NASA Amateur Radio Video from ISS

Well, this one has actually been out on the web for several weeks, but I finally got around to viewing it. Col. Doug Wheeler Wheelock (KF5BOC) gives a short tour of the ISS and then demonstrates amateur radio operating (2 Meter FM) from the ISS. Col. Wheeler Wheelock was very active on the ham radio … Read more

AMSAT Focuses on LEO Cubesat

AMSAT has recognized that they need to get some new hardware flying in space and is now focused on getting a small LEO satellite developed. AO-51 (originally called ECHO) has been a very popular satellite and one of the few clear successes from AMSAT in recent years. It appears that the AMSAT engineering team has … Read more

AMSAT DL Bounces Signal Off Venus

Every once in a while, I stumble onto something that just makes me think “holy cow, how did they do THAT?” The most recent is the German AMSAT group ( AMSAT DL) transmitted a signal to Venus and received the reflected signal as it came back to earth. From the AMSAT (US) web site: AMSAT-DL … Read more

ARISS Update October 21

I pulled this from the AMSAT-BB email list (a good update on the NA1SS activity this week by Richard Garriott): Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:48:26 -0400 From: “Frank H. Bauer” <ka3hdo@comcast.net> Subject: [amsat-bb] ARISS Update October 21, 2008 To: <amsat-bb@amsat.org> All, I think you all can agree that this has been a stellar and … Read more

Richard Garriott W5KWQ in Space

Richard Garriott, W5KWQ is on his way to the International Space Station (ISS) as the sixth “space tourist” riding on a Soyuz spacecraft. This would be just another rich guy buys a ride into space story, except that Richard is a ham radio operator, a successful technogeek and the son of a famous astronaut. For … Read more

How Much Money Does NASA Spend?

Right up front, I admit I am a fan of the US Space Program (see info on working the International Space Station on 2M FM). This does not mean that I think NASA always spends the taxpayer’s money effectively,but I basically support the US Government spending money on space exploration. Thus, my interest was snagged … Read more