Picture |
Object
name
#NORAD |
Description |
Launch
Date |
Weight |
|
Lunik
I
Luna 1
Mechta
1959-012A
#00112 |
Luna 1 was the first
of a series of Soviet automatic interplanetary stations
successfully launched in the direction of the Moon.
It actually landed on the Moon.
|
Jan
2nd 1959 |
361
kg |
 This recording
of a Lunik probe was kindly provided by Dick W4PUJ.
It is possibly from Lunik I but we are not sure. It
could be also based on transmissions of Lunik II or
Lunik III.
|
|
Pioneer
4
Pioneer IV
1959-013A
#00113 |
Pioneer
4 was a spin stabilized spacecraft launched
on a lunar flyby trajectory and into a heliocentric
orbit making it the first US probe to escape from the
Earth's gravity. It carried a payload similar to Pioneer
3: a lunar radiation environment experiment using a
Geiger-Mueller tube detector and a lunar photography
experiment. It passed within 60,000 km of the Moon's
surface. However, Pioneer 4 did not come close enough
to trigger the photoelectric sensor. No lunar radiation
was detected. The spacecraft was still in solar orbit
as of 1969. |
Mar 3rd 1959 |
5.9 kg |
|
Lunik
III
Luna 3
1959-008A
#00021 |
The lunar
probe Lunik 3, an automatic interplanetary station,
flew around the Moon. Recording kindly provided by Alois
DL3PD. |
Oct
4th 1959 |
278.5
kg |
Lunik
III was the  first
probe which provided signals and pictures from far side
of the Moon. In total it took 29 photographs (see #26
on the right). They were shot on film, developed automatically
onboard , scanned and 17 pictures were successfully
transmitted by radio back to Earth. Recording provided
by Alois DL3PD. |
|
Cosmos
359
#04501
(1970-065A) |
This mission
was an attempted Venus flight, probably lander similar
to the Venera 7 mission launched 5 days earlier on August
17th. The SL-6/A-2-e launcher
successfully brought the spacecraft to Earth orbit and
the spacecraft payload was separated from the Tyazheliy
Sputnik, but the escape stage failed during firing,
putting the payload into a slightly more elliptical
geocentric orbit.
Since 1962 the name Cosmos was
given to Soviet spacecrafts which remained in Earth
orbit, regardless of whether that was their intended
final destination. Typically Soviet planetary missions
were initially put into an Earth parking orbit as a
launch platform with a rocket engine and attached probe.
The probes were then launched toward their targets with
an engine burn of roughly 4 minutes. If the engine misfired
or the burn was not completed, the probes would be left
in Earth orbit and given a Cosmos designation. Therefore
this mission was designated Cosmos 359.
The failed
Venus probe in violent tumble was received on 66.2 MHz
on August 22nd 1970 at 08:17
UTC by Sven Grahn. |
Aug 22nd
1970 |
6500 kg |
|
Lunik
20
Luna-20 return craft
#05835
(1972-007A) |
Luna 20
was placed in an intermediate earth parking orbit and
from this orbit was sent towards the Moon. It entered
lunar orbit on February 18th
1972. On February 21st 1972
Luna 20 soft landed on the Moon in a mountainous area
known as the Apollonius highlands near Mare Foecunditatis
(Sea of Fertility), 120 km from where Luna 16 had impacted.
While on the lunar surface, the panoramic television
system was operated. Lunar samples were obtained by
means of an extendable drilling apparatus. The ascent
stage of Luna 20 was launched from the lunar surface
on February 22nd 1972 carrying
30 grams of collected lunar samples in a sealed capsule.
It landed in the Soviet Union on February 25th
1972 and the lunar samples were recovered the following
day.
Enclosed signal was recorded on 183.54 MHz
on February 25th 1972 by Sven
Grahn. |
Feb 14th
1972 |
5600 kg |
|
Voyager-2
Mariner
Jupiter/Saturn B
#10271
(1977-076A) |
Voyager 2 was one of
a pair of spacecraft launched to explore the planets
of the outer solar system and the interplanetary environment.
