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ARLS004 Ham radio on STS-76
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Space Bulletin 004 ARLS004
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington, CT March 13, 1996
To all radio amateurs
SB SPACE ARL ARLS004
ARLS004 Ham radio on STS-76
Mission managers at the NASA Kennedy Space Center have announced
March 21 as the official launch date for the Space Shuttle Atlantis,
and mission STS-76. The mission marks the third time the shuttle
will dock with the Russian Mir Space Station. The astronauts are
also planning to conduct Amateur Radio activities as part of the
Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment (SAREX). Five student groups have
been selected to make scheduled radio contacts with the crew.
The shuttle will also carry a SPACEHAB laboratory, providing the
astronauts with a working environment to conduct microgravity
research and development, and to help resupply Mir.
The astronauts may find time to make contacts with the amateur
community and their own families. All of the contacts will be
2-meter FM voice, using the shuttle's VHF Mir-docking radio.
Frequencies, call signs and general operating information can be
obtained from the new ARRL SAREX World Wide Web site at
http://www.arrl.org/sarex/.
The following pre-launch Keplerian elements can be used by most
computer tracking software to predict the ground track of the
shuttle. The elements are based on a scheduled launch of March 21 at
0835 UTC. Thanks to Ken Ernandes, N2WWD, for the following elements
which were found on the AMSAT Web site at http://www.amsat.org.
(AMSAT-format)
Satellite: STS-76 OMS-2
Catalog number: 99976
Epoch time: 96081.38742082
Element set: 1
Inclination: 51.6455 deg
RA of node: 203.9666 deg
Eccentricity: 0.0076991
Arg of perigee: 3.1580 deg
Mean anomaly: 185.7961 deg
Mean motion: 16.10725400 rev/day
Decay rate: 2.00933e-04 rev/day sq
Epoch rev: 1
Checksum: 311
(NASA two-line format)
STS-76 OMS-2
1 99976U 96081.38742082 .00020093 16712-8 12080-4 0 16
2 99976 51.6455 203.9666 0076991 3.1580 185.7961 16.10725400 13
Stay tuned to W1AW for additional bulletins throughout the mission.
Details about SAREX can be obtained from the ARRL Educational
Activities Department.
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