SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS015
ARLS015 Sputnik 41/RS-18 Launched from Mir
ZCZC AS15
QST de W1AW
Space Bulletin 015 ARLS015
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington, CT November 11, 1998
To all radio amateurs
SB SPACE ARL ARLS015
ARLS015 Sputnik 41/RS-18 Launched from Mir
Russian cosmonauts launched another mini-Sputnik satellite November
10 during a spacewalk from the Mir space station. The launch of
Sputnik 41--also being called RS-18--comes just over a year after
the launch of Sputnik 40, which commemorated the launch of the first
artificial Earth satellite by the USSR in 1957.
Among the first in the US to report hearing the new satellite was
Ken Carlstrom, N1WED, in New Hampshire. He reported hearing Sputnik
41 November 11 from approximately 0604 to 0609 UTC on 145.8145 MHz.
The Sputnik had arrived on Mir aboard a Progress supply rocket late
last month. Sputnik 41 was financed by the Aeroclub de France to
mark its centennial as part of a program of satellites made in a
collaboration of Russian and French students. AMSAT-France is
cooperating with the education department of the Russian Aeronautic
Federation to make this latest Sputnik reprise possible.
Sputnik 41 broadcasts pre-recorded voice greetings in three
languages, French, English, and Russian. The messages say ''1998 was
the International Year of Air and Space'' and ''International Space
School Sputnik Program.'' The French and Russian messages convey the
same greetings.
Sputnik 41 is the same size as Sputnik 40--just under 8 inches in
diameter and weighing almost 9 pounds. It carries a 200 mW
transmitter that transmits on or about 145.812 MHz (+/- 5 kHz and
Doppler shift). The spacecraft has no solar cells. Its expected
operational lifetime is approximately 30 days.
The new spacecraft also has a beacon. The frequency of the audio
tone indicates the satellite's internal temperature. The tone is
transmitted every 90 seconds.
Sputnik 41 reception reports go to AMSAT-France, QSL Spoutnik 41, 14
bis rue des Gourlis, F-92500 Rueil-Malmaison, FRANCE. The 1998
International Year of Air and Space page is at
http://www.ccr.jussieu.fr/physio/Satedu/sputnik41.html.
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