En ny satellit med amatörradio beräknas skjutas upp den 11 december.
GeneSat-1 Launch Planned for December 11
A Star is Flown
GeneSat-1 will launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS)
at NASA Wallops Flight Facility on December 11, 2006, about 7:00am EST.
It will go into orbit as a secondary payload aboard a Minotaur launch
vehicle. GeneSat-1 is a 10 x 10 x 30 cm. spacecraft, which will conduct
a cellular biology technology demonstration.
Of particular interest to the amateur radio satellite community, is the
GeneSat-1 beacon. Operating at 437.075 MHz FM, the beacon sends an
AX.25 packet every 5 seconds; the packet contains data about the
spacecraft systems operation. The beacon will initiate transmission as
soon as the spacecraft is deployed from its carrier on the 4th stage of
the launch vehicle.
The mission website at http://www.genesat1.org will be fully operational
as of December 5; look there for general mission and spacecraft
information, for how to contact GeneSat Mission Operations, and for the
latest orbit data and other information needed to work the GeneSat-1 beacon.
Let The Games Begin
To foster interest in the amateur community, and to support amateur
radio and space technology outreach to student groups, the GeneSat
Mission Team is sponsoring a contest, with entries made by uploading
packets received onto the mission website. Recognition and awards will
be made as follows:
Grand Prize: A radio station set up for satellite tracking! The rig
will be donated by the Silicon Valley Center for Robotic Exploration and
Space Technology (CREST) at NASA Research Park to the college or
university of the winner’s choice. The honor of choosing the recipient
school goes to the station that logs 12 or more data packets each (about
1 minute’s worth of listening) from the greatest number of satellite
passes during the experiment.
The recipient school must be approved by CREST management, based on
demonstration of suitable infrastructure and licensed amateur(s)
available to operate and maintain the station, and available
connectivity from CREST for remote support and operation. The station
will be installed with the cooperation of CREST staff. The winners also
will receive a commemorative plaque for station team members and
pictures and recognition on the GeneSat-1 website. In case of a tie the
station with earliest initial packet submittal will win the right to
designate the recipient school.
First Contact Prize: The station submitting the first packet after
initiation of transmission will receive the First Contact Prize. They
will receive a commemorative plaque and mission pins for station team
members and pictures and recognition on the mission website.
The First 20 stations to post packets will receive mission pins and a
certificate of recognition from the GeneSat Mission Operations Director.
All Contestants who submit one or more packets will receive an
electronic QSL card from the mission web site upon submission of data.
[ANS thanks Mike, KE7EGC and the GeneSat-1 team for the above information]