6 minute read
Update from Arecibo
at higher orbits, it supercharges our efforts to bring educational opportunities and engineering innovations to Amateur Radio satellite at all orbits to hams around the world. While our LEO satellites help entry level hams become enthusiastic about space communications, our HEO satellites give advanced users the opportunity to push the limits of technology. Both programs are important to AMSAT’s mission of education and scientific advancement.” “AMSAT is indebted to ARDC for helping to bring this effort closer to reality. Still, with this generous award, AMSAT must still fund an additional $231,000 for other hardware development and launch preparation costs for just one GOLF series satellite. Our continued effort to raise funds is essential if we are to Keep Amateur Radio in Space.” As mentioned above, the new spaceframe is key to the development of the GOLF and Fox+ programs. Jerry Buxton, N0JY, AMSAT Vice President – Engineering leads the development of the GOLF satellite program while Jonathan Brandenburg, KF5IDY, Assistant Vice President – Engineering leads the new Fox+ program. Both RF Engineers and Mechanical Engineers are sought to help bring these programs to fruition. Potential volunteers should refer to https://www.amsat.org/volunteer-for-amsat/ for more information on how they can become part of this exciting move forward. [ANS thanks Frank Karnauskas, N1UW, AMSAT Vice President – Development, for the above information.]
SOURCE
AMSAT Press Release, ANS-065 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins. Mar. 6, 2022.
NEWS ITEM
Update from Arecibo
On December 1, 2020, the 57-year-old 305-meter Arecibo Telescope structure collapsed after a series of failures of the supporting cables. The following news items update the status of salvage operations and public access.
OBSERVATORY STATUS
Cleanup is complete. Scientists and engineers are onsite and continue to work on existing instrumentation, such as the 12-meter telescope, the optical facility and the lidar facility, and they are continuing to analyze and publish the large amount of data that already existed at the time of the 305m telescope collapse. In addition to the studies conducted on the single socket where the first failure occurred, there are two independent broader studies being carried out now. Findings are expected later this year.
On April 11, the Arecibo Observatory Survey Salvage Committee issued its report. On December 1, 2020, the 57-year-old 305-meter Arecibo Telescope structure collapsed after a series of failures of the supporting cables. The suspended platform struck the ground and the side of the natural depression in which it was constructed, with most of the scientific instruments housed beneath the azimuth arm badly damaged. The University of Central Florida (UCF) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF) chartered the Arecibo Observatory Survey Salvage Committee (AOSSC) to work with the Observatory management and the contractor managing the emergency cleanup activities to identify possible items of historic significance that could be found within the wreckage, to suggest which large sections of the structural framework to retain, and to make initial recommendations about conservation, display, and educational outreach aspects of the retrieved material. The AOSSC developed a database of high-priority items for the search, and catalogued the actual pieces collected during the emergency cleanup. The debris removal was documented from site surveys and drone footage to provide a record of the process and where possible, the condition of the wreckage around the recovered artifacts. Final committee recommendations include the need for action to protect the artifacts from further damage or corrosion, distribution of historic and technical information about the instruments and structural elements to museums and universities, and formation of a follow-on group to consider the long-term preservation and educational potential of the recovered material. A copy of the report is available at https://www.naic.edu/documents/ AOSSC_REPORT_FINAL20220325.pdf.
The Ángel Ramos Foundation Science and Visitors Center at the Arecibo Observatory reopened to the public on March 10. Visitors are welcome Wednesdays through Sundays from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. but must make reservations online. A new outdoor exhibit was added with artifacts recovered from the telescope and its platform. In addition, visitors will be able to access the observation deck and see where the telescope once stood. The rest of the AO facility remains closed to the public. A short public ceremony was held at 10 a.m. inside the Science and Visitors Center Auditorium. During the ceremony, some of the science investigations carried out at AO and the many educational opportunities available were shared. Visitors are welcome, but they must reserve a date and time to visit through the online store. Spaces are limited so an appointment is essential to secure your space. Guests will not be allowed to enter without an appointment. Visitors must also comply with the following guidelines: • Reservations must be made in advance at https://www. naic.edu/shop • Everyone 5 years-old or older must bring and wear a mask at all times • Guests must show proof of vaccination when they arrive • Use hand sanitizer • Maintain physical distance during the visit The temperature of each person will be taken at the entrance. Anyone with a temperature of 100.4F (38 C) or higher will not be able to enter, nor will anyone in their party. Anyone without a mask will not be allowed inside and no masks will be provided. The University of Central Florida manages the NSF facility under a cooperative agreement with Universidad Ana G. Méndez and Yang Enterprises, Inc.
CONFERENCES AND SCIENTIFIC WORK CONTINUES
Arecibo continues to host conferences, events, and scientific research. Some items include: • Arecibo will host the Upcoming 240th American
Astronomical Society Meeting on June 12-16. • Arecibo will conduct the Single Dish Summer School between May 16 - 20, 2022. Programs include a series of lectures on the fundamentals of single dish radio astronomy and a variety of hands-on, guided research projects using the 12-meter radio antenna and the extensive data archive. • In March, the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at the Arecibo Observatory has received funding from the National Science Foundation for the next three years, continuing its decades-long tradition
of training scientists and engineers at the facility each summer. The Arecibo Observatory was one of the first astronomy REU sites and has been hosting the program since 1987, though AO has operated undergraduate internship programs onsite since 1972. • The Puerto Rican Initiative for Studies Using Meteor
Radar (PRISMA) Meteor Radar arrived at Arecibo in
February. PRISMA is a 24-months project to deploy the first Caribbean all-sky VHF Meteor Radar in the island of Culebra, Puerto Rico. PRISMA is funded by
The Puerto Rico Science, Technology & Research Trust (PRST). The radar was previously operating at the Andes
Lidar Observatory (ALO) in Chile. It was donated to the
University of Central Florida / Arecibo Observatory by the University of Illinois. The radar is now being tested and prepared for transportation to the Remote Optical
Facility (ROF) on the island of Culebra. A customized 10-foot by 8-foot container with all of the requirements to house and operate the radar has been prepared at
Arecibo and will also be transported to ROF. • Arecibo has focused its 12-meter radio telescope on the Sun to monitor some of its energetic events, including changes that occur just before a solar storm.
Exciting new results from the telescope, which resumed regular observations in January 2022 following several upgrades, show that active regions of the Sun are very bright at high-frequency radio wavelengths.
SOURCES
National Science Foundation/Arecibo Observatory website, https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/arecibo/. Arecibo Observatory Recent News, https://www.naic.edu/ao/ blog?style=masonry&sidebar=left.
