Satellite
SummaryFeatures:
Description
SPUTNIK PS2 UPDATE
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 004.01 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, JANUARY 04, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-004.01
Reports from around the world appear to confirm that the Sputnik PS2
mini-satellite has stopped transmitting. The beacon signal from the working
model of the original Sputnik 1 satellite was last monitored on December
29 or 30. The lithium battery-powered 100 mW transmitter had continued
working for eight weeks after its launch by hand from the Russian Mir space
station on November 3, transmitting a beep-beep tone on 145.82 MHz, and
many hams around the globe had continued to track the satellite's progress.
The
frequency of the tone indicated the satellite's internal temperature.
Recent reports from stations monitoring the Sputnik PS2 indicated its signals
were getting weaker.
Students from the FR5KJ radio club at Jules Reydellet College in St. Denis, Reunion Island, and at the Polytechnic Laboratory of Nalchik Kabardine in Russia cooperated in building the mini-Sputnik. The Russian students built the satellite body, while the French students fabricated the transmitter inside. Two working models of the Sputnik were assembled and transported to Mir, but only one was launched. The Sputnik PS2, also called RS-17, surpassed the life of its original namesake by several weeks. The little satellite was a one-third scale model of the original and had been estimated to remain in operation for approximately 40 days.
As of December 31, the satellite had not been officially declared dead, however.
[ANS thanks the ARRL for the news report.]
RS-17 DECLARED DEAD
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 011.01 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, JANUARY 11, 1998
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-011.01
It's official. The Sputnik PS2/RS-17 mini-satellite ceased transmitting on December 29, 1997. The little satellite, a one-third scale replica of the original Sputnik 1, beep-beeped its way around the globe for 55 days, more than two weeks longer than it had been projected to last. The 100-mW transmitter was powered by lithium batteries.
The Sputnik PS-2 was launched by hand from the Russian Mir space station on November 4, 1997, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the launching of the original Sputnik by the USSR in 1957. The original Sputnik only transmitted for about one month.
The Sputnik PS2 beacon, on 145.82, was widely monitored and recorded
around the world. The satellite was fabricated by students in Russian and
on France's Reunion Island. Sputnik 40 Years, which sponsored the satellite
project, said the last known recordings of
the Sputnik PS2 beacon were made on December 29 at approximately 2100
UTC by a ham in Washington and by FR1AJ on Reunion Island. At the time,
the data indicated an internal temperature of 40 degrees Celsius.
Those tracking the satellite reported that the Sputnik PS2's beacon signal had continued to get weaker as the end approached. Even after the beep-beep ceased, however, the satellite's unmodulated oscillator continued to transmit for a while longer.
Reception reports go to The Radio Club of Jules Reydellet school on Reunion Island. Those whose reports are confirmed will receive an approximately 6x9-inch color certificate on high-quality paper with number identification and the radio club stamp. Requests for these certificates should be made only by letter with an SASE (6x9 inch) and two (2) IRCs. Do not send requests via e-mail. The mailing address is FR5KJ Radio Club, 103 Rue de la Republique, 97 489 Saint Denis Cedex, Reunion Island.
[ANS thanks the ARRL for the news report.]
References
Last update January 31, 1999 - N7HPR
