SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS005   
   ARLS005 Fox-1A Ready for Launch, Fox-1D to Carry Radiation-Mapping   
   Experiment   
      
   ZCZC AS05   
   QST de W1AW   
   Space Bulletin 005  ARLS005   
   > From ARRL Headquarters   
   Newington, CT  March 10, 2015   
   To all radio amateurs   
      
   SB SPACE ARL ARLS005   
   ARLS005 Fox-1A Ready for Launch, Fox-1D to Carry Radiation-Mapping   
   Experiment   
      
   Following successful vibration and thermal/vacuum testing,   
   AMSAT-NA's Fox-1A CubeSat now sits in a clean environment awaiting   
   launch. AMSAT Vice-President-Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY, said   
   that NASA, the launch provider, now is reviewing several required   
   reports. Fox-1A completed its Mission Readiness Review at Cal Poly   
   in San Luis Obispo, California, on February 24 before a review board   
   of Cal Poly and NASA representatives, he said, adding that Fox-1A   
   delivery and integration has been set for March 25.   
      
   "From there, we won't see her again, but certainly look forward to   
   hearing from her again," he said.   
      
   Fox-1A will include a Mode B (U/V) FM transponder and capabilities   
   similar to the AO-51 satellite, which went dark in late 2011. The   
   first phase of the Fox series 1-Unit CubeSats will allow simple   
   ground stations using hand-held transceivers and simple dual-band   
   antennas to make contacts. The Fox-1 CubeSats also will be able to   
   transmit continuous telemetry during normal transponder operation.   
      
   Fox-1A is scheduled to launch in late August from Vandenberg Air   
   Force Base in California, as part of the NASA Educational Launch of   
   Nanosatellites (ELaNa) program, which offers free launches to   
   educational entities and encourages science missions. Fox-1A will   
   host a Penn State student experiment with micro-electromechanical   
   systems (MEMS).   
      
   Meanwhile, AMSAT and University of Iowa have agreed to include the   
   University's High Energy Radiation CubeSat Instrument (HERCI)   
   radiation-mapping experiment on the Fox-1D CubeSat. Fox-1D is a   
   flight spare for Fox-1C, but AMSAT has said that if the CubeSat is   
   not needed for that purpose, it would be ready for launch on any   
   available slot.   
      
   "HERCI is intended to provide a mapping of radiation in a low-Earth   
   orbit," said Don Kirchner, KD0L, a University of Iowa research   
   engineer. "This is of scientific interest for planning CubeSat test   
   flights for low-energy X-ray detectors."   
      
   As Kirchner explained, the instrument consists of a digital   
   processing unit (DPU) that was derived from processors currently in   
   orbit around Saturn on the Cassini spacecraft and on the way to   
   Jupiter on the Juno spacecraft. "The DPU was shrunk to a CubeSat   
   form factor with funding from the Iowa Space Grant Consortium," he   
   said.   
      
   The University of Iowa's history in spaceflight research dates back   
   to the earliest satellites. As Kirchner put it, "HERCI can be   
   considered a direct descendent of the first University of Iowa   
   spaceflight instrument flown on Explorer I in 1958." He said the   
   instrument is a senior design project by four UI electrical   
   engineering students working under the supervision of the space   
   physics engineering staff.   
      
   Buxton said the partnership is a win-win arrangement. "This   
   partnership with the University of Iowa illustrates our strategy of   
   leveraging the new CubeSat design to assist universities that need a   
   way to fly scientific payloads while providing a viable ongoing   
   platform for Amateur Radio," he said.   
   NNNN   
   /EX   
      
      
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