SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC1226
* SpaceNews 26-Dec-94 *


BID: $SPC1226


                               =========
                               SpaceNews
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                        MONDAY DECEMBER 26, 1994


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 IS READY FOR LAUNCH *
=============================
Unofficial word from UA3CR indicates the next Radio Sputnik satellite,
RS-15, is expected to be launched between 25-Dec-94 and 27-Dec-94.

Some information regarding the transponders and orbital parameters follow:

Name:      RS-15
Launch:    Rokot vehicle, refurbished SS-18. Baikonur
Orbit:     altitude  2300 km
           inclination  67 deg.
Uplink:    145.857 - 145.897 MHz
Downlink:  29.357 -  29.397 MHz,   Power  5 W
Beacon #1: 29.398 MHz,  CW,  Power  0.4 or 1.2 W
Beacon #2: 29.353 MHz,  CW,  Power same as Beacon #1
BulBoard:  2 Kbytes, CW
Antennas:  Dipoles
Weight:    70 kg
Attitude:  No space stabilization.

Walt, KE3HP, used OrbiTrack for the Macintosh to generate the following set
of pre-launch Keplerian elements for RS-15.  He used Baiknour as the launch
site and assumed that the launch will take place at 1200 UTC on December
25 (Merry Christmas!).  Note that the epoch time and elements correspond to
the first ascending node crossing after launch.  Doppler shift is for the
10-meter beacon only.

Satellite            RS-15 predicted
Catalog Number         99999
Int Des
Epoch                  94 359.57981592  12/25/94 13:54:56 UTC
Drag2                       0.00000000 Rev/Day^2
Drag3                       0.0000e+00 Rev/Day^3
BStar                       0.0000e+00
Ep Type                     0
Element Set                 0
Inclination                67.0000 Deg
RAAN                      311.4084 Deg
Eccentricity                0.0001152
Argument of Perigee       360.0000 Deg
Mean Anomaly                0.0000 Deg
Mean Motion                10.73887722 Rev/Day
Epoch Revolution            0

Semimajor Axis          8678.14 km
Precession              1.3232 Deg West/Day
Period                    134.09 Min
Apogee                   2301.00 km   1429.77 sm   1242.44 nm
Perigee                  2299.00 km   1428.53 sm   1241.36 nm

Ken Ernandes has computed an estimated rev 1 Earth-Fixed Greenwich (EFG)
state vector for the the final orbit of RS-15.  This vector was derived
from modeling based on the information provided:

Launch: Rokot vehicle, refurbished SS-18.  Baikonur.
Orbit:  altitude 2300 km
        inclination 67 degrees

The modeling required a lot of assumptions to which Ken provided his best
guess.  The vector is referenced to launch time; the time of injection to
the final orbit is estimated at approximately one hour after launch.

The data between the dotted lines may be read directly by VEC2TLE to estimate
the Keplerian Elements for RS-15 in NASA Two-Line (TLE) format.  Since the
vector is independent of launch time, you must provide VEC2TLE with launch
time (estimated or actual) for it to compute the corresponding Keplerian
Elements.  Current information indicates launch is planned on 25-27 December
1994.

Vector format = 10107
Satellite Name:         RS-15
Catalog Number:         99915
Epoch MET:                  0.04122685185
                           0/00:59:22.000 MET
EFG E:                       -3825.843782 km
    F:                       -4622.137081 km
    G:                       -6269.672658 km
    Edot:                     5.189101782 km/s
    Fdot:                     0.948668235 km/s
    Gdot:                    -3.865842563 km/s
ndot/2 (drag):              0.00000000208 rev/day^2
nddt/6:                       0.00000E+00 rev/day^3
Bstar:                        1.10925E-05 1/Earth Radii
Elset #:                                2
Rev @ Epoch:                1.64363267443

The VEC2TLE software is available from a variety of sources including
AMSAT-NA, the NASA Spacelink BBS (205) 895-0028 and at the following
Internet FTP addresses: oak.oakland.edu:/pub/msdos/hamradio/v2l9331.zip,
and at pilot.njin.net in the /pub/SpaceNews/software sub-directory.
VEC2TLE may be registered free of charge for hobby use.

To create a file for use by VEC2TLE, simply write the data between the
dotted lines to a new (text) file.  Ken recommends that the file you save
have a .VIF extension (default for VEC2TLE vector input files).


* HOLIDAY MESSAGE FROM MIR *
============================
The Cosmonauts on the Mir space station wish to pass along their best
wishes for the holiday season.  The following message was relayed by
N6JLH who received it from Mir using Amateur packet radio:

 Posted : 94/12/18 21:02
 To     : ALL
 From   : R0MIR
 @ BBS  :
 BID    :

 THE CREW OF THE SPACECOMPLEX "MIR" WISH ALL OF YOU MERRY CHRISTMAS AND
 HAPPY NEW YEAR. R0MIR - "VITYASI"

[Info via N6JLH]


* FO-20 ON MODE JA *
====================
The analog transponder on the Fuji-OSCAR-20 satellite was recently switched
ON and is providing some good contacts between Europe and the eastern United
States.  I hope to see you on FO-20 Mode JA!


* THANKS! *
===========
Thanks to all those who sent messages of appreciation to SpaceNews,
especially:

    IW1AM    PA3FDQ    W3PM    KC6WSJ    KB8FIR    Frank Weissferdt

...and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!


* FEEDBCK/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.


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