AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-279

************************************************** ************
*** 2008 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting ***
*** October 24-26 in Atlanta, Georgia ***
************************************************** ************

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 Just Weeks Away
* First Chinese Amateur Radio Satellite to be launched in June 2009
* General Astrodynamics Library v0.4.0 Released
* Falcon 1 Rocket Successfully Launches to Orbit
* ARISS Status - 29 September 2008

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-279.01
AMSAT Symposium Just Weeks Away

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 279.01
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
October 5, 2008
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-279.01

The 2008 AMSAT Space Symosium in Atlanta, GA is
just weeks away, October 24-26.
This promises to be a very interesting symposium
with presentations scheduled on
a wide range of topics from the simplest operations with an HT to some of
the
latest ideas on digital communications. Every orbit; LEO, MEO, Geo and
beyond
will be covered. There will also be an extended general membership meeting
as
well as the ever popular Field Ops Breakfast.

Martha reminds everyone that room block with the
special $125 per night rate for
the 2008 AMSAT Space Symposium will be gone on October 8th. PLEASE make
your
reservations as soon as possible. The phone number is 404-231-1234.

The AMSAT board meeting preceeds the Symposium at the same hotel Oct 23-24.

[ANS thanks the 2008 Symposium Committee for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-279.02
First Chinese Amateur Radio Satellite to be launched in June 2009

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 279.02
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
October 5, 2008
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-279.02

Michael Chen, BD5RV/4, reports that he recently received an update from
Alan,
BA1DU, on the progress of the first Chinese amateur satellite. Things are
now
going smoothly. This satellite was formerly named CAS-1 and is now XW-1. It
carries a beacon and three cross band transponders: FM, linear, and digital.

The satellite is planned to be launched into a Sun synchronous orbit in June
2009 by a CZ-2C rocket in Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in North China.

[ANS thanks Michael, BD5RV/4, for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-279.03
General Astrodynamics Library v0.4.0 Released

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 279.03
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
October 5, 2008
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-279.03

Version 0.4.0 of the General Astrodynamics Library has been released.
It can be downloaded from the project website he

http://homepage.mac.com/pclwillmott/GAL/index.html

Updates in this release:

Higher precision ephemerides for the Sun, Planets, and Pluto.
Implemented using VSOP87. Heliocentric and barycentric routines for
position and velocity provided.

Support added for classical Keplerian models, circular, elliptical,
parabolic, and hyperbolic orbits and trajectories supported. Keplerian
propagation implemented using the Universal formulation.

Release includes some additional support files, and minor updates.

Work continues with the atmosphere, and remaining force models.

The General Astrodynamics Library (GAL) is a numerical library for C
and C++ programmers. It is free software under the GNU General Public
License.

The library provides a wide range of astrodynamical routines such as
ephemerides, earth orientation, and orbit propagation. There are over
250 functions in total with an extensive test suite.

[ANS thanks Paul, VP9MU, for the above information]
/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-279.04
Falcon 1 Rocket Successfully Launches to Orbit

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 279.04
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
October 5, 2008
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-279.04

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) announces that Flight 4 of the
Falcon 1 launch vehicle has successfully launched
and achieved Earth orbit. With
this key milestone, Falcon 1 becomes the first privately developed liquid
fuel
rocket to orbit the Earth.

"This is a great day for SpaceX and the culmination of an enormous amount of
work by a great team," said Elon Musk, CEO and
CTO of SpaceX. "The data shows we
achieved a super precise orbit insertion-middle of the bull's-eye - and then
went on to coast and restart the second stage, which was icing on the cake."

The Falcon 1 lifted off at 4:15 p.m. (PDT) / 23:15 (UTC) from the Reagan
Test
Site (RTS) on Omelek Island at the U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) in the
Central Pacific, about 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii.

Preliminary data indicates that Falcon 1 achieved an elliptical orbit of 500
km
by 700 km, 9.2 degrees inclination-exactly as targeted.

Falcon 1 carried into orbit a payload mass simulator of approximately 165 kg
(364 lbs), designed and built by SpaceX, specifically for this mission.
Consisting of a hexagonal aluminum alloy chamber 1.5 meters (5 feet) tall,
the
payload remains attached to the second stage as it orbits Earth.

For more information about the Falcon family of vehicles, and to watch the
archived video of the Falcon 1, Flight 4 launch, visit the SpaceX website at
www.spacex.com

[ANS thanks SpaceX for the above information]
/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-279.05
ARISS Status - 29 September 2008

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 279.05
From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
October 5, 2008
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-279.05

1. Upcoming School Contact - Status

The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) team continues
its
work on scheduling the next school radio contacts.


2. ARISS - UK School Contact, Successful

Students attending the Michael Sobell Sinai School in Harrow, Middlesex, UK
experienced an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)
contact
on Thursday, September 25 via telebridge station WH6PN in Hawaii. Eleven
students asked astronaut Greg Chamitoff, KD5PKZ,
15 questions before an audience
of 200. The audio was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT server and received 15
connections from seven countries. Four television stations covered this
event.
The BBC article may be viewed he
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/e...on/7636229.stm


3. Astronaut Training Status

Shannon Walker, KD5DXB, participated in an ARISS (Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station) training session on Monday, September 22. She
plans to support ARISS activities when she flies on a future ISS Expedition.


4. ARISS International Meeting Held

The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) team held its
monthly teleconference on September 23. Discussions covered the flight
backup
ARISS equipment, including the Kenwood D700 radio, which is expected to be
swapped out at the end of the month. Other items on the agenda were Richard
Garriott's ARISS schedule and SuitSat-2 progress. The minutes have been
posted
to the ARISS Web site. See: http://www.rac.ca/ariss/arisstel2008-09-23.htm


5. CLC Posts Garriott Press Release

The Challenger Learning Center (CLC) has posted a
press release covering Richard
Garriott and his upcoming Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS) contacts with CLCs across the country. See:
http://www.challenger.org/about/medi...?release_id=79

[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