[South Florida DX Association] ARLS007 Ham radio-carrying rocket hopes to reach space

[bmarx at bellsouth.net]

 SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS007
> ARLS007 Ham radio-carrying rocket hopes to reach space
> 
> ZCZC AS07  
> QST de W1AW  
> Space Bulletin 007  ARLS007
> From ARRL Headquarters  
> Newington, CT  May 12, 2004
> To all radio amateurs
> 
> SB SPACE ARL ARLS007
> ARLS007 Ham radio-carrying rocket hopes to reach space
> 
> An amateur rocket team this month will attempt to send a
> 21-foot-tall rocket carrying a ham radio avionics package into the
> fringes of space. The launch by the Civilian Space Xploration Team
> (CSXT) could occur as early as Monday, May 17, from Black Rock
> Desert in Nevada. A CSXT try to reach space in 2002 ended some three
> seconds after launch when the rocket's engine exploded. Avionics
> Team Leader Eric Knight, KB1EHE, says CSXT has since rebounded from
> that devastating blow with a newer, bigger vehicle.
> 
> ''We are very pumped,'' the Connecticut amateur told ARRL. ''Our
> confidence level grows with each launch. All the ingredients are
> there for success.'' Knight's avionics team includes eight Amateur
> Radio licensees, most of whom also were involved in the 2002 launch
> attempt. The entire CSXT team, headed by CSXT founder and Program
> Director--and former Hollywood stunt man--Ky Michaelson of
> Minnesota, has 18 members.
> 
> In terms of Amateur Radio, the GoFast rocket, named for a corporate
> sponsor, will transmit telemetry on the 33-cm amateur band and
> Amateur TV at 2.4 GHz using a high-quality color camera. The
> avionics also incorporate multiple global positioning system (GPS)
> units to record the vehicle's precise location and flight path,
> redundant data acquisition and storage systems, and a variety of
> data sensors.
> 
> Once the rocket goes up, appropriately equipped amateurs may be able
> to receive signals from the approximately 2 W transmitters onboard,
> even at some distance from the launch site, Knight says. Specific
> frequencies have not yet been selected, however. In addition, the
> team may set up an HF station at the launch site.
> 
> Knight says the avionics crew even salvaged a few electronic
> components for the 2004 launch from the 2002 avionics package, which
> continued to function flawlessly until the rocket crashed into the
> desert.
> 
> Plans call for the solid-fuel rocket to zip upward from the desert
> floor and reach a speed of more than 4000 MPH in about 9 seconds.
> Assuming all goes well, the suborbital vehicle will, on its own
> momentum, attain an altitude of 100 km or 62 statute miles--high
> enough to be considered ''space''--linger there for a couple of
> minutes then arc back to Earth some 26 miles down range. The whole
> thing will take somewhat less than a half-hour, Knight says. If
> successful it would mark the first amateur rocket launch into space.
> 
> Knight is optimistic that the team has gained valuable knowledge
> from its past failures. ''We've learned a lot that you can't get from
> a textbook,'' he said. ''We feel we have a chance to make history.''
> 
> There's more information on the CSXT Web site, 
> www.civilianspace.com .
> NNNN
> /EX
>