SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS009
ARLS009 ATV rocket launches set
ZCZC AS09
QST de W1AW
Space Bulletin 009 ARLS009
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington, CT March 27, 1997
To all radio amateurs
SB SPACE ARL ARLS009
ARLS009 ATV rocket launches set
The Aerospace States Association Rockets for Schools program has
announced plans to launch three rockets during May that will carry
Amateur TV (ATV) payloads. All launches will use 11-foot-long
Super-Loki sounding rockets identical to the rocket used for the
successful Wisconsin Rockets for Schools program launch in May 1996
described in ''New Heights for ATV'' (QST, Feb 1997).
On May 10, a Super-Loki rocket carrying an ATV payload on 439.25 MHz
with GPS data on the audio is scheduled to be launched from Cape
Henlopen State Park in Delaware. If successful, the event will mark
Delaware's first suborbital rocket launch. Teams of students in
grades 7 through 12 are being recruited to assist in designing and
building various payload components. For the latest information on
the Delaware launch, see http://www.dpi.state.de.us/dpi/launch/ on
the Web or contact Sam Guccione, K3BY, e-mail sguccion@outland.dtcc.edu.
On May 17, two Super-Loki rockets carrying ATV payloads will be
launched at separate times from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on the shore
of Lake Michigan (the site of the May 4, 1996, launch). Current
plans call for the first to transmit ATV on 434.25 MHz with Morse
code telemetry on the audio, and for the second to transmit ATV on
439.25 MHz with GPS data on the audio. The Super-Loki rocket, which
uses solid propellant, can carry the payload to altitudes of more
than 30 miles.
For the latest information on the Wisconsin launches, see
http://phy.mtu.edu/rocket/ on the Web or contact Greg Heinen,
KB9OBV, email heineng@orbitec.com, or Bryan Suits, WB8WKN,
email suits@mtu.edu.
Meanwhile, Bill Brown, WB8ELK, reports that an RFI problem led to
scrubbing the planned North Carolina launch from a balloon of an
amateur rocket carrying ATV and APRS systems on March 22. The group
of space enthusiasts, which includes several hams, will reschedule
the launch of the ''rockoon''--a rocket launched from a high-altitude
balloon--for sometime in late April.
Brown said RFI to a timer mechanism caused the balloon's ''cutdown
squibs'' to fire just prior to liftoff. The cutdown squibs are a
means to bring the balloon down automatically if ground control is
lost.
The Huntsville Alabama L5 Society (HAL5)--a chapter of the National
Space Society (NSS)--has spent the past two years developing and
testing components for the rockoon. The HAL5 program is called
Project HALO, for High Altitude Lift-Off.
A new launch date has not yet been set. For more details check the
HALO Web site at http://iquest.com/~hal5/HALO/SL-1/ or
e-mail hal5 (at) iquest.com.
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