From: kd2bd@ka2qhd.DE.COM (John Magliacane)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: * SpaceNews 23-Nov-92 *
Date: 20 Nov 92 23:41:08 GMT
Organization: UCSD Usenet Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucsd.edu
Originator: daemon@ucsd.edu

SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC1123
* SpaceNews 23-Nov-92 *

Bulletin ID: $SPC1123


                              =========
                              SpaceNews
                              =========


                       MONDAY NOVEMBER 23, 1992


SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA.  It
is published every week and is made available for unlimited distribution.


* MAJOR EARTHWINDS BALLOON DAMAGE! *
====================================
An early morning EARTHWINDS launch attempt ended in disaster Friday
when an unexpected 30 MPH wind came up and *TOTALLY* destroyed the
inflatable dome housing EARTHWINDS.  The balloon was subsequently dragged
one half of a mile into the desert.

At this time, it is uncertain whether it can be repaired and/or re-built
before the launch opportunity expires in mid-February 1993.

[Info via N4MDC/5]


* FO-20 STATUS *
================
The latest Mode JA analog transponder schedule from Kazu Sakamoto,
JJ1WTK, is as follows:

25-Nov-92 01:30 UTC -to- 26-Nov-92 00:00 UTC
02-Dec-92 00:00 UTC -to- 03-Dec-92 00:20 UTC
09-Dec-92 00:25 UTC -to- 10-Dec-92 00:45 UTC
16-Dec-92 00:50 UTC -to- 17-Dec-92 01:10 UTC
22-Dec-92 23:25 UTC -to- 23-Dec-92 23:45 UTC
29-Dec-92 23:48 UTC -to- 30-Dec-92 00:07 UTC

The following beacon frames were received from Fuji-OSCAR-20 on 19-Nov-92
during a pass over New Jersey:

8J1JBS>BEACON <UI C>:
JAS1b RA 92/11/18 16:15:00
000 656 654 652 705 831 841 826 000 566
613 000 457 497 493 480 482 495 650 000
671 699 679 720 999 641 873 290 8FD 000
010 101 000 001 111 100 001 100 000 000

8J1JBS>BEACON <UI C>:
JAS1b M0 92/11/18 16:15:00
Mailbox is at your service from 92/11/05 00:45:00
The JD Transmitter is available in all orbits
during JD mode.


* STS-53 LAUNCH SET *
=====================
NASA managers officially targeted 02-Dec-92 for launch of the Space
Shuttle Discovery on its 15th mission.  The decision was made at the
conclusion of the STS-53 Flight Readiness Review at NASA's Kennedy
Space Center, Florida.  The launch window opens at 1159 UTC.

The primary payload for this ninth dedicated Department of Defense
(DoD) mission is designated DoD-1 and is classified.  Although there will be
no public discussion of the identity or purpose of DoD-1 operations before,
during or after the mission, a number of secondary experiments in the
cargo bay and in Discovery's cabin will be conducted openly throughout the
planned 7-day, 5-hour flight.

Commanding this 53rd Space Shuttle mission aboard the newly-
refurbished Discovery will be 48-year-old Navy Captain David Walker,
making his third Shuttle flight.  Sitting in the right seat will be Pilot
Robert Cabana, 43, a Marine Colonel making his second flight.

Three mission specialists will round out the five-man STS-53 crew:
Air Force Colonel Guion Bluford, 50, making his fourth flight; and two Army
Lt. Colonels -- James Voss, 43, making his second flight, and Michael
Richard Clifford, 40, flying into space for the first time.

[Info via Ron Baalke @ JPL]


* TEXAS BALLOON FLIGHT SCHEDULED *
==================================
The North Texas Balloon Project is proud to announce plans to
launch it's second weather balloon carrying amateur radio on
December 12th, 1992 at around 1500 UTC.  Although it has been
almost a year since the first launch, a great deal of
improvements have been made for the upcoming launch.

Flight stability has been of major importance and the second
mission will look very different.  First, the package enclosure
will be a capsule shape which will reduce cross-wind induced spin
and transfer center-of-gravity towards the bottom of the package.
Second, a hemispherical shaped parachute with an airflow hole in
the top-center was constructed to increase parachute stability.
And last, a balloon-to-payload separation function has been
incorporated to allow the package, parachute, and radar reflector
to be cut away from the balloon prior to balloon burst.
Hopefully, this will prevent the balloon remains from tangling up
with the parachute as happened on the first mission.

The second mission will include the following subsystems:

The 2m subsystem will transmit 700mW FM on 144.29 MHz through a
dipole antenna.  The information transmitted will cycle every 64
seconds and is divided into two 32 second segments.  During the
first 32 seconds, a digital voice recorder will provide station
identification and QSL information.  The second 32 seconds will
be used for telemetry and is sub-divided into four 8 second
segments.  Telemetry will be in the form of audio tones whose
frequency can be converted to battery voltage, inside
temperature, altitude, and outside temperature, in that order.

The 10m subsystem will transmit 40mW AM on 28.322 MHz through a
dipole antenna.  The information transmitted will be identical to
that of the 2m subsystem.  The 10m subsystem will also have an
emergency battery supply so that the package may still be
retrieved in the event of a failure of the main lithium battery
pack.  (Thanks to Bill Brown, WB8ELK, for the donation of the 10m
AM Fireball transmitter!)

The cut down system will utilize a 70cm radio and a dipole
antenna.  Of course, the remainder of the details of this
subsystem are being kept confidential.

A 35mm still camera will take a photograph every 4 minutes
throughout the flight.  The camera shutter will be activated by a
homebrew timer circuit.

A launch net will be held on a 40m frequency of 7.155 MHz (+/-
QRM) and will be in session prior to launch and throughout the
mission, including recovery.  The NCS will be Keith Pugh, W5IU.

If you would like an information package describing the flight
payload, including telemetry decoding graphs and equations,
please send an SASE with two units postage to Doug Howard -
KG5OA, 2517 Coldstream Drive, Fort Worth, Texas  76123.

[Info via KG5OA]


* 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
UUCP     : ...catfish.ocpt.ccur.com!ka2qhd!kd2bd
PACKET   : KD2BD @ NN2Z.NJ.USA.NA
INTERNET : kd2bd@ka2qhd.de.com  -or- kd2bd@amsat.org

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

--
John A. Magliacane                 FAX  : (908) 747-7107
Engineering & Technology Dept.     AMPR : KD2BD @ NN2Z.NJ.USA.NA
Brookdale Community College        UUCP : ...!rutgers!ka2qhd!kd2bd
Lincroft, NJ  07738  USA           VOICE: (908) 224-2948