NASA Release Amateur Radio CubeSat Deployment Pictures ...

Amateur Radio CubeSats TechEdSat, F-1 and FITSAT-1 pass the ISS solar panels

NASA have released photographs of the amateur radio CubeSats?TechEdSat, F-1 and FITSAT-1 taken by an Expedition 33 crew member on the International Space Station (ISS).

The satellites were released outside the Kibo laboratory using the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD) attached to the Japanese module?s robotic arm on Oct. 4, 2012. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide KE5DNI, flight engineer, set up the satellite deployment gear inside the lab and placed it in the Kibo airlock. The Japanese robotic arm then grappled the deployment system and its satellites from the airlock for deployment.

Amateur Radio CubeSats TechEdSat, F-1 and FITSAT-1 CubeSats after deployment from the ISS

Radio amateurs around the world have been listening for signals from the four new amateur radio CubeSats that were deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, October 4.

The small satellites were transported to the ISS in the HTV-3 (Kounotori 3) cargo vessel that blasted off on an H-IIB rocket?from the Tanegashima Space Center on Saturday, July 21 at 0206 UT.

The cargo vessel arrived at the ISS on July 27 and the ISS Canadarm2 robotic arm was used to install the HTV-3 to its docking port on the Earth-facing side of the Harmony module at 1434 UT. The CubeSats were then unloaded by the Expedition 32 crew

The CubeSats were mounted in a JEM-Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD). In one pod were TechEdSat,?F-1 and FITSAT-1 while in the second pod were WE-WISH and a scientific CubeSat RAIKO.

Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide KE5DNI put the J-SSOD into an airlock, which was depressurised and exposed to the vacuum of space via an automatic door. The Kibo robotic arm was then be used to grapple the J-SSOD in the airlock and move it out away from the station so the satellites could be deployed.

WE-WISH and RAIKO were first to deploy at 1437 followed by TechEdSat,?F-1 and FITSAT-1 at 1544 GMT. They could have a life-time of 4 or 5 months before they burn-up in the Earth?s atmosphere.

ISS CubeSat Frequency Chart ? Image Credit Mike Rupprecht DK3WN

FITSat-1, built by students at the Fukuoka Institute of Technology, has several downlinks a CW beacon on 437.250 MHz, 1200 bps AX.25 packet radio on 437.445 MHz and a high-speed (115.2 kbps) data transmitter on 5840.0 MHz. Additionally there is an optical communications experiment comprising a bank of high power LEDs that will be driven with 200W pulses to produce extremely bright flashes that may be visible to the unaided eye of observers on Earth.

F-1 was built by the?FSpace team of young engineers and students at the FPT University in Vietnam. The satellite?s callsign is XV1VN and the communications subsystem is built around two Yaesu VX-3R amateur radio handheld transceivers. One will transmit 1200 bps packet radio every 30 seconds on 145.980 MHz while in darkness. The other will operate only in sunlight sending a 20 second FM transmission of a CW tone on 437.485 MHz followed by a 60 second gap.

TechEdSat, built by students at the San Jose State University, carries a 1200 bps packet radio transmitter on 437.465 MHz.

WE-WISH SSTV Image received by JE1CVL

WE-WISH has an infrared camera for environmental studies and transmits CW and 1200 bps packet radio on 437.505 MHz. The SSTV signal is being received on 437.515 MHz.

It should be possible to receive the Cubesats on up to 6 passes each day. Due to the effects of Doppler shift the 70cm downlink frequencies will vary by +/- 10 kHz during an 8 minute pass.

Previous deployments of amateur radio satellites have only been possible when astronauts have performed an Extravehicular Activity (EVA). The Kibo robot arm and the J-SSOD could enable a larger number of satellite deployments in the future.

Further information on the amateur radio CubeSats can be found at http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=10119

The JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD) attached to the robotic arm of the Japanese Experimental Module (Kibo)

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Source: http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=10804

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