AMSAT-NA Board Member and Vice President-User Services G. Gould Smith, WA4SXM, has resigned both positions “with deep regret.”

“AMSAT has played a major part in my life over the last 25 years; the incredible people have made it such a great pleasure,” Smith, of Knoxville, Tennessee, told AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW. Smith has confronted health issues in recent years. “I had hoped that I would be able to contribute this year, but that hasn't worked out,” he told Baines. “The organization needs to have contributing people in these positions.”

Baines expressed sorrow over Smith’s departure. “[Y]ou have done so much for AMSAT over the years,” he said.

First Alternate Board Member JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JWM, steps up as a board member to fill the vacancy, at least until new elections are held this fall. Smith’s leadership position as Vice President-User Services remains open.

An AMSAT Life Member, Smith has drafted a variety of guides for satellite users over the years. Among the books he's written and updated each year include Decoding Telemetry, started in 1990, which later became The AMSAT-NA Digital Satellite Guide. He also wrote the book now known as Getting Started in Amateur Satellites; a revised edition will become available at the 2014 Dayton Hamvention.

Smith also served as a member of the AO-51 command team, has written for AMSAT Journal, and presented papers at symposiums. He became an AMSAT Board member in 2008 and stepped forward to serve as project manager of SuitSat-2, which morphed into ARISSat-1, a spacecraft deployed from the ISS in August 2011. -- Thanks to AMSAT News Service