[amsat-bb] Re: AO-40 (R.I.P.) query

[w7lrd@comcast.net]

It's still up there, every once in awhile I throw a little RF to it (sobsob). 

73 Bob W7LRD 



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Samudra Haque" <samudra.haque at gmail.com> 
To: "Amsat-bb" <amsat-bb at amsat.org> 
Sent: Monday, September 14, 2009 7:43:28 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific 
Subject: [amsat-bb]  AO-40 (R.I.P.) query 

Hi, I was looking at some information from the 2005 Edition of the 
ARRL handbook, which referred to AO-40 in some detail... but of 
course, AO-40 is non-functional at present. The information I was able 
to gather from web sources imply there is a "chance" the primary 
battery may become open-circuit, and the secondary battery might 
become operational if the panels are still charging. 

Q: Was there any watchdog facility onboard the AO-40 that operated 
directly off the charging bus prior to the battery ? If so, what was 
the capability of the watchdog facility ? 

Q: Is the bird still in orbit, or has it decayed or is decaying ? 

Q: Under normal lifespan, what was the intention of the designers when 
time came to have it shutdown ? Where there any deorbit plans ? 

Q: If the AO-40 satellite is still up there, is anyone listening ? 

Samudra, N3RDX 
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