Next ISS School contact -St Anthony's Parish Primary School, Australia

Space station
Space station

 

03 April at 08:15 UTC

St Anthony’s Parish Primary School, Canberra, Australia – Dan Burbank, KC5ZSX

Telebridge station VK5ZAI in Australia will call NA1SS at approximately 08:15 UTC.

 

St Anthony’s School is located in the suburb of Wanniassa, which is part of the central region of the Tuggeranong Valley in the Australian Capital Territory. Currently the school has an enrolment of 528 students with generally three classes in each of 7 Year levels from Kindergarten (the first year of primary school in the ACT) to Year 6. Our average class size is 1 teacher to 26 students. We have a strong Integrated Unit of Inquiry programs that primarily focus on authentic experiences that the ARISS program would facilitate.

 

Students will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:
1. What is the most interesting thing you have ever seen out of the Space Station window?
2. What do you love most about outer space and miss about home?
3. What are the challenges you face in zero gravity?
4. If someone is injured, what do you do?
5. What is your job in outer space?
6. Is there enough light in space or do you need to use special glasses?
7. I live really close to Tidbinbilla Space Tracking Station. Is Tidbinbilla involved with this mission?
8. How long can you stay in space before it effects your health?
9. I know you can see the Great Wall of China, but can you see any other interesting landmarks on Earth?
10. What do you do in space to entertain yourself?

As always, the ISS will be audible to anyone listening in on the 145.80 MHz downlink.

*Note* – for telebridge contacts, the ground station will NOT be near the school that is contacting the ISS.

Please note, the amateur equipment on the ISS will be turned off prior to the beginning of the contact. It will be returned to service as quickly as possible.

 ARISS is an international educational outreach program partnering the participating space agencies, NASA, Russian Space Agency, ESACNESJAXA, 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. Further information on the ARISS programme is available on the website http://www.rac.ca/ariss (graciously hosted by the Radio Amateurs of Canada). Information about the next scheduled ARISS contact can be found at http://www.rac.ca/ariss/upcoming.htm#NextContact.


Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Next ISS School contact -St Anthony’s Parish Primary School, Australia

Space station
Space station

 

03 April at 08:15 UTC

St Anthony’s Parish Primary School, Canberra, Australia – Dan Burbank, KC5ZSX

Telebridge station VK5ZAI in Australia will call NA1SS at approximately 08:15 UTC.

 

St Anthony’s School is located in the suburb of Wanniassa, which is part of the central region of the Tuggeranong Valley in the Australian Capital Territory. Currently the school has an enrolment of 528 students with generally three classes in each of 7 Year levels from Kindergarten (the first year of primary school in the ACT) to Year 6. Our average class size is 1 teacher to 26 students. We have a strong Integrated Unit of Inquiry programs that primarily focus on authentic experiences that the ARISS program would facilitate.

 

Students will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:
1. What is the most interesting thing you have ever seen out of the Space Station window?
2. What do you love most about outer space and miss about home?
3. What are the challenges you face in zero gravity?
4. If someone is injured, what do you do?
5. What is your job in outer space?
6. Is there enough light in space or do you need to use special glasses?
7. I live really close to Tidbinbilla Space Tracking Station. Is Tidbinbilla involved with this mission?
8. How long can you stay in space before it effects your health?
9. I know you can see the Great Wall of China, but can you see any other interesting landmarks on Earth?
10. What do you do in space to entertain yourself?

As always, the ISS will be audible to anyone listening in on the 145.80 MHz downlink.

*Note* – for telebridge contacts, the ground station will NOT be near the school that is contacting the ISS.

Please note, the amateur equipment on the ISS will be turned off prior to the beginning of the contact. It will be returned to service as quickly as possible.

 ARISS is an international educational outreach program partnering the participating space agencies, NASA, Russian Space Agency, ESACNESJAXA, 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. Further information on the ARISS programme is available on the website http://www.rac.ca/ariss (graciously hosted by the Radio Amateurs of Canada). Information about the next scheduled ARISS contact can be found at http://www.rac.ca/ariss/upcoming.htm#NextContact.


Tuesday, April 3, 2012

DQ0STRATEX VHF & UHF Balloon Mission March 10

DL, GERMANY
DQ0STRATEX is a special event call on the occasion of the stratospheric balloon project (StratexB) planned for March 2012 by the local DARC clubs Duelmen (N28) and Luedinghausen (N29). They plan to send an amateur radio load, consisting of an APRS and a speech beacon, to the stratosphere with this balloon project. Another payload will be added by the HAMs of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Bremen (I04) with an experimental ADS-B receiver. The special event station DQ0STRATEX is active in all modes on all bands between Jan 13,2012, and Jan 31, 2013, handing out the special DOK STRATEXB.

They have two balloon missions planned, on Mar 10 around 0930 UTC and on Mar 24 around 1600 UTC, both starting on the airport at Borkenberge near Luedinghausen.

The APRS beacon is transmitting on 144.800 MHz and the speech beacon in FM on 430.375 MHz. SWL reports are highly appreciated (also online).

QSL cards via DK4REX. See also: http://www.darc.de/distrikte/n/29

[ANS thanks the DXNL 1770 – Mar 7, 2012 DX Newsletter for the above information]


73 de JoAnne K9JKM
k9jkm@amsat.org
Editor, AMSAT News Service

Telebridge station ON4ISS in Belgium will call OR4ISS at approximately 13:11 UTC.

