[continued from previous message]   
      
   university's provost  and VP for academic affairs said in a statement:   
   [quote] "These partnerships and structures have now been successfully   
   initiated, and the remaining institutions involved in the project will   
   continue this important work." [endquote]   
      
   The National Science Foundation announcement said the delayed opening   
   to the public will also allow adjustments in C3's organizational   
   structure. Opening day is expected to coincide with the National   
   Science Foundation's 75th anniversary. The goal of the center is to   
   provide a place for STEM education and research that honors the   
   historic Arecibo Observatory, which was dismantled after its collapse   
   in 2020.   
      
   This is Travis Lisk N3ILS.   
      
   (NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, C3 WEBSITE)   
      
   **   
   INVESTIGATORS PINPOINT POSSIBLE ROOT OF ARECIBO COLLAPSE   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Meanwhile, a draft report about the 2020 collapse that   
   led to the dismantling of the Arecibo Observatory's 305-metre telescope   
   has pinpointed what is believed to be the root cause. A pre-publication   
   document from the National Academies, made available to the public   
   online, said that investigators found [quote] "unprecedented and   
   accelerated long-term zinc creep induced failure." [endquote] In other   
   words, the failure occurred in the radio telescope's cable sockets,   
   vital components that were designed to support the 900-ton platform   
   that was above the dish. The data analysis was conducted by the   
   University of Central Florida and the National Science Foundation.   
      
   The telescope's construction occurred between 1960 and 1963.   
   Investigators believe that the sequence of events leading to the   
   collapse may have begun with Hurricane Maria, which hit the telescope   
   as a Category 4 in 2017. The report noted that inspections before the   
   storm found the zinc leading edge to be intact - but in late 2018 and   
   early 2019 cable slippage was detected.   
      
   (ENGINEERING NEWS RECORD, GIZMODO, NATIONAL ACADEMIES)   
      
   **   
   OLDER S-BAND TECHNOLOGY KEEPS VOYAGER 1 TRANSMITTING   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Another crisis was resolved aboard the Voyager 1 deep   
   space probe by turning back the clock on technology. Kent Peterson   
   KC0DGY tells us what happened.   
      
   KENT: For Voyager 1, there was another disturbing incidence of radio   
   silence all over again. A shutdown in October of the X-band radio   
   transmitter left the space probe unable to communicate with the Deep   
   Space Network. The mission team linked the problem to a command that   
   had been sent to turn on one of Voyager's heaters. The team believes   
   the command somehow activated the spacecraft's fault-protection system   
   which conserves its power That lowered the rate of data transmission   
   and shut off the X-band transmitter, instead engaging the S-band   
   transmitter.   
      
   Recounting the sequence of events in the Voyager Blog, NASA's Tony   
   Greicius wrote that S-band transmission, which has a fainter signal   
   than X-band and consumes less power, had not been used by the space   
   team since 1981. S-band operates on frequencies between 2 and 4 GHz   
   whereas X-band uses frequencies in the range between 8 and 12 GHz. The   
   NASA blogger wrote: [quote] "The flight team was not certain the S-band   
   could be detected at Earth due to the spacecraft's distance, but   
   engineers with the Deep Space Network were able to find it." [endquote]   
   The old S-band transmitter has turned in a reliable performance since   
   October 24th, even from the distance of more than 15 billion miles, or   
   24 billion kilometres, from Earth, and will remain in use while the   
   team continues its troubleshooting.   
      
   According to the blog, [quote] "it may take days to weeks before the   
   team can identify the underlying issue that triggered the fault   
   protection system." [endquote]   
      
   This is Kent Peterson KC0DGY.   
      
   (GIZMODO, NASA)   
      
   **   
      
   BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur   
   Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including   
   the WD8IIJ repeater of the Steubenville-Weirton Amateur Radio Club on   
   Fridays at 8 p.m. local time in Steubenville, Ohio.   
      
   **   
   JAPAN LAUNCHES SPACE SATELLITE MADE OF WOOD   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: NASA has launched LignoSat, a wooden satellite built by   
   Japanese researchers. It was successfully sent to the International   
   Space Station on Tuesday,  November 5th, headed to the International   
   Space Station. Newsline first reported on its development in 2021 as a   
   partnership between Kyoto University and a Japanese home-building   
   company, Sumitomo Forestry. It is expected to be released into orbit   
   about 250 miles, or 400 km, above the Earth. LignoSat is an experiment   
   using space-grade wood to build environmentally friendly satellites.   
   Meanwhile, New Zealand has been busy with its WISA Woodsat, a   
   1-kilogram amateur radio satellite built in Finland. When launched by a   
   rocket, it is expected to reach an orbit about 310 to 340 miles - or   
   between 500 and 550 km above Earth. The microsatellite has already   
   completed a test flight in the stratosphere, 30 km above Earth, aboard   
   a weather balloon.   
      
   (REUTERS, NASA)   
      
   **   
   HAMSCI RECEIVES $1.8M GRANT FOR IONOSPHERIC STUDIES   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: A $1.8 million grant has been given to HamSCI for it   
   continued work studying the ionosphere. Andy Morrison K9AWM tells us   
   what's planned next.   
      
   ANDY: The citizen science investigators of HamSCI have received $1.8   
   million in additional support from the National Science Foundation to   
   support their ongoing studies of the ionosphere. The announcement was   
   made by HamSCI founder Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, who said the funding   
   would be used for various kinds of equipment to measure different   
   aspects of the ionosphere's behavior. They include 10 WSPRSonde   
   transmitters to be a source of GPS-stabilized HF beacon signals. The   
   funding will also support a network - now in development - comprising   
   30 standardized receive stations  that can observe HF Doppler shifts,   
   WSPR transmissions, VLF transmissions, the geomagnetic field and   
   natural radio emissions. Nathaniel said the network being established   
   will be [quote] "the only wide-spread, coordinated high frequency, very   
   low frequency and ground magnetometer measurement network that is   
   distributed primarily across the midlatitude region." [endquote]   
      
   According to an announcement by the University of Scranton, where   
   Nathaniel is an associate professor in physics and engineering, he will   
   be the lead principal investigator of the collaborative work done under   
   the grant with researchers at Case Western Reserve University, the   
   University of Alabama and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.   
      
   These projects are a continuation of the ongoing work by HamSCI which   
   involved amateur radio participation in Solar Eclipse QSO Parties this   
   year and last year. Hams were able to contribute data that helped   
   researchers better understand the impact the annular solar eclipse and   
   the total eclipse had on the ionosphere.   
      
   This is Andy Morrison K9AWM.   
      
   (HAM RADIO DAILY, UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON)   
      
   **   
   HAM RADIO TO GIVE ALASKAN ISLAND GREATER CONNECTION   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: In Alaska, an island community off the coast of the   
   mainland has become a little bit less of an island now because of   
   amateur radio. George Zafiropoulos KJ6VU has that story.   
      
   GEORGE: Members of the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department have always   
   been ready to respond from their fire hall if an emergency strikes   
   their island overlooking Frederick Sound. The hard work and generosity   
   of one local ham has just made the fire hall a whole lot more ready.   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)