Category Archives: Space Radio

DIY space, Solar Science, Space Radio

ISEE-3 engines fired successfully

Congratulations to the ISEE-3 Reboot Project team on successfully firing the thrusters of the 36 year old International Cometary Explorer to spin it back up:

From Wednesday:

Today we fired the A and B thrusters on ISEE-3 to perform a spin-up burn. Preliminary results confirm the burn and a change in rotation. Spin rate was originally 19.16 rpm. It is now at 19.76 rpm. The original mission specifications call for 19.75 +/- 0.2 rpm- so we are exactly where we wanted to be.

We are now collecting telemetry in advance of our next DSN pass and our ATP-3 review with NASA. The earliest we expect to make our Trajectory Correction Maneuver is next week.

All in all, a very good day.

See previous posts here and here.

DIY space, Space participation, Space Radio

ISEE-3 Reboot Project – preparing for first thruster firing

The ISEE-3 Reboot Project is making progress towards resurrecting the International Cometary Explorer from its decades long hiatus in orbit around the sun. (See previous posts on the ISEE-3 reboot such as here and here.) Here is the news from yesterday: ISEE-3 Status 24 June 2014: We Almost Did The Spin-up Burn – Space College

During our session with Arecibo today we came very, very close to firing the thrusters on ISEE-3 for its spin-up maneuver. But we were not able to complete the process and fire the thrusters. The spacecraft was completely configured for a thruster firing during today’s pass. We reduced the number of pulses from 11 to 1 to make certain that we had the proper commands in place. If that engine firing proceeded successfully we’d follow with the remaining 10 pulses so as to spin up the spacecraft to the required rotation rate. As it happened we were unable to get confirmation on the very last command and put a halt to the procedure.

The spacecraft is in a safe mode – one that has been verified by telemetry. You can follow the real time Tweets of this session by looking at our Twitter account at @ISEE3Reboot. We are waiting for word of our next window at Arecibo. We are now confident that we will be able to perform the required thruster firings to spin up the spacecraft during the next opportunity.

And here is an entertaining article about the project and about the colorful Bob Farquhar who managed the original ISEE-3 program: For him, satellite reboot is about reconnecting with an old friend – Los Angeles Times.

Education, Space participation, Space Radio

Amateur Radio on the ISS (ARISS) going strong

The ARISS (Amateur Radio on the ISS)  activities were highlighted during the ISS Research & Development Conference held last week in Chicago: Amateur Radio Role on Space Station Featured at ISS Research and Development Conference – ARRL

ARISS is the first and longest continuously running educational outreach program involving the International Space Station. The first ARISS school contact took place in late 2000, and nearly 900 such Amateur Radio contacts have taken place since then. ARISS functions with participation from the ARRL, NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Russian Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS), CNES, JAXA,CSA and AMSAT. It allows students, as part of a science and technology curriculum, to speak with a member of the ISS crew and ask questions about life in space or other space-related topics.

ARISS conducts about 100 such school contacts per year, each about 10 minutes long — the time of a typical ISS pass — with students in the US and around the world. Preparation for the ARISS experience motivates both students and teachers to further their educations. Educators involved in an ARISS event can learn about electronics and wireless technology through the hands-on training provided in an ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology session — several are held each year. In similar fashion, youngsters preparing for a contact with an ISS crew member may learn about radio waves, space technology, science experiments onboard the ISS, geography, and the space environment. Some 15,000 students are touched directly by an ARISS contact each year, and many more become aware the program and its benefits either directly or via news media coverage resulting from an event.

See also the  ISS Fan Club for more about amateur radio on the ISS.

DIY space, Solar Science, Space Radio

ISEE-3 Reboot Project update

The ISEE-3 Reboot Project (see the recent post ISEE-3 Reboot Project takes command of the spacecraft) continues to make progress in the effort to resurrect and re-target NASA’s International Sun-Earth Explorer (ISEE-3) spacecraft, launched in 1978 to study the earth’s magnetosphere but re-targeted to study two comets.  the Reboot Project will try to return the spacecraft to its original job.

What a success in the control center looks like –  Arecibo Uncut: First Successful ISEE-3 Commanding – 

Amateur/Student Satellite, Space Radio

AMSAT, student sats, and amateur space radio – June.2.14

AMSAT News has the latest news about developments in amateur and student satellites and updates about amateur radio on the ISS.

ANS 152 Weekly AMSAT Bulletin – June 1, 2014:
* AMSAT Prepares for ARRL Centennial Celebration
* May/June 2014 AMSAT Journal is Ready
* First Call for 2014 AMSAT Space Symposium Papers
* AMSAT Forum and AMSAT/TAPR Banquet Videos from Dayton Hamvention
* Soyuz-2 Launch June 28 Satellite List
* Dnepr Launch June 19 Satellite List
* LituanicaSAT-1 FM Transponder Active until June 4
* SPROUT Slow Scan TV and Digitalker Active
* KLETSkous Linear Transponder Demonstration
* TshepisoSAT / ZACUBE-1, Six Months on Orbit
* 2014 FUNcube missions – May Update
* Shin-En2 Satellite Linear Transponder Frequencies
* Radio hams help attempts to command NASA spacecraft
* Upcoming AMSAT Events
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts From All Over

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Other amateur/student satellite and space radio news:

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A presentation about currently accessible amateur radio band satellites: Satellites on the Horizon, by Drew KO4MA – 2014 Dayton Hamvention –