 Planned ISS contact Tuesday, March 6, 2012 13.11 UTC

The questions are asked by children who won the Ruimteschip Aarde (Spaceship Earth) competition. In this competition André Kuipers challenged them to turn their class room into a spaceship and to think very good about what they and their class mates needed to survive in space for a very long time. They showed their results in videos. In some of the questions the children refer to inventions they made for this competition, such as the Poep Brandstof Generator (Poop fuel generator, Q4) and the Geur Vergeet Geheugen Machine (a machine that makes it possible to smell forgotten scents from earth, Q6)
Hello Andre, this is Jasper Wamsteker of the Netherlands Space Office and the Ruimteschip Aarde project. I am here together with the proud winners of the first special mission of Ruimteschip Aarde. I see a lot of delighted and excited faces around me. The children here have a lot of questions for you, but first I have a question myself.
1. We can hear you, but we cannot see you. Please could you describe to us where you are at the moment?
2. Will it ever be possible that children go on al long space trip? Or would this be too dangerous for the growth and the strength of their bones and organs?
3. If you eat salt in space, does it affect your bone density?
4. For the competition we designed a PBG (Poop Fuel Generator). Poop is converted into fuel and thus used for relocation in space by the principle of action=reaction. Do you think the PBG can ever be made and used by astronauts on a space mission that takes several years?
5. How long can you survive in space in case no new provisions are brought?
6. For the competition we came up with the idea of the GVGM (Forgotten Scents Remembrance Machine). This helps you to smell and remember smells from earth. Which 3 scents would you like the GVGM to be able to reproduce?
7. You do a lot of experiments in the ISS. Which one has your preference?
8. Did you ever came up with an idea for an experiment yourself, that you would like to conduct in space?
9. What do you do in case the oxygen falls out?
10. Now that you are in space, do you read a science fiction novel there, or is that not necessary anymore?
11. Is there an experiment that you would like to conduct, but which you cannot do because of lack of time?
12. Is there a game that you and your fellow astronauts play together in your free time?
13. When you were launched, did you feel the high speed of the rocket?
14. Can you imagine what it would be like to be so far away that it is not possible anymore to see earth?
15. You travel to the ISS in a very small capsule. How can you take all your clothes with you?
16. Is there a device which can be used in the ISS, that you would like to be made?
17. What effects on your body do you experience now that you are in space?
18. Would you like to live in space forever together with your friends and family?
19. Do you ever have stomach ache as a result of lack of gravity?

COMPASS-1 Reset

Ken Eaton GW1FKY brings news that the reset attempt on COMPASS-1, late Tuesday, February 28, appeared to be successful.  Further information at http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=26334

At 20:27 Feb. 29 Mike DK3WN posted this update: Better news … Alan, ZL2BX could command COMPASS at 19:25 UTC – all thresholds commands were accepted.

COMPASS went into eclipse at 19:45 and into sunlight at 20:17 UTC. I sent the thresholds at 20:20 UTC and got an confirmation beep for all commands 🙂

So COMPASS is now in Emergency Mode and the beacon intervall is 8 minutes.

Fingers crossed….

Earlier Post Feb 28: COMPASS-1 needs your help

2012-02-27 23:16 UTC nothing heard JA0CAW
2012-02-27 23:38 UTC nothing heard VK5HI
2012-02-28 00:50 UTC nothing heard JA0CAW
2012-02-28 02:28 UTC nothing heard JA0CAW

2012-02-28 00:58 UTC FF032802180000210000900000 JA1GDE
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Solar Cell Voltage      5.00 V
Solar Panel 6 Cur (+Z)  18.82 mA
Solar Panel 2 Cur (+Y)  0.00 mA
Solar Panel 3 Cur (-X)  150.59 mA
Solar Panel 4 Cur (-Y)  12.55 mA
Solar Panel 5 Cur (-Z)  250.98 mA
EPS Reset Counter       0
Power Level Critical Battery Capacity Heater Active Battery Heater ON 
Power Safe Counter      0
Emergency Mode Counter  0
Battery Voltage         2.82 V
Battery Current         0.00 mA
Battery Temperature     0 °C
--------------------------------------------------------

That means COMPASS did a complete restart and the thresholds for heater and battery voltages should be new set.
Can anyone try to send the following DTMF sequences to COMPASS-1 (if in sunlight), please :

uplink:              145.980 MHz FM
confirmation beep on 437.275 MHz CW

** 13 # 200 #
** 14 # 200 #
** 15 # 178 #
** 16 # 170 #

If you have no possibilities to send DTMF tones with your transceiver, you can download here a very simple DTMF controller for COMPASS. Simply hold the microphone in front of your loudspeaker and press the buttons.

Download: http://www.dk3wn.info/files/compass_dtmf.zip

RS-39 telemetry and data

Riku, ZL1KLP reports via the AMSAT-UK FUNcube user group that “RS-39 Received loud and clear in NZ. Seems to be a successful mission”.

DK3WN SatBlog

RS-39 telemetry and data 05:34 UTC 435.315 MHz (TX A)

RS39 UBS 134 IBS 96 USUN 22 ISUN 0 ITXA 0 ITXB 0 TTXA 136 TTXB 135 TNAP 123 RS 39
RS39 UBS 133 IBS 117 USUN 22 ISUN 0 ITXA 0 ITXB 0 TTXA 135 TTXB 136 TNAP 133 TAB 138 MSEP 0 MCON 5 SMA 130 SMB 118 MRXA 2 MRXB 2 RS39
RS39 UBS 131 IBS 64 USUN 21 ISUN 0 ITXA 0 ITXB 106

data transmission on 435.215 MHz (TX B)