wheatley@inuxi.UUCP (Steven Wheatley) (02/25/86)
QST DE K9EUI HR ARRL BULLETIN NR 15 FROM ARRL HEADQUARTERS NEWINGTON CT FEBRUARY 20, 1986 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT A VERY LARGE RUSSIAN SPACECRAFT CALLED MIR WAS LAUNCHED FEBRUARY 19. IT WILL BE A MANNED SPACE STATION FORMING THE CORE OF SOVIET MANNED SPACEFLIGHT FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS. A SMALL, MANUALLY DEPLOYED SATELLITE CALLED ISKRA 4 WILL BE ONE OF THE FIRST HAM IN SPACE ACTIVITIES FROM MIR. PREVIOUS ISKRAS CONTAINING AMATEUR RADIO EQUIPMENT WERE MANUALLY EJECTED FROM SALYUT 7. THE FIRST CREW SHOULD REACH MIR IN THE NEXT WEEK OR SO. SEVERAL COSMONAUTS ARE LICENSED AMATEURS AND OPERATION FROM MIR BY THEM IS THOUGHT A LIKELY PROSPECT. THE 10 METER SIGNALS RECENTLY THOUGHT TO BE FROM RS9 HAVE NOW BEEN POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED (AS COMING FROM RS1). RS1 CEASED REGULAR OPERATION IN 1980 BUT COMES TO LIFE OCCASIONALLY WHEN CONDITIONS ARE RIGHT. RS9 AND 10 ARE NOW SCHEDULED FOR LAUNCH IN LATE MAY. AR