Each Voyager had as its major objectives at each planet
to: (1) investigate the circulation, dynamics, structure,
and composition of the planet's atmosphere; (2) characterize
the morphology, geology, and physical state of the satellites
of the planet; (3) provide improved values for the mass,
size, and shape of the planet, its satellites, and any
rings; and, (4) determine the magnetic field structure
and characterize the composition and distribution of
energetic trapped particles and plasma therein. |
Aug 20th 1977 |
722 kg |
 NASA
placed on both spacecrafts Voyager 1 and 2 a disk which
contains messages to communicate a story of our world
to extraterrestrials. The Voyager messages are carried
by a phonograph record. The 12-inch gold-plated copper
disk contains 115 images and a variety of natural sounds
to demonstrate the diversity of life and culture on
Earth. Enclosed please find some of the sounds.
birds: chimpanzee: f-111
fire:
first:
herding:
horse:
kiss:
morse:
tame dog:
volcanoes: wind:
|
 Jovian
Electron Cyclotron Emissions recorded by Voyager-2 PWS
(plasma wave sensor): Jovian electron cyclotron emissions
are intense narrow-banded emissions, generated by energetic
electrons spiraling along the magnetic field lines of
Jupiter and its magnetized moons. The frequency bands
of the electron cyclotron emissions occur at harmonics
or very precise multiples of the electron cyclotron
frequency, a characteristic frequency of the plasma
surrounding the planet. The frequencies of the electron
cyclotron emission bands track the variations in the
electron cyclotron frequency, which varies with the
strength of the magnetic field. The resulting tones
are high- pitched monotones which move up and down in
frequency scale on time scales of seconds to tens of
seconds. Provided by Don Gurnett. Courtesy of NASA and
the University of Iowa. |
|
Voyager-1
Mariner
Jupiter/Saturn A
#10321
(1977-084A) |
Voyager-1 was launched
only 2 weeks after Voyager-2. Both provided communications
through a high-gain antenna with a low-gain antenna
for backup. The high-gain antenna supported both X-band
(approx. 8420 MHz) and S-band downlink telemetry. |
Sep 5th 1977 |
722 kg |
On January 25th
2010 12:55 UTC Juan Daniel Gallego was able to use the
40m dish antenna of OAN in Yebes, Spain to receive Voyager
1 using a  Perseus
Software Defined receiver. At the time of reception
Voyager was 16.9 billion km away which is about 3.5
times the distance between Earth and Pluto! After converting
the 8.4 GHz signal down to about 3.5 MHz the beacon
signal was finally demodulated using CW detection of
the Perseus SDR receiver with an IF filter BW of 200
Hz. A description of the setup can be found when clicking
on the icon of the dish antenna.  The
audio recordings below are in non compressed wav format
and thus each 3 MBytes large. This allows you to analyze
the audio with an FFT program like Spectrum lab in case
you are interested. A spectrum capture can be seen by
clicking on the icon on the right.
In the
first recording you can hear the carrier of the beacon.
The signal is approx. 5 dB below noise level but can
be perceived by a trained (ham) ear.
In the
second recording the local oscillator of the receiver
is switched 50 Hz up and down in periods of a few seconds.
This makes it much easier to perceive the signal by
the change in pitch even by untrained ears.
Finally
the third audio files contains the same signal from
the beacon (no freq. switching) but compressed in time
by a factor of 50 and repeated 4 times. This makes easier
to appreciate the change in the Doppler shift.
Many thanks to Juan Daniel Gallego
for kindly providing the recordings and screenshots. |
Jovian
Bow Shock recorded by Voyager-1 PWS (plasma wave sensor):
All of the planets in the Solar System are embedded
in the interplanetary medium known as the solar wind.
The solar wind travels supersonically with respect to
the slower planets at a speed of about one million miles
per hour. And, just as a supersonic jet will create
a sonic boom in the slower atmosphere of Earth, a bow
shock is created in the solar wind in front of each
planet.
