SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC0116 * SpaceNews 16-Jan-95 * BID: $SPC0116 ========= SpaceNews ========= MONDAY JANUARY 16, 1995 SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA. It is published every week and is made available for unlimited free distribution. * RS-15 NEWS * ============== Pat, G3IOR reports that in addition to a Mode 'A' transponder, RS-15 also a Mode 'K' and 'T' transponder. However, UA3CR repoorted that it will be kept in Mode 'A'. Sadly, RS-15 will be the last RS satellite. The funding for future RS satellites is gone. However, the UA facility will still build for future AMSAT etc, satellites. * H-II NEWS * ============= The H-II Rocket with the Space Flyer Unit (SFU) and Geostationary Meteorological Satellite-5 (GMS-5) aboard is scheduled to be launched as follows: 1. Primary Launch Date: February 22, 1995 2. Launch Windows: 17:10 to 19:30 JST 3. Alternative Launch Period: February 23 to 28, 1995 While the SFU was being prepared and tested for launch by H-II No. 3 at NASDA, Tanegashima Island Facility, a leak in the tubing of the attitude control equipment was found December 21. The leaking part was transported to MHI in Nagasaki plant December 27 for repair, and we found that the leak was caused by a crack (almost 2mm) in the welding. We repaired the welding (rewelded) and returned the part to NASDA Tanegashima Center on January 3, 1995. [Info from NASDA via Yoshiro Yamada] * NOAA-14 OBSERVATION * ======================= Oded, 4Z5BS, reports copying NOAA-14 on 137.620 MHz with excellent picture quality, and found a close correlation between the published Keplerian data for the satellite and its actual orbit. * MIR NEWS * ============ The following message from the cosmonauts on the Russian space station Mir recently appeared on their packet radio BBS and was copied by Toshio Tango, JR8XPV: Stat : PR Posted : 94/12/31 11:45 To : ALL From : R0MIR @ BBS : BID : Subject: HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERY OF YOU, WHO CONGRATULATED US WITH 1995, OUR CREW WISHES HEALTHY, LUKY AND HAPPINESS YOU, YOURS FAMILY AND FRIENDS. 17TH BASIC MISSION ON THE RUSSIAN SPACECTATION "MIR": COMMANDOR - A.VICTORENCO, BOARDENGINEER - H.CONDACOVA, PHYSISHEN-COSCIAN-INVESTIGATOR - V.POLYAKOV. R0MIR. Miles, WF1F, reports that the packet radio BBS on Mir is active and working well. The only problem is the TNC has only a 22 kilobyte message storage area and it fills up quickly. As a result, the crew has posted the following message: Stat : PR Posted : 95/01/13 08:37 To : ALL From : R0MIR @ BBS : BID : Subject: NOTE DEAR HAMS! PLEASE, AFTER READING YOUR OWN MSG, KILL IT! Miles reminds us that the Mir BBS should not be used in place of a Pacsat satellite or a terrestrial BBS. Terrestrial messages placed on the Mir BBS should include a packet radio return address, so responses can be directed by way of the packet radio network, and not the Mir space station. Also remember that the Mir PBBS can only accept one connection at a time. All other stations must STOP calling the Mir PBBS while a station is actively using the Mir PBBS. Calling the Mir PBBS, while someone else is logged in and trying to transfer data is poor operating practice and could be considered "intentional interference". And lastly, do not use computer software to automatically connect to R0MIR once packets have been received from Mir. Recently, tremendous interference was received from such an automated station after the Cosmonauts switched off the TNC and (unsuccessfully) attempted to make voice contacts. * SAT TRACKING FOR UNIX/LINUX * =============================== SatTrack V3.0 Release January 11, 1995 SatTrack V3.0 is ready to be released. This new version is an improved version of V2.0. The main addition is an X Window color graphics display. The distribution file can be obtained via anonymous FTP. Do the following: ftp 128.121.50.2 (ftp.jvnc.net) Name: anonymous Password: your_email_address ftp> binary (this line is important!) ftp> cd /priv/kupiec/incoming (do the 'cd' in ONE step!) or ftp> cd /priv/kupiec/sattrack (do the 'cd' in ONE step!) ftp> get sattrack.V3.0.tar.gz ftp> quit WARNING: If you want to save some of your special resource files of a previous SatTrack version, these will have to be saved somewhere else temporarily, because the procedure described below will overwrite these. However, the format of some of the resource files had to be changed to allow for extra features. The format of the new files may not be compatible any more with those from previous releases. Place the distribution file into your Unix home directory, 'uncompress' it (or, if the file name ends on 'gz', 'gunzip' it), and then type 'tar xvpf sattrack.V3.0.tar'. This will unbundle the distribution file and will create all necessary sub-directories. Then look into the documentation file 'sattrack.doc' in SatTrack/doc for instructions how to compile sattrack (and some other auxiliary programs). It should compile perfectly on at least Sun workstations with SunOS and Solaris, and on i386 laptops running Linux. Make sure the compiler and linker flags in the Makefile are configured properly! The author asks that he be informed of how the installation went and if any problems, bugs or imperfections were encountered, of if you have other suggestions. Manfred Bester Space Sciences Laboratory University of California Berkeley, CA 94720, USA (510) 642-8497 manfred@ssl.berkeley.edu * THANKS! * =========== Thanks to all those who sent messages of appreciation and holiday greetings to SpaceNews, especially: KA2AEV N2JUX G3IOR IK3WVJ ZS6BMN PS7JN PS7RT TG9IKE John Herndon * FEEDBACK/INPUT WELCOMED * =========================== Mail to SpaceNews should be directed to the editor (John, KD2BD) via any of the following paths: FAX : 1-908-747-7107 PACKET : KD2BD @ KS4HR.NJ.USA.NA INTERNET : kd2bd@amsat.org -or- magliaco@pilot.njin.net SATELLITE : AMSAT-OSCAR-16, LUSAT-OSCAR-19 MAIL : John A. Magliacane, KD2BD Department of Engineering and Technology Advanced Technology Center Brookdale Community College Lincroft, New Jersey 07738 U.S.A. <<=- SpaceNews: The first amateur newsletter read in space! -=>> /EX