NASA engineer and AMSAT Area Coordinator Pat Kilroy, N8PK, at the Parkland Magnet Middle School for Aerospace Technology, prepares for another lesson on receiving SuitSat signals from space.

Area Coordinator makes educational outreach materials available on-line

Pat Kilroy, N8PK and David Bern, W2LNX provided a well received educational mission this past week to Parkland Middle School in the Washington, DC area.

Included below is Pat's documentation which can be used with NASA and AMSAT materials for SuitSat educational opportunities in the coming days.

Also included are photos from the school visit.

SUITSAT: A Special (and Brief) Opportunity
Updated January 25, 2006

Original material is at: http://www.patkilroy.com/amsat-dc/

An old Russian space suit will be tossed off of the ISS during a spacewalk on February 3, 2006 (or after). The suit will be empty inside except for amateur radio gear assembled for a special occasion.

Transmitting nearly continuously, kids around the world will enjoy its spoken messages over the life of the batteries, designed to last for a few days, perhaps a week.

The "SuitSat" will co-orbit with the space station for a while.
Atmospheric drag will drift it into "its own" orbit, a decaying
one, and will gradually warm up the suit and the stuff inside.

Listen for the 8-minute cycle of announcements when it flies over- head. You will hear "spoken" MET in minutes, the inside temperature in degrees C (not F) and battery voltage telemetry, pre-recorded greetings in multiple languages, a single "cell phone quality" SSTV picture frame in Robot-36 mode, as well as the voice ID on 145.990 MHz FM at 500 mW into its low-gain omni antenna.

SuitSat will re-enter the atmosphere in a few weeks, long after the batteries run dry. Time is of the essence and you ought to prepare now for this unique and fun experiment.

You may download a 6-page color document by Gould Smith, WA4SXM, and Steve Bible, N7HPR, (600 KB in PDF, dated November 5, 2005) at http://www.patkilroy.com/amsat-dc/SuitSat%20-%20A%20Unique%20Satellite.pdf

This has a full description of the event, additional technical details and several great photos. Go to the main AMSAT-NA web site for additional descriptions, late breaking news, and tracking data updated daily after SuitSat is deployed.

For lighter reading you may download a copy of a NASA press release written for kids:
http://www.patkilroy.com/amsat-dc/NASA_SuitSat_kids.pdf

Kids are welcome to take this copy to their school to ask permission to listen for SuitSat during class time. In addition to this press release, a sheet of technical details and the schedule for a televised (and webcast) press conference is offered for their teacher or mentor at: http://www.patkilroy.com/amsat-dc/ANS%20SuitSat%202006-0122pk.pdf

Enjoy these three documents. Each one has links noted where you can get updated information.

For those Amateur Radio operators in the greater Maryland and D.C. area, PLEASE REPORT YOUR OBSERVATIONS to us on the amsat-dc mail list. Of special interest to me are results of antenna A/B tests (omni vs. yagi reception) and your results of Doppler compensation (of how valuable it is or was or was not for the SuitSat experiment). Did you bother to make an audio recording of a pass? WAV or mp3? Any students involved? K-5, 6-8, 9-12, college, family, club or general public demo?

Get this into the schools! PASS THE WORD about this special event to other radio amateurs so they can prepare their station and share the news further.

Have fun!

Sincerely,

Pat Kilroy, N8PK
AMSAT Area Coordinator
Greater MDC Area

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