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Mir Amateur Radio Status March 23, 2001

RØMIR (R Zero MIR) SK !!

MIR 1986 - 2001

RØMIR 1988 - 2001

By Miles Mann WF1F,
MAREX-NA (Manned Amateur Radio Experiment, North American Division)


Who will push the Button?

I spoke with the engineers at Russians Missioncontrol today about the end of Mir. Tomorrow morning around 8am Moscow time(0600 UTC) many of the engineers and cosmonauts who were responsible for Mirwill gather in Mission control to bid farewell to a fine space station.Cosmonaut Vladimir Solovyov, who was a flight engineer on the very first Mirmission (March 13, 1986) will also be present. Solovyov, who helped bring Miralive in 1986, will be responsible for bringing the Mir project to an end. Atapproximately 0600 UTC Vladimir Solovyov will issue the command to fire the Mirengines for one last time. Then approximately 30-45 minutes later, Mir willsplash down Pacific Ocean. 

The chief of the Amateur Radio CosmonautDepartment, Sergej Samburov said, "I have been working on Mir for 20 years,most of my life. It's like loosing a close relative." Samburov isresponsible for approving all of the amateur radio experiments on Mir and forseveral other Russian launched Amateur Radio projects.

Mir

Mir's Retirement date adjusted to March 23,approximately 0620 UTC. The Russian Space Station Mir will be retired on March23 around 0620 UTC. The controllers in Moscow have been slowly lowering theorbit of Mir from 250 miles (400 kilometers) down to approximately 130 miles(208 kilometers) above the earth's surface. When the Space station reached 150miles ( 250 Kilometers), it was at the point of no return. The two Progressrocket boosters will not be able to lift Mir back into orbit. When Mir reachedthe 133-mile (220-Kilometer) point early this week, the controllers were thenable to pick the final orbit and time. Mir is currently at about 127 miles (240kilometers) in altitude. The controllers at Russian Mission control are nowpreparing for the final three engine firings which will send the 140 ton Spacestation into a controlled dive. The first engine burn will take place around0030 UTC and the second on the next orbit around 0200 UTC, with the final burnduring the 0500 UTC orbit over Asia. The main parts of the Mir Station will diveinto a specific 50 x 100 miles spot in the Pacific Ocean. Some of the smallerlighter parts, such as the solar panels will fragment into smaller pebble sizechunks and land over a wider area.

People living in Japan and New Zealand may beable to see the station as it makes is last fiery decent. Amateur Radio stationsliving along the Pacific Rim, will be able to bounce radio signals off the iontrail of the Mir station and may be able to have a few minutes of "meteorbounce" propagation. In that trail of ions will not only be tons ofexpensive test equipment but it will also include several amateur radioprojects, including :

  • Icom 228h 2-meter transceiver (SAFEX project)
  • Icom 70cm Repeater (SAFEX II)
  • Kenwood TM-733 dual band transceiver (SAFEX project)
  • Kenwood TM-V7A dual band transceiver (MAREX SSTV system)
  • Kantronics KPC-9612 TNC (MAREX Email system)
  • PacCom TNC (MIREX project)

And the first joint project between MIREX/MAREX/SAREX/ARRL/AMSATwas the DCI RF Filter project.

When Mir goes, I will be sad. She served us wellduring her historic 15 year Mission. The Mir Station reminds me a little of thefictional TV series, Star Trek. Mir boldly went where no one has gone before andpaved the way for her little child, Space Station Alpha. Do you remember StartTrek 3, In search of Spock? At the end of the Movie, we all shed a tear, whenthe Enterprise NCC-1701 burnt up in the atmosphere of the Genesis planet. So toowill Mir bun up as she head for her splash down in the pacific.

Long Time Visitor

As Mir made her fiery end, many people watchedthe sky, including her longest visitor, Sergei Avdeyev. Sergej lived on Mir foralmost 2 years and currently holds the word record to total time in Space.Sergej will be in the South Pacific sky watching. Serge was also a very activeAmateur Radio operator on Mir and sent us many great SSTV images.

ISS Crew Bids Farwell

There will be a ceremony on ISS honoring Mir whenshe is retired. The at 0634 the ISS will be passing over the same area of thesouth pacific, just as Mir will be heading for the ocean. The ISS crew may evenbe able to see the glow of the Mir station. The people on the ground looking forMir should also look up to the south and be happy, because the shining dot inthe sky heading east is the child of Mir. Mir's Daughter Alpha is flying highand proud, continuing in her mother's footsteps.

Mir Orbital Data

MIR

1 16609U 86017A 01081.15974550 .00757533 11879-434830-3 0 7708
2 16609 51.6342 255.3849 0004139 203.8945 156.1875 16.21156079863131

"Daughter of Mir"

ISS (ZARYA)

1 25544U 98067A 01081.21693648 .00031287 00000-037706-3 0 7871
2 25544 51.5698 167.1633 0008461 199.3076 267.2921 15.60464118133492

Taco Bell

A fast food company, Taco Bell is having a Hit mecontest with Mir. If parts of Mir hit a 40 x 40-foot target floating in theocean, Taco Bell will pass out free tacos. I wonder if they will give Marex anyextra Tacos, if the parts turn out to be from any of our Amateur Radio projectson Mir?

Post Card from Space

Amateur Radio operators frequently exchangepostcards between radio stations to confirm the 2-way radio contact. These postcards are called QSL cards. I received a very special QSL card, which camedirectly from the Russian Space Station Mir.

In 1999, on of my QSL cards flew into space on aProgress cargo rocket. The three Mir crew members then signed the WF1F QSL cardand placed ink post-mark stamps on the back of the card, indicating the card wasactually on the Russian Space Station Mir. One of the stamps has the date August28, 1999, which is the date the Mir crew undocked and left the Space Station andcame home to Earth. The card spent over a month in space (over 39 days) andtraveled around the world 585 times(over 21million miles in space).

The QSL card was signed by :

  • French cosmonaut Jean-Pierre Heignere
  • Russian Cosmonaut Viktor Afanasyev
  • Russian Cosmonaut Sergei Avdeyev

I would like to thank all of the Mir crew, SergejAvdeyev, Viktro Afanasyev and Jean-Pierre and the engineers at Energia,including Sergej Samburov for making it possible for me to receive this once ina life time gift. I am very pleased and proud to have been a part of thesuccessful and valuable Russian Space Amateur Radio program.

G. Miles Mann WF1F


From Farrell Winder W8ZCF

The Mir Space Station with its re-entry plunge toEarth has taken with it several historical Amateur Radio Systems. Among these isthe SSTV package developed specifically for Mir by the MAREX-NA group. Using the SSTV setup the Mir crews sent thousands of exciting "live"pictures to Earth. Dr. Don Miller, W9NTP received one of the 1st images. Don wasalso one of the developers of the Mir System. This picture was received onDecember 12, 1998 :

Comdr. Gennady Padalka withthe SSTV System

Gerald Klatzko received one of the last knownpictures from Mir, ZS6BTD on April 23, 2000 :

Alex Kaleri, U8MIR is shown at hisworkstation

 From Mir's pictures much waslearned about the world renowned Mir Space Station which spent more that 15years in outer space. The Mir pictures also included many spectacular scenes ofEarth. Realizing that there cannot be any more pictures from Mir is verysaddening, but we all can look forward to new exciting pictures from theInternational Space Station ( ISS) via SpaceCam1 which is described here. 

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