Amateur/Student Satellite, Education, Space Radio

Student and amateur CubeSat news roundup – Feb.11.2020

February 11, 2020 TopSpacer

A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs (find previous smallsat roundups here):

** Arizona State Univ. Phoenix CubeSat set to deploy from ISS on Feb.12th. The first ASU undergraduate student built satellite, Phoenix will study Urban Heat Islands with observations of the earth using an infrared camera. The team welcomes help in visual tracking and amateur radio contacts.

After deployment, it will take some trial and error before we are able to confirm our spacecraft’s TLEs before we can comfortably predict its orbit. The more people who can help us spot our spacecraft, the sooner our operations phase can officially begin! If you would like to help listen for Phoenix, you can do so with the information below.

If you think you’ve heard from Phoenix and you are a member of the SatNOGS network, please publish your observation on the Libre Space community page, and tag @sarah_srogers in the post.

ASU Phoenix Cubesat Diagram — Component diagram of the ASU Phoenix Cubesat.

** Orbital Factory-2 communicates with the Univ. Texas at El Paso team that built the CubeSat in collaboration with Lockheed-Martin. The spacecraft was released into orbit via a Nanoracks deployment system on February 3rd from the Northrop-Grumman Cygnus cargo vehicle after it departed from the ISS. UTEP Successfully Communicates With Satellite to Cap Monumental Project – Univ. Texas at El Paso

Joel Quintana, Ph.D., research assistant professor of mechanical engineering and a UTEP alumnus, said 25 students from various engineering disciplines worked on the OF-2 project throughout the course of two years. He was with a group of those students at a cSETR research space provided by the City of El Paso near the UTEP campus as they waited on notification from OF-2.

“Seeing their excitement when the first ping came in when they were able to communicate with the satellite as it orbited over El Paso was priceless,” Quintana said. “They leave this program knowing how to design, build and test spacecraft, making them really high in demand and industry experts.”

With this milestone reached, cSETR will now set off on a set of new initiatives including the development of spacecraft capabilities for on-orbit manufacturing, and planetary and lunar exploration. The center will conduct this work concurrently with its primary mission of training El Paso talent and cultivating a space technology workforce.

** AMSAT news on student and amateur CubeSat/smallsat projects: ANS-040 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin

Clayton Coleman, W5PFG, Elected AMSAT President
Phoenix CubeSat Upcoming Deployment
New ISS Tour Video Goes Inside Cygnus NG-12
Changes to AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution
HuskySat-1 Gains Enthusiastic Following
Robert Bankston, KE4AL, Proposes amsatLink Project
10 US Schools Moved Forward in ARISS Selection Process
AMSAT at Yuma (Arizona) Hamfest, 14-15 February 2020
Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events
Upcoming Satellite Operations
Satellite Shorts From All Over

General CubeSat/SmallSat info:

** Jeff Dillon – Cubesat to Mars – 22nd Annual International Mars Society Convention [October 17-20, 2019]

** NASA’s Cube Quest Challenge Crowdsources Ideas for Deep Space CubeSats

Pushing the boundaries of space technology, NASA’s first in-space competition invites the public to design, build and launch small satellites capable of advanced operations near and beyond the Moon. Three winners from the ground competition, completed in 2017, are readying their CubeSats for launch on Artemis I, the first uncrewed flight of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft. Want to get in on the action? Additional teams can compete in the Deep Space Derby and Lunar Derby by securing their own launch opportunity. Explore more about NASA’s Cube Quest Centennial Challenge: http://www.nasa.gov/cubequest

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Activism, Roundup

Space policy roundup – Feb.10.2020

February 10, 2020 TopSpacer

A sampling of links to recent space policy, politics, and government (US and international) related space news and resource items that I found of interest (find previous space policy roundups here):

Webcasts:

** The Space Show – Sun, 02/09/2020 – Michael Listner discussed the art of “lawfare or war as a tool of law. Be sure to follow along with Michael’s PPT presentation loaded on our blog [Space Show Lawfare Presentation (Final ).pptx].”

** Space Policy Edition: Is the Moon a Stepping-Stone or a Cornerstone for Mars? (with Laura Seward Forczyk) | The Planetary Society

A new bill from the House of Representatives threatens to upend NASA’s Artemis program and refocus the space agency on sending humans to Mars by 2033. Space policy expert Laura Seward Forczyk joins the show to share her critiques of this proposed legislation and what it would mean for NASA’s human spaceflight program.

** Moriba Jah – Resident Space Objects and Orbital Collision Prevention – Cold Star Technologies – YouTube

On this episode on the Cold Star Project, hosted by Jason Kanigan, our guest is Dr. Moriba Jah. Dr. Jah had an amazing career as navigator of a number of NASA Mars missions, and is now Director, Computational Astronautical Sciences & Technologies, Oden Institute at the University of Texas at Austin.

