Weber ng but State Comment, Winter 1990 Second WSC satellite to pierce heavens fit AV res. > “ On Jan. 26 Weber State College will repeat its performance as a pioneer in the world of small satellites when four WSCbuilt orbiters are launched into space. The satellites are to be launched from a French Guiana rocket and will have an orbit life of approximately 50 years. “The technology in these satellites is about 1,000 times better than in NUSAT,” said Robert Twiggs, executive director of the college’s Center for Aerospace Technology. NUSAT was launched in 1985 from the Space Shuttle Challenger to help FAA officials calibrate their radars. That satellite lasted approximately 18 months before burning up on reentry into the earth’s atmosphere. “The electronic components in WeberSat are much more sophisticated than they were in NUSAT,” Twiggs said. The four satellites were built in cooperation with AMSAT, an international amateur radio satellite organization, and are designed for use by ham radio operators. Three of the satellites were manufactured at Weber State with the electronics completed by AMSAT people. The fourth satellite, dubbed WeberSat, was manufactured on campus with most of the electronics also completed by WSC students, Twiggs said. “We have high expectations for this satellite. The odds of having it work successfully are so much better than with y is NUSAT. The experience of the AMSAT people really makes a difference. They have done this a number of times, and have as much interest in our success as we do,” he said. Not that NUSAT was unsuccessful, Twiggs said. But the college has designed it’s latest satellite to do much more. WeberSat will receive, store and transmit radio messages from ham operators and from the WSC ground station located on the Ogden school’s campus,.and will conduct experiments on the earth’s atmosphere and magnetic fields. In addition, a video camera will take pictures of earth from space which the on-board computer will relay to the ground station. The satellite also has the ability to receive photos from earth as well, Twiggs said. “Of all the experiments we’re doing the one that’s caught the attention of the satellite people is the camera. This is the first color camera used in space,” Twiggs said. Ham operators are also excited about the ability to transmit photos, via the satellite, to and from most any spot in the world, he said. The college spent about $200,000 in raw materials for this 20-pound, bread box-sized satellite. If the cost of the volunteer labor was added the orb would cost approximately Weber State repeated its performance as a pioneer in small satellites when four WSC-built orbiters were launched into space January 10. $1.4 million, Twiggs said. Stephen Jackson uses the ground station in the WSC aerospace center to contact ham radio operators around the world. y “Because these satellites are in a low orbit with a large power base you won’t need much of a base station to receive transmissions. In fact, you could receive messages from the satellite on a CB scanner,” he said. AMSAT is working towards earth-tosatellite communications that can be done out of a briefcase computer with a hand-held radio, he said. The technology could have implications for such industries as oil explorations, utilites, archeology and others, he said. “This is very fascinating, and ham operators in AMSAT are very excited about the possibilities,” Jackson said. Miller Administration Building *Building Completed: 1970 *Dedicated May 1979 to honor Dr. William P. Miller eServed as WSC President 1953-1973 Built the institution from a junior college to a four-year school «Supervised construction of a majority of campus buildings eMr. Miller died in 1978. His widow, Mary, lives adjacent to the campus ee re, 'e Stephen Jackson came to Weber State from Ohio so he could use a satellite in space to talk with fellow ham operators in Japan. But besides talking with folks in Japan, Jackson, a senior majoring in electronic engineering technology, has used the ground station in Weber State’s satellite center to talk with cosmonauts aboard the Soviet MIR space station, with ham operators in Sweden, Austria, Scotland, West Germany, Russia, London, Finland, Australia, France and numerous points within the U.S. Jackson could have stayed in Toledo and used his home-built ham radio station to contact those places, but this communications activist jumped at the chance to be a part of the school that builds and controls the satellites he uses as a ham operator, he said. “The program is what attracted me. I’ve been an AMSAT (a world-wide ham radio organization) member for years. I met Dr. (William) Clapp at a convention in Detroit and saw his NUSAT presentation. Weber State’s program looked better than anything I’d ever seen,” Jackson said. On Jan. 26 a French Giana rocket will launch a WSC satellite, dubbed WeberSat, into a polar orbit 500 miles above the earth. a around the world WeberSat will receive and transmit radio and video signals, and run a variety of other experiements on the earth’s atmosphere and magnetic fields. All of those transmissions and experiments will be coordinated by the ground station at Weber State, with Jackson as the student coordinator. In addition, electrical engineers at Weber State have fitted a video camera to their satellite that will allow ground controllers to take pictures of the earth from space and transmit them to the ground station. But even more fascinating the satellite can also receive and send photos from the ground station to locations on the other side of the earth, he said. “Operators around the world are really excited about that,” Jackson said. WeberSat and three other satellites were built by Weber State as part of a Utah Centers of Excellence program, and are each about the size of a bread box. ee Ground controller bounces talk ee r “The majority of the work done by the students was done out of interest and dedication, not for money,” Twiggs said. “It’s a technical challenge, and there is pride involved. The students put in a tremendous amount of work,” he added. He noted also, that freshmen through seniors had a chance to work on the project as opposed to the University of Surrey in England. That school also makes satellites, but in their case only doctoral candidates are allowed to work on the satellite. ‘What the students get out of this is really what it’s all about,” Twiggs said. “The excitement of the launch hasn't really hit the students yet, but when it goes up, that will be a different matter. It will be a pretty exciting evening here,” he said.