario Lorenz DL5MLO plan to attend the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium in Guildford July 26-27 to give a presentation of their work. The event is open to all]

Regarding the possibility of Lunar impact Dennis says “If we can maneuver the spacecraft by June 17th we get the very small delta V number for the maneuver above. However, this starts to climb rapidly as the spacecraft gets closer to the moon. Also we cannot at this time rule out a lunar impact. It is imperative that we get a ranging pass as soon as possible. We also need time to not only evaluate the health of the spacecraft, but to test the systems, the catalyst bed heaters for the propulsion system, the valve heaters, analyze the rest of the propulsion, power, and attitude control system as rapidly as possible. This will be a lot of commanding so we have to move into high gear next week. This is a very fluid situation and we have made amazing progress, thanks to the support of those who believed in us in our crowd funding and the support of our NASA sponsors at NASA Ames and NASA headquarters. More to come soon!!”

Read the report at http://spacecollege.org/isee3/isee-3-reboot-project-update-bullseye-and-more.html

Watch ISEE-3 Reboot Project – Recovering a 30 year old space probe

ISEE-3 / ICE Telecommunications Summary
http://mdkenny.customer.netspace.net.au/ISEE-3.pdf

Dennis Wingo KD4ETA blog http://denniswingo.wordpress.com/

Can radio amateurs command the ISEE-3 / ICE spacecraft ?
https://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/19/can-radio-amateurs-command-the-isee-3-ice-spacecraft/

Radio amateurs receive NASA ISEE-3 / ICE Spacecraft
https://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/09/radio-amateurs-receive-nasa-isee-3ice-spacecraft/

Radio hams help attempts to command NASA spacecraft
https://amsat-uk.org/2014/05/21/radio-hams-help-attempts-to-command-nasa-spacecraft/

ISEE-3/ICE on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ISEE3returns

May 21 2014

Radio hams help attempts to command NASA spacecraft

ISEE-3 - ICE Spacecraft - Image credit NASA

ISEE-3 – ICE Spacecraft – Image credit NASA

An IEEE article describes how volunteers, including many radio amateurs, are attempting command a 35-year-old NASA spacecraft, the International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 (ISEE-3).

Rachel Courtland interviews Dennis Wingo KD4ETA about the project and mentions the Bochum facility where AMSAT-DL members will be using their 20 metre dish antenna to help establish communications.

Software-defined radio peripherals built by Ettus Research (founded by Matt Ettus N2MJI) have been purchased, which can be used to implement modulator and demodulator programs that would once have had to be built in hardware.

Read the IEEE article at
http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/aerospace/satellites/space-hackers-prepare-to-reboot-35-year-old-spacecraft

The Watts Up With That website has a more detailed article on the project. The section about the AMSAT-DL Bochum facility mentions two of the team, Achim Vollhardt DH2VA and Mario Lorenz DL5MLO. The problems caused by ITAR are noted.

Read the Watts Up With That article ISEE-3 Reboot Project: Aiming for First Contact at
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/05/15/update-isee-3-reboot-project-aiming-for-first-contact/

Watch ISEE-3 Reboot Project – Recovering a 30 year old space probe

ISEE-3 / ICE Telecommunications Summary
http://mdkenny.customer.netspace.net.au/ISEE-3.pdf

Dennis Wingo KD4ETA blog http://denniswingo.wordpress.com/

Can radio amateurs command the ISEE-3 / ICE spacecraft ?
https://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/19/can-radio-amateurs-command-the-isee-3-ice-spacecraft/

Radio amateurs receive NASA ISEE-3 / ICE Spacecraft
https://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/09/radio-amateurs-receive-nasa-isee-3ice-spacecraft/

ITAR restrictions on US radio amateurs to be eased
https://amsat-uk.org/2014/05/19/itar-restrictions-to-be-eased/

ISEE-3/ICE on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ISEE3returns