** Creating better partnership between government and geospatial industry

** Rocket Ranch Episode 19: Launching Artemis

Sometimes, history inspires us. Sometimes, we find ourselves in the middle of history being made. Now, we are in the middle of the most aggressive push for the Moon since we landed there for the first time 50 years ago. Learn more from a conversation we had last year with NASA’s first female Launch Director, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson.

** February 5, 2020 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast | Behind The Black

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Activism, Space Policy, SpaceCasts

The Space Show this week – Feb.10.2020

February 10, 2020 TopSpacer

The guests and topics of discussion on The Space Show this week:

1. Monday, Feb. 10, 2020; 7 pm PST (9 pm CST, 10 pm EST) No special programming today.

2. Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020; 7-8:30 pm PDT (9-10:30 pm CDT, 10-11:30 pm EDT): Dr. Robert Zubrin returns regarding his recent Mars articles and news.

3. Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020: Pre-recorded Hotel Mars Program with John Batchelor. See Upcoming Show on The Space Show website for details.

4. Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020; 7-8:30 pm PST (9-10:30 pm CST, 10-11:30 pm EST): No special show today.

5. Friday, Feb. 14, 2020; 9:30-11 am PST (11:30 am-1 pm CST, 12:30-2 pm EST): We welcome back Lt. General Steven Kwast, USAF (Ret) for Space Force news and updates.

6. Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020; 12-1:30 pm PST (3-4:30 pm EST, 2-3:30 pm CST): We welcome back Rand Simberg for current topics and issues per Rand’s recent op-ed articles and more.

Some recent shows:

** Sun, 02/09/2020 – Michael Listner discussed the art of “lawfare or war as a tool of law. Be sure to follow along with Michael’s PPT presentation loaded on our blog Space Show Lawfare Presentation (Final ).pptx].”

** Fri, 02/07/2020 – Dr. Paul Davies talked about “his new book, The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life [Amazon commission link], the question of what is life, New Physics, space exploration and much more”.

** Tue, 02/04/2020 – Robert Zimmerman talked about “returning to the Moon, Congress, Artemis, private sector lunar landers, academic fraud in research and publication and much more”.

The Space Show is a project of the One Giant Leap Foundation.

The Space Show - David Livingston — The Space Show – David Livingston

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In Space Infrastructure, Living in Space, Space Systems

Videos: “Space to Ground” ISS report – Feb.7.2020

February 7, 2020 TopSpacer

Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:

** Christina Koch Undocks in Soyuz Crew Ship

** Christina Koch – Space Station Scientist

After almost a year in space, NASA astronaut Christina Koch is coming home. When Koch returns to Earth, she will have lived in space for 328 days, setting the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. During this record-setting mission, Koch spent many of her hours on science activities aboard the space station and wore many hats: farmer, biologist, physicist, engineer, test subject and many more. Learn more about the research being conducted on Station: https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science

** Christina Koch’s Memorable Moments: Part 5

328 days—nearly 47 full weeks in space—is the new record for the longest single spaceflight ever by a female astronaut or cosmonaut, set today by NASA astronaut Christina Koch as she completed her mission with a Soyuz landing in Kazakhstan. Koch talks about some of her cherished memories from a journey that has her now ranked seventh among NASA astronauts for cumulative time spent in space.

** Advice on Returning to Earth for Astronaut Christina Koch from Scott Kelly

After 328 days in space, NASA astronaut Christina Koch has returned to Earth, now holding the record for longest single spaceflight by a woman. Former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who holds the record for longest single mission by an American astronaut at 340 days in space, offers his advice on getting used to life back on Earth.

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Activism, Roundup

Space policy roundup – Feb.7.2020

February 7, 2020 TopSpacer

A sampling of links to recent space policy, politics, and government (US and international) related space news and resource items that I found of interest (find previous space policy roundups here):

Webcasts:

** Episode T+146: Loren Grush on Commercial Crew, Starlink, NASA Authorization, and More – Main Engine Cut Off

Loren Grush of The Verge joins me to talk about a whole host of current topics—SpaceX’s in-flight abort test, Starliner’s shaky first test and its fallout, space traffic, Starlink, the NASA Authorization bill, and why ”Space is hard” is the worst mantra.

** The Space Show – Tue, 02/04/2020 – Robert Zimmerman talked about “returning to the Moon, Congress, Artemis, private sector lunar landers, academic fraud in research and publication and much more”.

** A Great Space Observatory Goes Dark: The Legacy of Spitzer | The Planetary Society

The Spitzer Space Telescope, one of NASA’s four great space observatories, was decommissioned on January 30. Mat Kaplan celebrates its discoveries and legacy with three leaders of the mission in this special extended episode. Mars has a supporting role in the new Star Trek: Picard streaming series. Planetary Society Solar System Specialist Emily Lakdawalla says the Red Planet never looked better! And you’ll have a chance to win a great new book about the Spitzer Space Telescope in this week’s What’s Up space trivia contest.