SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS001
ARLS001 Sputnik PS2/RS-17 officially declared dead

ZCZC AS01
QST de W1AW
Space Bulletin 001  ARLS001
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington, CT  January 9, 1998
To all radio amateurs

SB SPACE ARL ARLS001
ARLS001 Sputnik PS2/RS-17 officially declared dead

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 200-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.
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/EX