AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 122.03 FROM AMSAT HQ

SILVER SPRING, MD, MAY 02, 1999

TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS

BID: $ANS-122.03



The second planned power test aboard the International Space Station

was completed recently setting the stage for the arrival of the Shuttle

Discovery on May 22nd, the first logistics flight carrying hardware and

supplies to the outpost.



ISS also celebrated its fifth month in orbit.



Evaluation testing -also known as 'characterization' testing- of the

station's two high-gain antenna was underway when communication was

lost through the Early Communications System (ECS). The loss of

communication is under evaluation, but a faulty transmitter box may be

the culprit. A spare transmitter is already aboard the station and other

spares are planned for delivery. In the meantime, communication and

command is being conducted in the primary mode by Russian ground

stations.



Space Shuttle Discovery rolled to its seaside launch pad earlier this

week in preparation for the first flight of the year to visit the station.

The transport of Discovery to the launch pad at the Kennedy Space

Center in Florida sets the stage to deliver supplies that will be used by

the first astronauts and cosmonauts to live on the outpost.



The next ISS component and the first full Russian contribution to the ISS

program was rolled out of its testing plant recently. A certificate of flight

readiness was signed signaling the official handover of the Service

Module from RSC Energia Corporation to the launch processing team at

the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It will be shipped by rail to the

launch site from its initial manufacturing plant at the Krunichev State

Research and Production Company. The official launch date will be

determined once the module reaches Baikonur and assessments can be

made on the remaining testing to be done.



The International Space Station remains in good health in an orbit with a

high point of 252 statute miles and a low point of 238 statute miles,

circling the Earth once approximately every 92 minutes. The station has

completed 2,504 orbits of Earth since its launch.



[ANS thanks NASA and the Johnson Space Center for this information]