Listen for Orbiting Space Suit

eHam.net ^ | 29 January 2006 | Karl J. Zuk N2KZ

[Denver Ditdat]

Ham radio and space missions make a great combo for some unusual DX. This one sounds interesting!

[Denver Ditdat]

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[Hypervigilant]

Way cool PING

[SpaceBar]

Ground Control to Major Tom...

[Dr.Zoidberg]

Coolness bump!

[SirChas]

I'll be monitoring from Colo Springs.

Do I really need a yagi since I'm 1k to 2k feet higher than you!!!

73

[Brujo]

So they are purposefully adding to the "junk in orbit" problem?

[Nowhere Man]

I'm in, tuning my HT and police scanners to 145.990 Mc. I do remember hearing ISS and MIR traffic before that, usually on 143.625 Mc.

[Denver Ditdat]

I'm going to listen with my HT and a Diamond SRH320A triband duck just to see what I hear. Minimalist stations can be a lot of fun, even if they are frustrating at times.

[RightWhale]

Very cool!

[Denver Ditdat]

I think the average orbital height of the ISS is something like 350KM. The suit won't stay in orbit long without an external boost to overcome atmospheric drag. Maybe we can plot its eventual demise and watch for it burning up in the atmosphere.

[SirChas]

I was curious about the rig and found this:

The project--called Radioskaf or Radio Sputnik was led by project manager A. P. Alexandrov and Deputy Project Manager A. Poleshuk from RSC Energia. On the US side, AMSAT Board member Lou McFadin, W5DID headed up the hardware project development. The SuitSat electronics were built and tested in Phoenix, AZ by a team lead by Steve Bible, N7HPR.

[Erasmus]

I think he's putting a little too much RF into that little discone.

< ]B^)

[Cvengr]

Just dishin out chum for SpaceShark!

[JoJo Gunn]

I don't suppose there's a chance they put N5RLX in it?

[Moonman62]

I'm glad some think it's cool. I just roll my eyes back and shake my head.

[VOA]

Listen for Orbiting Space Suit

Bad move.
This is a signal to lots of rational people that we've done about all we
can in manned earth orbit and it's time to end the program.
In other words, if there's no Buck Rogers in this program, no need to
spend any more bucks on it.

[Denver Ditdat]

The antenna can't be more than 3 feet away from his desk, either - I'll bet he's waaaaaay over his RF exposure limits. ;-)

[Denver Ditdat]

From the AMSAT.org link:

Running only on internal batteries within the spacesuit, SuitSat will have a limited, but interesting lifetime beaming down special messages and an SSTV image as it floats in space. Having no external thrust to adjust its orbit after it is hand-deployed during the EVA, SuitSat will be in a free-floating, but decaying orbit around Earth. It is expected to remain in orbit up to 6 weeks after being deployed.

[Brujo]

I think the average orbital height of the ISS is something like 350KM. The suit won't stay in orbit long without an external boost to overcome atmospheric drag. Maybe we can plot its eventual demise and watch for it burning up in the atmosphere.

I suppose you're right about how long it will be up there. Also, I suppose it will be interesting to some radio folk here on earth so it's not a total waste of time and/or resources.

With all the more legitimate research they could be doing, this just seems like such a bizarre thing to do: Hey, guys, I'm bored, let's toss some stuff out the hatch and see if anyone notices!

By the way, what are they supposed to be doing up there? (Unfortunately, that last comment is only half-sarcastic.)