Jupiter has a strong magnetic field that
reaches out more than 3.5 million miles in front of
the planet, providing a substantial obstacle to the
flow of the solar wind. The bow shock forms at that
surface in interplanetary space where the supersonic
solar wind encounters the magnetic force of Jupiter
and it acts to slow and deflect the solar wind. In the
process, the energy of motion of the solar wind is converted
to thermal energy at the bow shock, heating the particles
behind the shock and creating rapid and turbulent particle
motions that generate the plasma waves associated with
the bow shock. When the Voyager spacecraft encountered
the Jovian bow shock, there was a very sudden burst
of intense, low-frequency emissions extending over a
wide range of frequencies. These emissions are directly
associated with the Jovian bow shock and are similar
to the loud sound associated with a sonic boom. The
shock noise signature is a sudden, loud, rumbling roar
lasting more than a minute.
Provided by Don Gurnett.
Courtesy of NASA and the University of Iowa. |
Jovian
Chorus recorded by Voyager-1 PWS (plasma wave sensor):
Jovian chorus is generated in Jupiter's radiation belts
by electrons spiraling along Jupiter's magnetic field
lines in this region. Once generated, the chorus waves
interact with the moving electrons, disturbing the spiral
orbit of the electrons and causing them to fall into
the Jupiter's ionosphere along the magnetic field lines
at high latitudes. Chorus waves consist of a rapid succession
of intense ascending tones, rising in frequency over
very short time intervals, each tone lasting typically
less than one second. The frequencies of these rising
tones occur in the audio frequency range and sound like
a dawn chorus of chirping birds, a sound which gives
these waves their name. Provided by Don Gurnett. Courtesy
of NASA and the University of Iowa. |
Jovian
upstream ion acoustic waves recorded by Voyager-1. Provided
by Don Gurnett. Courtesy of NASA and the University
of Iowa. |
Jovian
Whistlers recorded by Voyager-1 PWS (plasma wave sensor):
Jovian whistler waves propagate at audio frequencies
along closed field lines in Jupiter's magnetosphere.
Like Earth whistlers, the higher frequency components
of the Jovian whistler propagate faster than the lower
frequency components, resulting in a descending tone
that decreases rapidly in frequency over several seconds.
The descending tone sounds like a high-pitched whistle.
Also like Earth whistlers, Jovian whistlers are generated
by lightning discharges in the atmosphere. The detection
of Jovian whistlers by the Voyager spacecraft provided
the first indirect evidence of lightning on the giant
planet. Provided by Don Gurnett. Courtesy of NASA and
the University of Iowa. |
|
Mars Global
Surveyor
(MGS)
#24648
(1996-062A) |
Mars
Global Surveyor was launched by NASA on a Delta II rocket
and arrived at Mars on September the 12th 1997. The
spectrum plot was recorded on April 14th 2006 on 8422.744
MHz and was kindly provided by www.uhf-satcom.com. |
Nov 7th
1996 |
1030 kg |
|
Cassini
#25008
(1997-061A)
&
Huygens
(1997-061C) |
The Cassini Orbiter's
mission consists of delivering a probe (called Huygens,
provided by ESA) to Titan and then remaining in orbit
around Saturn for detailed studies of the planet and
its rings and satellites. The atmospheric probe Huygens
landed on Saturn's moon Titan. |
Oct 15th 1997 |
Cassini:
2523 kg
Huygens:
319 kg |
This recording
is a laboratory reconstruction of the sounds heard by
Huygens Atmospheric Structure Instrument (HASI), which
includes an acoustic sensor. Several sound samples,
taken at different times during the descent, are here
combined together and give a realistic reproduction
of what a traveller on board Huygens would have heard
during one minute of the descent through Titan's atmosphere
on Jan 14th 2005. Source: ESA |
This
recording was done on July 25th
2004. Time on this recording has been compressed such
that 13 seconds corresponds to 27 seconds. Since the
frequencies of these emissions are well above the audio
frequency range, they were shifted downward by a factor
of 260. Source: NASA |
|
2000 Cluster
2
FM6
Salsa
#26411
(2000-041B) |
The Cluster II spacecraft,
FM6 (Salsa), was launched together with FM7 (Samba).
The four similar spacecraft of the Cluster II mission
are part of ESA's and NASA's Solar-Terrestrial Science
Program (STSP). |
Jul 16th 2000 |
550 kg |
Earth
AKR (Auroral Kilometric Radiation) recorded in stereo
by the Cluster 2 spacecraft. The four Cluster II WBD
(wideband) instruments were designed and built at The
University of Iowa through funding provided by NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center. Provided by Don Gurnett.
