Hams can help NASA

Chris St. Cyr of the Goddard Space Flight Center says that experienced ham radio operators can participate in the historic STEREO mission to see the far side of the sun by helping NASA capture STEREO's images.

The following is from the press release - NASA Sees the 'Dark Side' of the Sun - at http://science.nasa.gov/
headlines/y2009/23jan_darkside.htm?list157891

St. Cyr notes that experienced ham radio operators can participate in this historic mission by helping NASA capture STEREO's images.

The busy Deep Space Network downloads data from STEREO only three hours a day. That's plenty of time to capture all of the previous day's data, but NASA would like to monitor the transmissions around the clock.

"So we're putting together a 'mini-Deep Space Network' to stay in constant contact with STEREO," says Bill Thompson, director of the STEREO Science Center at Goddard.

The two spacecraft beam their data back to Earth via an X-band radio beacon. Anyone with a 10-meter dish antenna and a suitable receiver can pick up the signals. The data rate is low, 500 bits per second, and it takes 3 to 5 minutes to download a complete image.

So far, the mini-Network includes stations in the United Kingdom, France and Japan—and Thompson is looking for more:

"NASA encourages people with X-band antennas to contact the STEREO team. We would gladly work with them and figure out how they can join our network."