Android in Space Mission. Plans for Launch on February 25 (STRaND-1)

And we're in orbit!  At 785km altitude moving at 7km/s. The question remains: can anyone hear you (12:59 GMT 25 Feb 2013)(STRaND-1)

Estimated time off view 26 Feb at 70cm Receiver SSB/AM only(no FM).

More info at http://amsat-uk.org/satellites/strand-1/strand-1-telemetry/

Here is a Receiver in South of Johannesburg in South Africa if you want to listen to  STRaND-1 on the scheduled times. 

UK Space Mission - STRaND-1 Plans for Launch on February 25

STRaND-1

A UK mission, jointly developed by the University of Surrey's Sur-
rey Space Centre (SSC) and Surrey Satellite Technology Limited
(SSTL), to send the world's first smartphone satellite into orbit,
is due to launch on February 25 from India on PSLV-C20. This launch
will also carry the ocean study spacecraft SARAL as well as satel-
lites carrying amateur radio payloads.

STRaND-1 will be the first UK CubeSat to be launched and has been
developed by talented space engineers and researchers at Surrey with
the majority of the design and developmental work being carried out
in their spare time. The build and test phase of the project has
been completed in just three months. At the heart of STRaND-1 is a
Google Nexus One smartphone with an Android operating system.

During the first phase of the mission, STRaND-1 will use a number of
experimental 'Apps' to collect data while a high-speed linux-based
CubeSat computer developed by SSC takes care of the satellite. During
phase two, the STRaND-1 team plan to switch the satellite's in-orbit
operations to the smartphone, testing the capabilities of a number of
standard smartphone components for a space environment. The satellite
will be commissioned and operated from the Surrey Space Centre's
ground station at the University of Surrey.

Being the first smartphone satellite in orbit is just one of many
'firsts' that STRaND-1 is hoping to achieve. It will also fly inno-
vative new technologies such as a 'WARP DRiVE' (Water Alcohol Resist-
ojet Propulsion Deorbit Re-entry Velocity Experiment) and electric
Pulsed Plasma Thrusters (PPTs); both 'firsts' to fly on a nanosatel-
lite. It is also flying a 3D printed part - believed to be the first
to fly in space!

A software-based speech synthesiser will be included to pay homage
to the UOSAT family of satellites OSCAR 9 and 11, that were launched
in 1980 & 1982. There will be an amateur radio AX.25 packet radio
downlink on 437.575 MHz using data rates of 9k6 or 19k2 bps.

On-line articles of the STRaND-1 mission can be found at:
http://www.amsat-uk.org/
http://spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=43314

[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK and Spaceref.com for the above information]

Live launch broadcast 25 Feb 2013 from about 12:00 GMT http://www.webcast.gov.in/live/

Satellite News

Cubesats Deployed From Vandenberg Atlas V Launch

The Atlas V NROL-36 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Cali- fornia, originally planned for August, successfully launched on 13 September at 2139 UTC.

This launch carried a satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office. Also aboard this flight at four cubesats as part of ELaNa IV mission and seven cubesats for government missions.

Several hours after launch Justin Foley, KI6EPH, announced via the #Cubesat IRC Channel that all eight P-PODS had successfully deployed.

The ELaNa Cubesats aboard are:

+ CINEMA (Cubesat for Ion, Neutral, Electron, Magnetic fields)

   o Downlinks for engineering telemetry and command are in the 2400-2450 MHz range; Science telemetry is in 2200-2300 MHz range.

+ CSSWE (Colorado Student Space Weather Experiment)

   o Downlink 437.345 MHz, 9k6 with AX25

+ CP5 (PolySat)

   o Downlink 437.405 MHz at 1 watt, AFSK on LSB AX.25 over NRZI at 1200 baud, every 2 minutes, begins 3.5 hours after first turn-on.

+ CXBN (Cosmic X-Ray Background Nanosatellite)

   o Downlink 437.525 MHz, GFSK, AX.25

A detailed article of the launch can be found on-line at:

http://www.americaspace.org/?p=23568&feature=youtu.be

CubeSat Deployment From ISS Set for September 27
Five cubesats launched on July 21 and now aboard the ISS have been integrated with the J-SSOD small satellite deployer on the the Jap-anese Experiment Module, also known as Kibo. They will be deployed with the Kibo robotic arm planned September 27, 2012.

First,  15:10-15:20 UTC: WE-WISH, RAIKO by Astronaut Akihiko Hoshide
Second, 16:30-16:40 UTC: TechEdSat, NanoRack/F-1, FITSAT-1 by JAXA GS

Satellite	Downlink	Beacon	Mode
FITSAT-1	437.445, 5.84GHz	437.250	FM,CWWE
WISH	437.505	437.505	SSTV,
CWRAIKO	2.2GHz, 13GHz	13GHz	38.4 - 500kbps
TechEdSat	437.465	437.465	-
CWF-1	145.980	437.485	1200bps AFSK,FM,CW

Also, refer to the previous ANS bulletin on this topic at: http://amsat.org/pipermail/ans/2012/000650.html [ANS thanks Mineo Wakita, JE9PEL for the above information]