Aalice.316
net.columbia
utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!ihnss!mhtsa!alice!sjb
Sat Dec 26 12:22:56 1981
AMSAT Satellite Report I:22
[I have posted this summary to net.columbia as well as net.ham-radio,
as it deals with satellites. Those of you who don't think it belongs
in the former, please tell me along with your reason; if a majority
of readers hold this view, I will not post it to net.columbia -- Adam]
The following is the first summary of the AMSAT Satellite report
that I have prepared. I will issue a new one each time I get
a new issue.
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A M S A T
S A T E L L I T E R E P O R T [sorry jcp!]
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14 December, 1981 -- Volume I, Number 22
SETI AND AMATEURS
---- --- --------
As we all know, Senator Proxmire has succeeded in finally wiping SETI
(Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) out of NASA's budget. This
places a big part of the chance of discovering such existence on
Amateurs. As we occupy many frequencies and many modes of trans-
mission, it is very possible that we will be the first to hear
any alien transmissions. However, AMSAT President Tom Clark,
W3IWI, remains doubtful: "They [amateurs] are at about a 100 dB
disadvantage. It could be 80 dB ... but it is a very big number ..."
``The implication is don't hold your breath.''
Orbital Updates
------- -------
``The following are recent updates on the orbits of AMSAT-OSCAR 8
and UoSAT OSCAR 9:
AO-8 Bulletin #601
Reference Epoch 81 329.53263883 (orbit 18987)
Inclination 98.7987
RAAN 358.5350
Eccentricity 0.0007639
Argument of Perigee 94.0929
Mean Anomaly 266.1105
Mean Motion 13.96365154
Mean Motion Derivative 5.55E-6 (Drag factor)
UO-9 Bulletin #50
Reference Epoch 335.82879893 (Orbit 852)
Inclination 97.4622
RAAN 296.9228
Eccentricity 0.0005440
Argument of Perigee 96.2604
Mean Anomaly 263.9592
Mean Motion 15.11362803
Mean Motion Derivative 0.00011492 (Drag factor)
Average Periods and Increments, from 16 Dec. to 23 Dec.
AO-8 Period: 103.17948 min Increment: 25.79703 deg
UO-9 Period: 95.31353 min Increment: 23.82897 deg
Reference Orbits:
16 Dec. 23 Dec.
AO-8 #19272 00:36:35 75.66 deg #19370 01:08:10 83.77 deg
UO-9 #1066 01:29:03 156.1 deg #1171 00:16:58 138.2 deg
Thanks to [our own!] KA9Q and W3IWI for this data.''
Phase III-B Launch Date Advances
----- --- - ------ ---- --------
The launch date for AMSAT Phase III-B has moved up to 6 July, 1982.
AMSAT officials consider this a ``mixed blessing.'' On the good side,
they find it encouraging to see the date move up, since usually
there are delays. It can also mean a little savings in staffing
expenses. But, it also takes away slack time for fixing any
problems that may appear. Right now, Phase III-B is to be
``shipped well ahead of the deadline.''
OSCAR Anniversary
----- -----------
On 12 December, 1960, OSCAR (Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur
Radio) was launched, beginning an era of Amateur Radio's presence
in space. This past 12 Dec. marked the start of that presence's
third decade. To date, 11 OSCARS (two Radio Sputniks included)
have been launched, with Phase III-B on the way soon!
--------------------
The AMSAT Satellite Report is a bi-weekly publication of the
Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. Material may be quoted
without permission as long as credit is given. Material in
two single quotes (``*'') is quoted directly from the bulletin,
while that in double quotes ("*") is an actual statement.
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gopher://quux.org/ conversion by John Goerzen <
[email protected]>
of
http://communication.ucsd.edu/A-News/
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article may be copied and distributed freely, provided:
1. There is no money collected for the text(s) of the articles.
2. The following notice remains appended to each copy:
The Usenet Oldnews Archive: Compilation Copyright (C) 1981, 1996
Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman.
