AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-237

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*** 2008 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting ***
*** October 24-26 in Atlanta, Georgia ***
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ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America,
The
Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS reports on the activities of a
worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in
designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital
Amateur Radio satellites.

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:




In this edition:
* AMSAT Symposium Registrations On The Web
* AMSAT Office Closed Aug. 25 - Sept. 2
* ARISS Contact Video Available
* ARISS Status - 18 August 2008

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-237.01
AMSAT Symposium Registrations On The Web

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 237.01
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
August 24, 2008
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-237.01

2008 AMSAT Symposium registration is now available via the AMSAT store.
The 2008 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting will be held October
24-26, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia. Please join us to learn about the latest
information on AMSAT programs and technical amateur satellite related
topics. Information can be found on the AMSAT web site at
http://www.amsat.org .

[ANS thanks Gould, WA4SXM, for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-237.02
AMSAT Office Closed Aug. 25 - Sept. 2

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 237.02
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
August 24, 2008
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-237.02

The AMSAT office will be closed from Monday, August 25th through Tuesday
September 2nd. I am going on vacation!!!

73- Martha

[ANS thanks Martha for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-237.03
ARISS Contact Video Available

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 237.03
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
Augugst 24, 2008
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-237.03

On August 19, the Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club (SBARC) made it possible
for
a local Boy Scout troop (Los Padres Council Troop 105) to contact the
International Space Station live via ham radio! The event began at 8:39 AM
local time and lasted about 10 minutes. The contact was made at the request
of
Dr. Gregory Errol Chamitoff Ph.D. (KD5PKZ) an astronaut currently stationed
on
the ISS. Dr. Chamitoff is an alum of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and is
friends
with assistant scout master John Schlesselmann. Several folks, including
local
hams and staff of the UC Santa Barbara physics department organized the
event

Two video recordings of the successful ARISS Contact are available.

http://nasa.id.ucsb.edu/
This was recorded by the University of California Santa Barbara

http://sbarc.camstreams.com/
This was recorded by WB9KMO and is playing constantly on a continuous loop.

Ken Owen, N6KTH, reports that, "We had a great contact today and even had a
chance to do an AO51 demo right before the ISS pass." More information
about
the contact is available on Ken's web page (www.n6kth.com)

[ANS thanks Ken, N6KTH, for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-237.04
ARISS Status - 18 August 2008

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 237.04
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
August 24, 2008
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-237.04

1. Upcoming School Contacts

Schulehaus Feld 1 in Richterswil, Switzerland has been scheduled for an
Amateur
Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Saturday, August
30
at 13:50 UTC. Telebridge station VK4KHZ in Queensland, Australia will assist
with the contact. Fifth graders covered the solar system and space in their
studies and prepared questions during their English classes. The ARISS
contact
will be part of a large public event covering several aspects of
communication.
The school will be part of a project involving radio clubs, the army, the
fire
brigade, rescue teams and many others. Reporters
from newspapers, television and
radio stations will be on site.


2. New Jersey Experienced Successful Contact

On Wednesday, August 13, the Town of Berkeley Heights, New Jersey Summer
Playground Camp participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space
Station (ARISS) contact. Greg Chamitoff, KD5PKZ, answered 16 questions of
10
campers, including two counselors, with 200
people in attendance. Sergei Volkov
also participated, answering one spacewalk
question. There was media coverage of
the event. To view the Alternative Press article, go to:
http://thealternativepress.blogspot....at-with-astron
aut-
greg.html

A video was taken of the event and posted on YouTube. See:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azBvExXlbsY


3. Training Session Contact Successful

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) training session
with European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andre Kuipers took place on
Tuesday,
August 12. Kuipers, training at Johnson Space Center (JSC), spoke with
students
attending the European Space Camp (ESC) in Belgium and answered all twenty
questions posed to him. The audio of this
contact was available on the Internet
Radio Linking Project (IRLP) Discovery Reflector.


4. ESC Radio Session Update

Astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, spoke with U.S. deployed soldier dependents
visiting the European Space Center (ESC) in
Belgium on August 5. The terrestrial
contact was arranged by the U.S. Army Installation Management Command
(IMCOM) -
Europe Region. IMCOM thanked ARISS for the contact and posted an audio file
of
the event to its Web site. To listen to the question and answer session,
click
on the following link and scroll to "Radio Highlights."
http://www.imcom-europe.army.mil/sites/local/


5. Reisman Debrief Held

On Wednesday, August 13, an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS) debrief session was held with Garrett
Reisman, KE5HAE. Valuable feedback
was provided to the ARISS team. Reisman was a
flight engineer on Expeditions 16
and 17.


6. Ham Radio Module Available on NASA DLN

The new NASA amateur radio Digital Learning Network (DLN) module is now
available. Information has been posted on the NASA Web site. See:
http://dln.nasa.gov/dln/content/cata...tails/?cid=634


7. ARISS on NASA ISS Science Site

NASA has posted updated information on the Amateur Radio on the
International
Space Station (ARISS) program to its International Space Station science
site.
See:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/st...nts/ARISS.html


8. ARRL Posts Article on ARISS

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) posted the
notice "ARISS Team Looking for
Ground Stations" in the ARRL Letter. See:
http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/08/0815/


9. ARRL QST Posts ARISS News

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) posted
Amateur Radio on the International
Space Station (ARISS) related activities in its September issue of QST.

Two items were listed in the column "Media Hits" on page 12.
One news story was about the Austin Amateur Radio Club sponsoring "the ARISS
contact with Blackland Prairie Elementary School and Cub Scout Pack 304
covered
by Fox 7 News, KVUE 24 News and News 8 Austin."

Another story covered the Electronic Engineering
Times who printed "an Under the
Hood feature, 'Extreme Design: SuitSat pushes engineers' limits' which
highlighted Amateur Radio technologies, engineering, and ARISS."


10. ARISS Member Gives Presentation on Ham Radio and Kids

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) member and Radio
Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) area coordinator Keith Pugh, W5IU,
gave a
presentation on amateur radio, space and kids at the 2006 Dayton Hamvention.
An
excerpt of his talk may be found on the Radio
Amateur Information Network (RAIN)
report for the week of August 15, 2008. To listen, go to
http://www.therainreport.com/

[ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, for the above information]

/EX


In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the
President's
Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project
Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms
are
available from the AMSAT Office.

73,
This week's ANS Editor,
Lee McLamb, KU4OS