Tag Archives: Space

Mar 16 2012

ARISS ham radio space contact planned with school in Ortona, Italy

Space station

Space station

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school contact has been planned Sunday 18 March 2012 at approximately 11.31 UTC with students at Istituto Tecnologico Statale Trasporti e Logistica “Leone Acciaiuoli”, Ortona, Italy.

The contact will be performed by the radio station IQ6LN and the downlink signal will be audible over Europe on 145.800 MHz FM.

The Ortona Maritime Institute “Leone Acciaiuoli” (I.T.N) is a technical high school preparing the students to a career as officer on merchant ships or to university studies in the field of engineering disciplines.
The subjects that characterize the I.T.N. programme are: Navigation, Astronomy, Celestial navigation, Satellite navigation, Telecommunications (including satellite telecommunications), Technical English, Nautical and Aeronautical Meteorology, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics and Physics. Many courses deal with matters related to space technologies. The student population is about 400.

The event will be broadcast in streaming video onhttp://www.livestream.com/AMSAT_Italia/

Students will ask as many of following questions as time allows.
1. Loris: We all believe you are special people working together to achieve one common great goal. Are you proud of the great moral and scientific value of your commitment?
2. Mauro: What is the relationship among you being forced to live together in a confined place for an extended period of time?
3. Pierluigi: What cultural requirements must an astronaut satisfy besides very hard physical and psychological training?
4. Andrea: Is it easier for astronauts to get used to being weightless or to get used to gravity again when they come back to Earth?
5. Antonio: What height is ISS orbiting at and why was this specific height chosen?

6. Nichol: How is the ISS flight path controlled?
7. Giada: When working outside the ISS how are you protected from the space environment and the risk of flying away?
8. Angela: How long does the voyage back down to the earth take? And how does it take place?
9. Iary: How do you feel when watching the earth from the spacecraft window?
10. Causarano: Do you think living in space might change your perception of the world and influence your future life on earth?

11. Agnese: People say human beings age slower in space than on earth. Is that true?
12. Tamara: How do days and nights alternate up there and how often do you see the sun rising?
13. Francesca: How do you receive news from the earth?
14. Federica: Do you ever happen to miss your ordinary life on earth while being up there?
15. Carmen: What does astronauts’ diet consist in and how is it usually prepared?

16. Giulia: How are water and oxygen generated on board?
17. Mario: What research are you doing and what benefits will result from it?
18. Matteo: We know you are growing plants on board. Why?
19. Alessia: How do you dispose of waste?
20. Francesco: Do you think people will travel to space in the next future?

ARISS is an international educational outreach program partnering the space agencies, NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, JAXA and CSA, with the AMSAT and IARU organizations from participating countries.

ARISS offers an opportunity for students to experience the excitement of Amateur Radio by talking directly with crewmembers on-board the International Space Station. Teachers, parents and communities see, first hand, how Amateur Radio and crewmembers on ISS can energize youngsters’ interest in science, technology, and learning.

Gaston Bertels, ON4WF
ARISS Chairman

Mar 14 2012

How to work the SSB amateur radio satellites such as VO-52

The SSB/CW linear transponder amateur radio satellites such as VO-52 are great fun to work but the technique required is different to that used for the FM satellites.

Simon 2E0HTS has produced a video showing how to make contacts through VO-52.

Using a home-made 10 element 435 and IO Loop for 145MHz, with a Yaesu FT-847. Simon – 2E0HTS, adjusts his (uplink) transmitted signal to correct the Doppler of the received (downlink) frequency whilst talking to fellow Ham operators around Europe. Thanks to the stations worked via the VO-52 satellite which were SP9FPP, PD0HF & SP6DCO.

Watch How To Make A VO-52 SAT QSO

Most linear satellites use what are known as ‘Inverting Transponders’ to reduce the Doppler shift. You transmit lower sideband (LSB) on the uplink and it appears as upper sideband (USB) on the downlink.

When working through linear transponders use as little power as possible, this will help extend the lifetime of the transponder and satellite batteries. As a guide ensure your downlink signal is no stronger than the satellite beacon. Low duty cycle modes such as SSB and CW are recommended.

The band plan for linear satellite downlinks is similar to what you’d expect on the HF bands with CW operation in the lower part of the downlink and SSB in the rest. Current satellite status can be seen at http://oscar.dcarr.org/

Since this video was made VO-52 has changed over to its Dutch SSB/CW transponder and now uses these frequencies:
Uplink:         435.2250 – 435.2750 MHz SSB/CW
Downlink:     145.9250 – 145.8750 MHz SSB/CW
Beacon:       145.8600 MHz CW

John Heath G7HIA wrote about operating through VO-52 in his article ‘Getting started on amateur radio satellites’ that was published by the Radio Society of Great Britain in the March 2007 edition of RadCom. Download the article at https://amsat-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/satellites_radcom_mar07.pdf
Copyright 2007 Radio Society of Great Britain. For personal use only – no copying, reprinting or distribution without written permission from the RSGB.

David A Palmer, KB5WIA, has written an article “Twins!  A Backpack-Portable Full Duplex Satellite Station with Dual FT-817ND’s” that can be seen at http://kb5wia.blogspot.com/2010/10/satellite-portable-station.html

SimpleSatLookDown satellite tracking software http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=8217

Mar 12 2012

GOMX-1 to test CubeSat Space Protocol

GOMX-1 is a student built amateur radio 2U CubeSat. The mission is being flown under the auspices of a Government research grant covering space related radio research. It will qualify a number of subsystems and provide extensive in-flight data.

