SB SAT @ AMSAT  $STS-78.001
STS-78 Columbia SAREX Bulletin

Silver Spring, Maryland USA
June 20, 1996 @ 1200 UTC

[Similar text to AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN ANS-160.05]

NASA has firmed up the date for the next Space Shuttle Mission, STS-78.
Liftoff of the Space Shuttle Columbia is now planned for 14:49 UTC on June
20.  The primary goal of this long duration (16 day) mission is to conduct
microgravity research using the Life and Microgravity Spacelab (LMS)
payload.

STS-78 will also carry the Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment (SAREX).
SAREX provides school groups and ham radio operators an opportunity to
talk directly with Space Shuttle Astronauts as they circle the Earth.
SAREX will be flown in Configuration C on this mission; 2 meter voice and
packet. Three of the seven crew members are licensed radio amateurs:
Payload Commander Susan Helms, KC7NHZ who is making her third Shuttle
flight, Mission Specialist Chuck Brady, Jr., N4BQW and Canadian Payload
Specialist Robert Thirsk, VA3CSA.  Brady and Thirsk are both making their
first flight.

During the flight, the shuttle astronauts have scheduled contacts with
11 school groups from around the world.

A detailed fact sheet for SAREX on the STS-78 mission follows:


	 STS-78 Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX)
		      Information Sheet

Mission:        STS-78 Space Shuttle Columbia
		Life and Microgravity Spacelab (LMS) payload

Launch:         June 20, 1996 at 1449 UTC

Landing:        July 6, 1996 at 1246 UTC at the Kennedy Space Center

Orbit:          39 degree inclination

Crew:

CDR  Col. Terence T. (Tom) Henricks, Commander
PLT  Kevin R. Kregel, Pilot
MS1  Richard M. Linnehan, DVM, Mission Specialist
MS2  Lt. Col. Susan J. Helms, Payload Commander, KC7NHZ
MS3  Dr. Charles E. Brady, Jr., Mission Specialist, N4BQW
PS1  Dr. Jean-Jacques Favier, Payload Specialist
PS2  Dr. Robert (Bob) Brent Thirsk, Payload Specialist, VA3CSA

Modes:           FM Voice
		 Callsigns: KC7NHZ, N4BQW, VA3CSA

		 Packet Radio
		 Callsign:  W5RRR-1

Frequencies: All operations in split mode.  Do not transmit on the
downlink frequency.

The following frequencies are used for two-way voice communications with
the Shuttle astronauts.  Please note that THESE HAVE CHANGED SINCE THE
LAST MISSION.

Downlink:             145.55 MHz      Worldwide

Voice Uplinks:        144.91, 144.93, 144.95, 144.97, 144.99 MHz
		      (Except Europe)
		      144.70, 144.75, 144.80 (Europe Only)

Packet Uplink:        144.49 MHz      Worldwide

Note: The crew will not favor any specific uplink frequency, so your
ability to communicate with SAREX will be the "luck of the draw."

For all operations, Earth stations should listen to the downlink frequency
and transmit only when the Shuttle is in range and the astronauts are on
the air.


Info:   Goddard Amateur Radio Club, WA3NAN, Greenbelt Maryland,
	SAREX Bulletins and Shuttle Retransmissions
	3860 kHz, 7185 kHz, 14,295 kHz, 21,395 kHz, 28,650 kHz
	and 147.45  MHz (FM)

	ARRL Amateur Radio Station, W1AW, Newington, CT,
	SAREX News Bulletins
	3990, 7290, 14,290, 18,160, 21,390, and 28,590 kHz
	and 147.555 MHz (FM)

	NASA Spacelink computer information system:
	Phone: (205) 895-0028 or via Internet: spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov

	ARRL BBS: (203) 666-0578
	JSC ARC BBS (713) 244-5625, 9600 baud or less.
	GSFC ARC BBS on internet: wa3nan.gsfc.nasa.gov

WWW Home Pages:
SAREX:          http://www.nasa.gov/sarex/sarex_mainpage.html
ARRL:           http://www.arrl.org/
AMSAT:          http://www.amsat.org
Spacelink:      http://spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov
Shuttle:        http://shuttle.nasa.gov
Goddard ARC:    http://garc.gsfc.nasa.gov/www/garc-home-page.html


School Group Participation:

The following schools will participate in SAREX with pre-scheduled
direct contacts: Bethlehem Central Sr. High School, Delmar, NY;
Eisenhower Middle School, San Antonio, TX; Heritage Middle School,
Colleyville, TX; Anacortes Middle School, Anacortes, WA; Valley
Heights Jr-Sr High School, Blue Rapids, KS; Monroe Elementary School,
Santa Barbara, CA; Maple Grove Education Centre, Hebron, Nova Scotia,
Canada; Saskatoon Public AreospaCe Education(S.P.A.C.E.), Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan, Canada; Toowoomba State High School, Toowoomba,
Queensland, Australia; Catholic Ladies College, Eltham,Victoria,
Australia;  CENG - Nuclear Center of Grenoble, Grenoble, France.


Keplerian Elements:

STS-78
1 99978U          96172.67461119  .00151561  00000-0  28023-3 0   103
2 99978  39.0091   9.5805 0010198 336.2868  23.7631 15.98430480    24

Satellite: STS-78
Catalog number: 99978
Epoch time:      96172.67461119    =    (20-Jun-96   16:11:26.40 UTC)
Element set:     010
Inclination:       39.0091 deg
RA of node:         9.5805 deg            Space Shuttle Flight STS-78
Eccentricity:     .0010198               Prelaunch element set JSC-010
Arg of perigee:   336.2868 deg          Launch:  20-Jun-96 14:49:00 UTC
Mean anomaly:      23.7631 deg
Mean motion:   15.98430480 rev/day                Gil Carman
Decay rate:    1.51561e-03 rev/day^2       NASA Johnson Space Center
Epoch rev:               2
Checksum:              314


QSL Cards:

Send reports and QSLs to ARRL EAD, STS-78 QSL, 225 Main Street, Newington,
CT 06111-1494, USA. Include the following information in your QSL or
report: STS-78, date, time in UTC, frequency and mode. In addition, you
must also include a SASE using a large, business-sized envelope if you
wish to receive a card. "The Net" in Anacortes, Washington has generously
volunteered to manage the cards for this mission.


Submitted by (Pat Kilroy, WD8LAQ, for) Frank H, Bauer, KA3HDO, for the
SAREX Working Group

/EX