[amsat-bb] ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AMSAT Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced

[Jerry Buxton]

On 7/19/2014 4:50 PM, Phil Karn wrote:
> Ah, because launches are scarce and expensive, and (re)developing even
> "the same old thing" consumes much of AMSAT's limited resources. And
> they're limited because we have yet to interest more than a tiny niche
> in what we're doing.

But you arguing about something that has already happened.  That makes 
no sense.
Arguing for doing something different, as you also did just a bit ago 
today, makes sense.
Why did the U.S. go back to the moon so many times?  I don't know. But 
we did, and that is done.  You could argue now that it had been done 
before, why did we do it over and over, it was the same old thing.  That 
doesn't change the facts.
There is an audience for these FM satellites.
> It's great to have universities looking to partner, but what do they
> bring to the table, really? Are we sure they're not just looking for
> free spectrum?
Both universities that I am working with are building amateur radio 
ground stations and interesting the students in becoming hams.  We all 
benefit from that.  And some other universities want to fly an ADAC 
system.  We may benefit from that on Fox-2.
>> >one flying soon, so that we can learn how well they work and apply those
>> >lessons to Fox-2 while we're working out the design.
> We already know how well they'll work because we've done the same thing
> many times before. I hate to say it, but this is no longer "rocket
> science". The physics is well understood, and those same physics tell us
> how we could accomplish so much more with our (currently) limited resources.
We have already learned a great deal from an engineering process 
perspective, as well as about cramming a lot into a little cubesat. Not 
rocket science, but certainly for a large all volunteer group a valuable 
step toward what it will take to build something more complex.  I think 
you over estimate the ability of an all-volunteer workforce, in terms of 
churning out satellites akin to how a business does it.  Amateur radio 
is a hobby!

You see lemons.  I see lemonade.  But by all means, let's go for pink 
lemonade and keep on talking about Fox-2 opportunities while people 
enjoy what we have already done with the Fox-1 series!

Jerry Buxton, NØJY