Many eyes will follow Artemis 1’s Orion spacecraft after its November 14 launch
Radio amateurs will join a powerful international network tracking NASA’s Orion spacecraft after it launches to the moon this month.
NASA officials announced that a network of 18 volunteers, organizations and room help agencies track Artemis 1that will send an unmanned Orion spacecraft into orbit the moon after shooting Soil on top of a Space Launch System (SLS) missile. The launch is no earlier than November 14.
The selected volunteers, including two individuals in the amateur radio community, will “demonstrate their ability to receive Orion’s signal and use their respective ground antennas to passively monitor and measure changes in the radio waves emitted by Orion,” NASA officials said in a statement. a pronunciation (opens in new tab) on Monday (October 31).
“These measurements will be taken during three different phases of Orion’s approximately 25-day mission: the journey to the moon, the orbit above the lunar surface and the journey back to Earth,” officials added.
Related: NASA’s Artemis 1 Moon Mission Explained in Photos
NASA collected the proposals in a Request for information (opens in new tab) released in August. Data that the participants retrieve is sent to the agency’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program. The goal is to improve tracking information for future deep-space missions, NASA officials said. (NASA will also collect its own tracking data on Orion.)
“We’ve received dozens of calls from antenna owners and operators around the world asking, ‘How can we get involved?'” John Hudiburg, SCaN’s Mission Commitment Manager, said in the statement. “This was our response: show us what you can do while supporting the next big thing in human space exploration.”
Participating government space agencies include:
- Canadian Space Agency, Canada
- National Center for Space Studies (CNES), France
- German Aerospace Center (German Aerospace Center), Germany
- Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), Republic of Korea
- National Space Centre, Elfordstown Earthstation, Ireland
Commercial companies include:
- Clearbox Systems Pty Ltd., Australia
- Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd., United Kingdom
- Intuitive Machines, USA
- Kongsberg Satellite Services (US office)
- Leaf Space LLC, USA
- Swedish Space Corporation (US office)
- Telespazio, Italy
- Vambrace Inc., USA
- Viasat, USA
The other volunteer groups or individuals are:
- Non-profit: CAMRAS, Netherlands
- Academic Institutions: Space Systems Design Laboratory, Georgia Tech Research Institute, USA
- Individuals: Scott Chapman, USA and Scott Tilley, Canada
Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of “Why am I taller? (opens in new tab)?” (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a book on space medicine. Follow her on Twitter @howellspace (opens in new tab). follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or facebook (opens in new tab).
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