SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS008
ARLS008 SAREX launch on Friday
 
ZCZC AS87  
QST de W1AW  
Space Bulletin 008  ARLS008
From ARRL Headquarters  
Newington, CT  June 22, 1995
To all radio amateurs
 
SB SPACE ARL ARLS008
ARLS008 SAREX launch on Friday
 
The Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch on Friday, June 23
at 2108 UTC. The mission, designated STS-71, carries the Shuttle
Amateur Radio EXperiment or SAREX. Astronauts Ellen S. Baker and
Charlie Precourt are both Amateur Radio operators. Ellen previously
used ham radio from aboard the Shuttle Columbia during STS-50 in
June 1992, and her call sign is KB5SIX. Charlie is KB5YSQ and also
operated SAREX from Columbia during STS-55 in April 1993.
 
The crew has scheduled voice contacts with 4 school groups in the US
and one in Russia. The crew plans to make random contacts with the
Amateur Radio community as their busy schedules permit. Landing is
planned for July 4 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
 
The crew will operate 2 meter FM voice only, using a radio which
will also facilitate a rendezvous and docking with the Russian Space
Station Mir. The docking is planned to occur on Monday, June 26. The
shuttle will carry two new Mir crew members (Mir 19) to the station,
and return to Earth with the three Mir 18 crew members (Vladimir
Dezhurov, Gennadiy Strekalov, and US astronaut Norm Thagard). This
mission is the first of at least seven shuttle flights to Mir. The
effort is a precursor to building the International Space Station.
 
Most of the SAREX activities are planned for after the Shuttle
separates from Mir on July 1. The following Keplerian element set,
JSC-008a, can be used to track the shuttle after the separation.
 
STS-71
1 99971U          95182.64126116  .00004001  00000-0  25599-3 0    86
2 99971  51.6471  85.3203 0005502 102.6430 257.5145 15.57450161  1230
 
Satellite: STS-71
Catalog number: 99971
Epoch time:      95182.64126116   =    (01-Jul-95   15:23:24.96 UTC)
Element set:     008
Inclination:       51.6471 deg
RA of node:        85.3203 deg            Space Shuttle Flight STS-71
Eccentricity:     .0005502               Prelaunch element set JSC-008a
Arg of perigee:   102.6430 deg          Launch:  23-Jun-95 21:08:37 UTC
Mean anomaly:     257.5145 deg
Mean motion:   15.57450161 rev/day                Gil Carman
Decay rate:      4.001e-05 rev/day sq       NASA Johnson Space Center
Epoch rev:             123
Checksum:              260
 
These elements are valid from post-separation on July 1 at 1449 UTC
until the deorbit burn on July 4 at 1454 UTC. Thanks to Gil Carman,
WA5NOM, at the NASA Johnson Space Center for the preceding element
set.
 
A different set of frequencies will be used for this SAREX mission.
The astronauts will operate split, transmitting and receiving on
separate frequencies. Please do not transmit on the shuttles
downlink frequency. The downlink is your receiving frequency. The
uplink is your transmitting frequency. The FM voice downlink is
145.84 MHz. The FM voice uplinks are 144.45 and 144.47 MHz. The crew
will not favor either uplink frequency, so your ability to
communicate with SAREX will be the luck of the draw. To avoid
causing interference to other stations transmit only when the
shuttle is within range and when the SAREX station is on the air.
 
Send reports and QSLs to the ARRL Educational Activities Department.
Include the mission number, date, time in UTC, frequency and mode in
your report. You must also include a self-addressed stamped
business-sized envelope if you wish to receive a card.
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/EX