A large number of future amateur/educational CubeSat missions depend on the important data that will be generated by this mission. This will help these mission teams across the globe to achieve higher reliability and improved utilization.

The mission will also test the use of the open source Cubesat Space Protocol (http://code.google.com/p/cubesat-space-protocol/) for a complete mission including the space link.

A camera payload will take color images of the Earth and an experimental Software Defined Radio receiver will be carried and its performance characterized.

More than 15 students at Aalborg University have been actively involved in the development of this payload as part of their semester projects.

It is planning to use GMSK telemetry with selectable 1k2/2k4/4k8/9k6 rates on UHF with approx 28dBm power to a deployed antenna. Launch is expected in late 2012 into a near sun syncronous orbit on a DNEPR rocket from Yasny in Russia with a number of other amateur radio satellites,  see Gunter’s Space Page http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_chr/lau2012.htm

GOMspace http://gomspace.com/

Mar 9 2012

New Horizons Stamp Drive

New Horizons stamp concept by Dan Durda

New Horizons stamp concept by Dan Durda

As fast as NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is heading toward Pluto, the drive to honor this historic exploration of the ninth planet is speeding toward its finish. Less than a week remains to put your name on the petition supporting an effort for the U.S. Postal Service to commemorate Pluto and New Horizons on a postage stamp.

In just over a month since the drive was announced, more than 10,000 people have signed the online petition. But mission leads would like to have many more signatures before they close out the list on March 13 – the 82nd anniversary of the announcement of Pluto’s discovery by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh.

Read the full story at http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/news_center/news/20120307.php

You can sign the petition at http://www.change.org/petitions/usps-honor-new-horizons-and-the-exploration-of-pluto-with-a-usps-stamp

Mar 7 2012

UK Space Agency boost for tomorrow’s tiny space tech.

Sixteen UK space labs and companies are set to benefit from the latest round of the UK Space Agency’s National Space Technology Programme (NSTP) which will spur innovation in the fast-moving area of space technology known as ‘cubesats’.Artist's impression of a CubeSat. Credit: AMSAT-UK.

Artist’s impression of a CubeSat.
Credit: AMSAT-UK.

Cubesats are tiny, low-cost spacecraft – weighing only a few kilos – which can be launched ‘piggy-back’ on larger spacecraft. Many of today’s cubesats are proving to be great educational projects helping students hone practical skills in building and operating satellites. However, with advances in technology, many experts believe they will also be used for cutting-edge science or operational uses in the future.

The UK is already the world leader in small satellites through Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL). Ten years ago, SSTL benefited from UK government investment helping it to grow into a world-class company. Today, the UK Space Agency is following the same road to space innovation by supporting cubesat technology. Already, UKube-1 – a sophisticated nanosat with an imager, scientific and educational payloads – is being built by leading cubesat company Clyde Space Ltd. in Scotland.

Now, eleven new research projects supported by £310k of grants from the National Space Technology Programme (PDF, 18 Kb)  will drive the next steps in British cubesat know-how.

“It’s going to be exciting to see what emerges”

Dr Chris Castelli, programme manager at the UK Space Agency explains: “We received 30 proposals to our recent competition and have now selected the best ones to fund. We’ve got a great range of ideas – from new technology such as wireless on-board monitoring and tiny thrusters to give cubesats their own manoeuvring capability; to practical uses such as bioscience and space-weather monitoring. All these ideas will feed into our thinking for a successor to UKube-1, which we hope to select in 2013. It’s going to be exciting to see what emerges.”

Cubesats represent only one part of the Agency’s innovation agenda which also encompasses giant communications satellites such as Alphasat and the exploration of the Universe through missions such as Herschel and Planck.

UK Space Agency logo
Mar 4 2012

RAMPART CubeSat to use propulsion

RAMPART CubeSat

RAMPART CubeSat

Students at Morehead State University are building an amateur radio CubeSat with a propulsion system that will raise the apogee of its orbit from 500 km to 1200 km.

RAMPART, which stands for RApidprototyped Mems Propulsion And Radiation Test CUBEflow SATellite, plans to launch on a Minotaur from Vandenburgh in June 2013.

It is a 2U CubeSat and will use a self-contained, warm gas, propulsion system to adjust satellite’s initial circular orbit of 500 km to an eliptical orbit with an apogee of 1200 km and perigee of 500 km at a 45 degree inclination.

RAMPART Thruster Design

RAMPART Thruster Design

It will demonstrate use of 3D printing (A.K.A. rapid prototyping) for manufacturing small satellites. Measure flux of energetic particles in lower Van Allen Belt. Test radiation-hardened electronic components and high performance solar cells in high radiation environment over a period of five years.

The students are proposing a UHF downlink of 9k6 GMSK AX25 packet. A downlink frequency of 437.325 MHz has been requested.

RAMPART NanoSat Paper http://ssc.moreheadstate.edu/missions/rampart/rampart.pdf

IARU Amateur Satellite Frequency Coordination Status Report http://www.amsat.org.uk/iaru