ESA announces SSETI Express telemetry download competition:
The European Space Agency (ESA) education department has announced an award to the radio amateur who submits the largest number of valid telemetry and payload packets from the student-built SSETI Express satellite.
Telemetry may be received on any band to qualify for the award. SSETI Express is scheduled for launch September 27 from Plesetsk in northern Russia. It will downlink telemetry and payload data in AX.25 format at 9k6 bps on 437.250 MHz and at 38k4 bps on 2401.835 MHz. The satellite later will also be available as a single-channel Amateur Radio FM transponder.
All radio amateurs interested in competing for this award are encouraged to download the necessary software from the SSETI Express Web site http://www.sseti.org/express and to use the SERACC system to forward the telemetry and payload data to SSETI Express Mission Control.
Submissions will be automatically recorded, and the Web site will display a leader board, and the winner will be the amateur at the top of the leader board at 0000 UTC on January 1, 2006.
The winner will be offered the opportunity to visit the Student Technology Education Conference and Exhibition next spring in Germany. The three day event is similar to the AMSAT-NA Symposium and the AMSAT-UK Colloquium. In addition, the winner will be invited to visit ESA’s Mission Operations Centre (ESOC) near Darmstadt, Germany, for a private escorted tour of the facilities. ESOC currently controls many orbital and deep-space missions and will be responsible for the European Columbus module when it joins the International Space Station.
The prize includes economy-class travel, accommodations and a modest daily subsistence allowance.