Below is reprinted from the NASA web site at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/26jan_suitsat.htm?list801221
This is real, its not fake.
How do you "QSL" a space suit? Manager? Who is doing the QSL cards?
Tom, WW5L
SuitSat
01.26.2006
Using a simple police scanner or ham radio, you can listen to a
disembodied spacesuit circling Earth.
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January 26, 2006: One of the strangest satellites in the history of the
space age is about to go into orbit. Launch date: Feb. 3rd. That's when
astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS) will hurl an
empty spacesuit overboard.
<http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/articles/SuitSat/>The spacesuit is the
satellite -- "SuitSat" for short.
"SuitSat is a Russian brainstorm," explains Frank Bauer of NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center. "Some of our Russian partners in the ISS
program, mainly a group led by Sergey Samburov, had an idea: Maybe we
can turn old spacesuits into useful satellites." SuitSat is a first test
of that idea.
Right: ISS astronaut Mike Finke spacewalks in a Russian Orlan spacesuit
in 2004. SuitSat will have no one inside. [More
<http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/articles/SuitSat/>]
"We've equipped a Russian Orlan spacesuit with three batteries, a radio
transmitter, and internal sensors to measure temperature and battery
power," says Bauer. "As SuitSat circles Earth, it will transmit its
condition to the ground."
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Unlike a normal spacewalk, with a human inside the suit, SuitSat's
temperature controls will be turned off to conserve power. The suit,
arms and legs akimbo, possibly spinning, will be exposed to the fierce
rays of the sun with no way to regulate its internal temperature.
"Will the suit overheat? How long will the batteries last? Can we get a
clear transmission if the suit tumbles?" wonders Bauer. These are some
of the questions SuitSat will answer, laying the groundwork for SuitSats
of the future.
SuitSat can be heard by anyone on the ground. "All you need is an
antenna (the bigger the better) and a radio receiver that you can tune
to 145.990 MHz FM," says Bauer. "A police band scanner or a hand-talkie
ham radio would work just fine." He encourages students, scouts,
teachers and ham radio operators to tune in.
For years, Bauer and colleagues at Goddard have been connecting kids on
Earth with astronauts on the ISS through the ARISS program (Amateur
Radio on International Space Station). "There's a ham rig on the ISS,
and the astronauts love talking to students when they pass over
schools," Bauer explains. ARISS is co-sponsoring SuitSat along with the
Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay
League (ARRL), the Russian Space Agency and NASA.
<http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/articles/BauerSuitsat/index.php>Right:
Tune your FM radio to 145.990 MHz.
When will SuitSat orbit over your home town?
Use [EMAIL PROTECTED]'s J-Pass
<http://science.nasa.gov/RealTime/JPass/25/JPass.asp> utility to find
out. The online program will ask for your zip code—that's all. Then it
will tell you when the ISS is going to orbit over your area. (Be sure to
click the "options" button and select "all passes.") Because the ISS and
SuitSat share similar orbits, predictions for one will serve for the
other. Observers in the United States will find that SuitSat passes
overhead once or twice a day—usually between midnight and 4 o'clock in
the morning. At that time of day, SuitSat and the ISS will be in Earth's
shadow and, thus, too dark to see with the naked eye. You'll need a
radio to detect them.
"Point your antenna to the sky during the 5-to-10 minute flyby," advises
Bauer, and this is what you'll hear:
SuitSat transmits for 30 seconds, pauses for 30 seconds, and then
repeats. "This is SuitSat-1, RS0RS," the transmission begins, followed
by a prerecorded greeting in five languages. The greeting contains
"special words" in English, French, Japanese, Russian, German and
Spanish for students to record and decipher. (Awards will be given to
students who do this. Scroll to the "more information" area at the end
of this story for details.)
Next comes telemetry: temperature, battery power, mission elapsed time.
"The telemetry is stated in plain language—in English," says Bauer.
Everyone will be privy to SuitSat's condition. Bauer adds, "Suitsat
'talks' using a voice synthesizer. It's pretty amazing."
<http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/articles/BauerSuitsat/index.php>The
transmission ends with a Slow Scan TV picture. Of what? "We're not
telling," laughs Bauer. "It's a mystery picture." (More awards will be
given to students who figure out what it is.)
Right: In a laboratory at Goddard, SuitSat bends over to display its
antenna and control box. [More
<http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/articles/BauerSuitsat/index.php>]
Students and teachers who want to try this, but have no clue how to
begin, should contact their local ham radio club. There are thousands of
them around the country. Click here
<http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/club/clubsearch.phtml> to find a club
near you. "Hams are notoriously outgoing; most would be delighted to
help students tune in to SuitSat," believes Bauer.
Bauer expects SuitSat's batteries to last 2 to 4 days. "Although longer
is possible," he allows. After that, SuitSat will begin a slow silent
spiral into Earth's atmosphere. Weeks or months later, no one knows
exactly when, it will become a brilliant fireball over some part of
Earth—a fitting end for a trailblazer.
Visit SuitSat.org <http://suitsat.org> for launch updates and sighting
reports.
