AMSAT News posts the latest on developments in amateur and student satellites and for updates about amateur radio on the ISS.
ANS 138 Weekly AMSAT Bulletin – May 17, 2014:
* ARISS to the MAX
* The LituanicaSAT-1 team operational during the weekend of May 17-18
* Island of Miquelon Activation on Satellites: July 5-15 FP/KV1J
* From Holiday Inn to Outer Space
* FUNcube-1 AO-73 satellite SSB signal test
* BBC: ‘Pocket spacecrafts’ to become a reality
* 2015 NASA Aeronautics Scholarships
* NASA History Program Office Fall 2014 Internships
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
===
More links:
- ICE, Thrice, Maybe – Kentucky Space
- ARISS International Partners Regroup at First In-Person Meeting since 2011 – ARRL.org
===
Unfortunately, the KickSat nanosat reentered the atmosphere before it was able to release its 104 tiny Sprites chipsats. The clock reset event reported earlier could not be undone. Project leader Zach Manchester says KickSat-2 will incorporate the lessons learned: KickSat — Your personal spacecraft in space! by Zachary Manchester » Updates — Kickstarter –
KickSat reentered the atmosphere and burned up last night some time around 9:30 PM EDT (01:30 UTC). Unfortunately, we were not able to command the Sprite deployment in time. While we are certainly disappointed that things did not go as planned, I think we still have a lot to be proud of.
Over 300 people from all over the world came together to make KickSat happen. We built a spacecraft, tested it, and launched it. Hundreds of people had their names flown in space, more than a dozen radio amateurs were able to receive signals from KickSat’s beacon radio, and volunteers collected and processed telemetry data and predicted KickSat’s orbit and reentry. This kind of participation is exactly what KickSat is all about and I’m glad we all got to share in this experience.
We’ve learned a lot from KickSat, and I plan to take those lessons and build an even better KickSat-2. This is only the beginning! Thank you all for your amazing support over the past two years. I hope you’ll stick with us as we continue to try to make space something everyone can take part in.
===
Here is the audio of a BBC program about nano and pico satellites (recorded before the KickSat had its clock problem): ▶ BBC Radio 4 – Today, 15/05/2014, ‘Pocket spacecrafts’ to become a reality