AO-51 Command Stations report that the seven year old spacecraft is now shutting down its transmitter after losing sunlight on its solar panels during eclipse periods. Two of the six battery cells are now dead. Since July 31, 2010 AO-51 … Continue reading
FOX Project Why two satellites? The original Fox Engineering Team Study was for a baseline satellite, with several options for enhancements. At that time, AO-51 was functioning well, with no indication that its lifetime would be short enough to impact … Continue reading
Last chances to hear ARISSat-1 are rapidly approaching. A reminder that if you have been putting off working through the ARISSat-1 repeater, receiving SSTV pictures, or submitting telemetry, the next few weeks will be your last opportunity to be a … Continue reading
AMSAT-NA VP Operations Drew Glasbrenner KO4MA reports on Friday’s IHU crash on the Amateur Radio satellite AO-51. Sometime between 1815 and 1945Z November 25, AO-51′s IHU crashed. This happened after a few days of intermittent and unpredictable operation. Mark N8MH … Continue reading
ELaNa: Educational Launch of Nanosatellites NASA and the Launch Services Program are partnering with several universities to launch small research satellites. These small satellites are called CubeSats because of their shape. Small satellite missions provide NASA with valuable opportunities to … Continue reading
AMSAT submitted a proposal to NASA for their CubeSat Launch Initiative, also known as the ‘Educational Launch of NanoSat’ (ELaNa) program. NASA selects projects that they deem to have merit in support of their strategic and educational goals. Projects that … Continue reading