Courtesy of NASA and the University of Iowa. |
Earth
whistlers recorded in stereo by the Cluster 2 spacecraft.
The aim of the Cluster mission is to study small-scale
structures of the magentosphere and its environment
in three dimensions. To achieve this, Cluster is constituted
of four identical spacecrafts which fly in a tetrahedral
configuration. Provided by Don Gurnett. Courtesy of
NASA and the University of Iowa. |
|
2001
Mars Odyssey
#26734
(2001-014A) |
2001
Mars Odyssey was launched on a Delta II rocket from
Cape Canaveral. The spectrum plot was recorded on April
11th 2006 and was kindly provided
by www.uhf-satcom.com. |
Apr 7th
2001 |
725 kg |
|
Hayabusa
Muses-C
#27809
(2003-019C) |
The primary
scientific objective of the Hayabusa (Muses-C) mission
is to collect  a
surface sample of material from the small (550 x 180
meter) asteroid 25143 Itokawa (1998 SF36) and return
the sample to Earth for analysis. Communications are
via X- and S-band low gain antennas and the high gain
dish antenna (X-band) with a transmitted power of 20
W. Two solar panel wings with a total array area of
12 square meters protrude from the side and a 1.5 m
diameter high-gain parabolic antenna is mounted on top
of the aircraft. On June 8th
2010 at 20:16 UTC the X-band downlink signal (8408.217
MHz) of Hayabusa was received by F5PL. The recording
was kindly provided by Bertrand F5PL. |
May 9th
2003 |
415 kg |
After a 7 years mission
Hayabusa returned to Earth's and burned up during re-entry
in its atmosphere over Australia on June 13th
2010 around 14:00 UTC. Three hours before re-entry the
return capsule was successfully ejected and landed in
the Woomera prohibited area in the Australian outback
where it was retrieved on June 14th
2010. |
|
Mars Express
#27816
(2003-022A) |
Mars
Express was launched by the European Space Agency on
a Soyuz-Fregat from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It included
a lander called Beagle 2.
It features the following communication
downlinks:
X-band: 8420.43207 MHz (61.27 dBW)
S-band: 2296.481481 MHz (37.53dBW)
The used high gain antenna is a 1.6m
centered parabolish dish which provides 39.3 dBi gain
at X-band and 27.3 dBi at S-band.
The sound file as well as the spectrum
plot were recorded on April 11th 2006 and were kindly
provided by www.uhf-satcom.com. |
Jun 2nd 2003 |
1120 kg |
|
Spitzer
Space
Telescope
#27871
(2003-038A) |
Launched
by NASA on a Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral. It is
a space-borne, cryogenically-cooled infrared observatory
capable of studying objects ranging from our Solar System
to the distant reaches of the Universe. The spectrum
plot was recorded at 8413.626490 MHz on April 23rd
2006 and was kindly provided by www.uhf-satcom.com. |
Aug 25th 2003 |
950 kg |
|
Smart-1
moon Orbiter
#27949
(2003-043C) |
Launched
by ESA on an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou. Mission
ended September 3rd 2006 with its planned impact into
moon. It transmitted at 8453.024225 MHz and at 32121.49350
MHz. The spectrum plot was recorded at 8453 MHz on August
15th 2006 and was kindly provided
by www.uhf-satcom.com. |
Sep 27th
2003 |
367 kg |
|
Rosetta
#28169
(2004-006A) |
Rosetta
is is en-route to Comet 67 P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko.
