ARISS PLANS DO-OVER OF SLOW-SCAN TV TRANSMISSIONS OVER FEBRUARY 15 – 17 WEEKEND - Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is planning another popular slow-scan television (SSTV) event in the wake of an SSTV experiment last weekend, during which signals were reported to have been weak. Even so, more than 5,500 images were submitted. Transmissions are scheduled to begin on Friday, February 15, at 0845 UTC and run through Sunday, February 17, at 1725 UTC. “The ARISS team wanted to give the community another opportunity to download the SSTV images we developed for you, given the weak-signal situation that occurred last weekend,” said ARISS-International President Frank Bauer, KA3HDO. He clarified that the same 12 images transmitted last weekend will be used for this weekend’s experiment. More (Source: http://www.arrl.org/news/ariss-plans-do-over-of-slow-scan-tv-transmissions-over-february-15-17-weekend - Feb 14)
AO-85 TURNED OFF DUE TO RETURN OF ECLIPSE PERIODS AND POOR BATTERY CONDITION - The Fox-1A (AO-85) CubeSat has been turned off until further notice due to return of eclipses and poor battery condition, control operator Mark Hammond, N8MH, has announced. In December, AO-85 experienced precarious battery voltage drops during eclipse periods; it’s believed that the batteries suffered degradation due to heat during previous no-eclipse periods, making it difficult to keep the satellite available without risking battery damage. To extend the satellite’s usable life, both the internal housekeeping unit (IHU) and the transmitter were shut down, ceasing all transmissions. More (Source: ARRL - Feb 14)
UNBELIEVABLE VIDEO OF INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION RACING ACROSS MOON CAUGHT BY AMATEUR ASTRONOMER - The stars aligned for a London based amateur astronomer, who managed to catch a shot of the International Space Station passing in front of the moon under the perfect conditions, with epic results. Spotting ISS’s lunar crossings is extremely rare, making the close-up footage of the vessel’s swift passage particularly remarkable. While other amateurs have captured similar crossings, Szabolcs Nagy’s clip is incredibly close and clear, showing the manned satellite streaking through the center of the frame. More (Source: RT - Feb 14)
CUBESAT DEPLOYED FROM SPACE STATION TO TEST SAMPLE RETURN TECHNOLOGY - One of five CubeSats deployed from the International Space Station last month is testing a steerable drag brake that could find use in future smallsats to return experiment samples to the ground from low Earth orbit, or on low-cost micro-probes to explore other planets. NASA’s TechEdSat 8 nanosatellite was one of five CubeSats released from a NanoRacks deployer outside the space station Jan. 31, joining other missions probing the ionosphere, conducting communications experiments, and providing hands-on experience for engineering students. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 14)
NEXT-GEN WEATHER SATELLITE OPERATIONAL OVER WESTERN U.S. - After months of uncertainty over software and hardware glitches, the second of the U.S. government’s $11 billion next-generation geostationary weather satellites was declared operational Tuesday. Named GOES-17, the satellite—orbiting 22,300 miles above the western United States and Pacific Ocean—is now providing National Weather Service huge swaths of data expected to improve forecasts of hurricanes, storm systems, wildfires and other environmental dangers. More (Source: Nextgov - Feb 13)
SPACEX WANTS TO BUILD UP TO 1 MILLION EARTH SATELLITE INTERNET CONNECTIONS - The company just took the next step toward getting satellite internet to customers. The news: You still need ground-based systems to receive a signal from satellite internet. With SpaceX’s February 1 filing to the US Federal Communications Commission, it’s requesting to deploy up to a million ground stations in the US—including in Alaska, Hawaii, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico—to provide connection points to its internet satellites on behalf of its sister company SpaceX Services. More (Source: MIT Technology Review - Feb 13)
US TO EXTEND USE OF RUSSIA'S SOYUZ FOR ISS MISSIONS UNTIL APRIL 2020 - The United States will extend the use of Russian Soyuz spacecraft to bring NASA astronauts to the International Space Station and ensure their return to Earth until April 2020, a Russian space industry source told Sputnik. "The following scheme is planned for now: two NASA astronauts will remain on the ISS for nine months instead of the usual six. So, Nick Hague starts his mission on March 14 [2019] on the Soyuz MS-12 and returns to Earth on 18 December on the Soyuz MS-13, while Andrew Morgan will travel to the orbital station on Soyuz MS-13 on 6 July and will return on Soyuz MS-15 in April 2020", the source said. More (Source: Space Daily - Feb 13)
SECOND IRANIAN SATELLITE LAUNCH ATTEMPT IN A MONTH FAILS - Iran’s second try in less than a month to send a satellite into orbit apparently failed shortly after liftoff from a remote desert launch pad under daily surveillance from a fleet of commercial imaging spacecraft, according to U.S. government officials and independent analysts. Images of the launch pad in north-central Iran taken by orbiting satellites owned by U.S. companies suggest a rocket launch occurred last week, but the U.S. military’s catalog of space objects registered no new spacecraft in orbit. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 12)
HAPPY SATELLITE COLLISION DAY! IT IS 10 YEARS SINCE RUSSIA AND IRIDIUM GOT TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT - As Elon Musk crowed over the performance of SpaceX's Raptor engine and Northrop Grumman's Cygnus departed the International Space Station (ISS), debris watchers were ruing the 10th anniversary of the first accidental hypervelocity satellite collision. On 10 February 2009, a 950kg Russian military satellite smacked into an Iridium Comms bird, destroying both spacecraft and leaving a cloud of debris large enough to give Sandra Bullock the jitters. More (Source: The Register - Feb 12)
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