Category Archives: Space Radio

Amateur/Student Satellite, Space participation, Space Radio

AMSAT marks 30 years of amateur radio involvement in human spaceflight

An announcement from AMSAT:

AMSAT Celebrates 30th Anniversary of Amateur Radio Involvement in Human Spaceflight

The 31st Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting takes place 1-3 NOV 2013 at the Houston Marriott South at Hobby Airport.  Deadline for reserving rooms under the AMSAT Block is Wednesday, 16 OCT 2013.  Time is running out;  reserve your room directly with the hotel and register for the Symposium, the banquet, and special tours on the AMSAT Store!  Note: the special tour of Johnson Space Center scheduled for Monday, 4 NOV 2013 is booked and reservations are closed.  All Symposium activities online reservations will close 25 OCT 2013.

Dr. Owen K. GarriottA special highlight of this year’s Symposium is the celebration of the 30th anniversary of amateur radio involvement in human space flight and the evolution of amateur radio into a successful program on board the International Space Station. ARISS (Amateur Radio on the ISS) is an international program that supports educational outreach as well as provides an opportunity for informal contacts between astronauts/cosmonauts and amateur radio operators around the world.  The recent delivery of “Ham TV” equipment to the Columbus module by the European Space Agency is a reflection of the continued support that amateur radio holds for communicating with students.

Astronaut Owen Garriott, W5LFL on STS-9 in November 1983 was the first astronaut to utilize amateur radio to communicate with personnel on the ground, allowing the general public to speak with US astronauts from space, outside the communication channels of NASA’s Mission Control.

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Amateur/Student Satellite, Space Radio

AMSAT & ISS amateur radio news

Go to AMSAT News for the latest headlines about developments in amateur and student satellites and for updates about amateur radio on the ISS.

ANS 286 Weekly AMSAT Bulletin – Oct.12, 2013:
* AMSAT Celebrates 30th Anniversary of Amateur Radio Involvement in Human Spaceflight
* Keith Baker, KB1SF / VA3KSF signs off with final column for “Monitoring Times”
* Hams Collaborate to Greet Juno Spacecraft on Flyby; Results Are Pending
* SkySat-1 & SkySat-2 being shipped to Russia for upcoming launch
* RSGB Centenary Convention October 11-13, 2013
* STRaND-1 talk at RSGB Convention this Sunday, October 13, 2013
* Raspberry Pi at RSGB Convention
* AMSAT-UK FUNcube-1 Presentation at RSGB Convention
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts From All Over

Space Radio, Space Science, Space Systems

Juno Flyby today – Hams to send messages to the Jupiter spacecraft

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Today is Say ‘HI’ to Juno! Day in which amateur radio operators can send a message to the Mission Juno probe:

NASA’s Juno spacecraft will fly past Earth on October 9, 2013 to receive a gravity assist from our planet, putting it on course for Jupiter. To celebrate this event, the Juno mission is inviting amateur radio operators around the world to say “HI” to Juno in a coordinated Morse Code message. Juno’s radio & plasma wave experiment, called Waves, should be able to detect the message if enough people participate. So please join in, and help spread the word to fellow amateur radio enthusiasts!

This animation shows how Juno uses the earth’s gravity to get an assist

And this video has a description of the flyby from Juno team members:

The  JunoCam on the spacecraft is also taking pictures of the earth.

Update: Bill Nye of the Planetary Society gives a his explanation of how the probe uses the earth to get a boost to Jupiter:

http://youtu.be/3nj_xq8nfxE

Update 2: The fly-by may help solve a mystery: ESA and NASA stumped by cosmic mystery / Operations – ESA

Engineers hope that the new measurements will unravel the decades-old ‘flyby anomaly’ – an unexplained variation in spacecraft speeds detected during some swingbys.

“We detected the flyby anomaly during Rosetta’s first Earth visit in March 2005,” says Trevor Morley, flight dynamics expert at ESA’s ESOC operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany.

“Frustratingly, no anomaly was seen during Rosetta’s subsequent Earth flybys in 2007 and 2011. This is a real cosmic mystery that no one has yet figured out.”

Astronomy, Space films and videos, Space Radio

Jodie Foster narrates documentary on the Very Large Array radio astronomy observatory

Here’s a documentary video (embedding not allowed) about the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The video is narrated by Jodie Foster, who was seen at the VLA in the movie Contact: Beyond The Visible: The Story of the Very Large Array – Vimeo

Created in 2013 as the new interpretive film for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) public Visitor Center, this 24-minute production explores the synergies of technology and human curiosity that power the world’s most productive radio telescope. Narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Jodie Foster (star of the film “Contact,” which was based on the novel by Carl Sagan and filmed at the VLA), the program depicts many of the people whose diverse efforts enable the VLA to be a cutting-edge resource for astronomers and humanity worldwide.

For more information about the VLA, where we welcome visitors at no charge, visit public.nrao.edu. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

File:USA.NM.VeryLargeArray.02.jpg

Amateur/Student Satellite, Space Radio

AMSAT and ISS amateur radio news

Go to AMSAT News for the latest headlines about developments in amateur and student satellites and for updates about amateur radio on the ISS.

ANS 279 Weekly AMSAT Bulletin – October 5, 2013:
* AMSAT SYMPOSIUM – Procrastinator ALERT!!
* Space News in October CQ Magazine
* Cubesat Spaceport Coming to Jacksonville, Florida
* AMSAT-DL Satellite Symposium
* Two Ham Astronauts Depart NASA
* High altitude Ham Radio balloon to study comets
* Amateur Satellites in World Radio Online
* YURI UT1FG/MM ALERT!
* AMSAT Journal Call for Articles
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts From All Over