It transmits on 8421.790123 MHz. The spectrum plot was
recorded on May 4th 2006 and
was kindly provided by www.uhf-satcom.com. |
Mar 2nd 2004 |
810 kg |
Michael
OH2AUE built an 8.4 GHz receiver from junk and received
Rosetta using his club station 4 m dish. He webcasted
the event, a video of the shack and the BPSK carrier
audio to other interested people. The enclosed audio
recording was kindly provided by Michael Fletcher OH2AUE. |
Paul M0EYT
received Rosetta at 8421.112 MHz on August 29th
2010 at 14:00 UTC when it was 361  million
miles or 32.3 minutes light time away. You cannot really
hear the signal in the audio file enclosed but if you
run an fft over time (see the picture) you can clearly
identify the carrier including its doppler shift. Recording
kindly provided by www.uhf-satcom.com. |
|
Mars
Reconnaissance
Orbiter (MRO)
#28788
(2005-029A) |
Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) was launched by NASA on
an Atlas V-401 from Cape Canaveral. MRO arrived at Mars
on March 10th 2006. The sound
file as well as the spectrum plot were recorded on December
20th 2005 when the spacecraft
was 53258740 miles away from Earth. They were kindly
provided by www.uhf-satcom.com. |
Aug 12th
2005 |
2180 kg |
|
Venus Express
#28901
(2005-045A) |
Venus
Express was launched by the European Space Agency on
a Soyuz-Fregat from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It transmits
a tracking / telemetry beacon on DSN channel 17 which
is 8419.074074 MHz. The data enclosed was recorded when
the probe was 4.17 million miles away. Record and spectrum
plot were kindly provided by www.uhf-satcom.com. |
Nov 9th 2005 |
1270 kg |
On January 25th
2010 11:10 UTC Juan Daniel Gallego was able to use the
40m dish antenna of OAN in Yebes, Spain to receive Venus
Express using a Perseus
Software Defined receiver. At the time of reception
Venus Express was 256 million km away ! After converting
the 8.4 GHz signal down to about 3.1 MHz the beacon
signal was finally demodulated using USB detection of
the Perseus SDR receiver with an IF filter BW of 2.4
kHz. A description of the setup can be found when clicking
on the icon of the dish antenna.
 In
the first recording you can hear the carrier of the
beacon (changing pitch over time due to doppler effect).
 In
the second recording the upper sideband of the signal
carrying the downlink data was demodulated.
Many thanks to Juan Daniel Gallego
for kindly providing the recordings and screenshots. |
|
New Horizons
Pluto
Charon
#28928
(2006-001A) |
New Horizons
Pluto Charon was launched by NASA on an Atlas V from
Cape Canaveral and is en-route to Pluto. It transmits
on 8437.894737 MHz and 8438.181818 MHz. The spectrum
plot was recorded on April 12th
2006 when it was 64509465 miles away from earth. It
was kindly provided by www.uhf-satcom.com. |
Jan 19th
2006 |
393 kg |
|
Stereo
A
#29510
(2006-047A) |
Stereo A
& B (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) were
jointly launched by NASA aboard a single Boeing Delta
II rocket from Cape Canaveral. On the picture to the
left you can see them both while getting assembled in
the fairing. They are providing 3D images of the sun. |
Oct
25th
2006 |
642
kg |
Stereo
A is lagging Stereo B and transmits on 8443.5185 MHz.
The audio recording and the spectrum plot were kindly
provided by Paul Marsh M0EYT from www.uhf-satcom.com. |
This signal
of Stereo A while being much further away from Earth
and thus much weaker was recorded on September 1st
2010 by Paul Marsh M0EYT. |
|
Stereo
B
#29511
(2006-047B) |
 Stereo
A & B (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory)
were jointly launched by NASA and are providing 3D images
of the sun by observing the sun from different positions
/ angles. They are both in a heliocentric orbit. The
date downlink rate is 720 kBit/sec.
|
Oct
25th
2006 |
642
kg |
Stereo
B is leading Stereo A and transmits on 8446.2345 MHz.
The audio recording and the spectrum plot were kindly
provided by Paul Marsh M0EYT from www.uhf-satcom.com. |
|
Selene
Kaguya
#32054
(2007-039A) |
SELenological and ENgineering
Explorer was funded by the Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency. This lunar orbiter mission consists of three
satellites:
1.) an orbiter containing most of the
scientific equipment named "Kaguya"
2.)
a VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) Radio (VRAD)
satellite named "Ouna"
3.) a relay satellite
named "Okina" designed to receive a doppler
ranging signal from the orbiter when it is around the
far side of the moon out of direct contact with the
Earth and transmit the signal to Earth to estimate the
far-side gravitational field. |
Sep 14th 2007 |
1984 kg |
The S-band
downlink of Kaguya at 2363.6 MHz was received by Michael
OH2AUE using only a bent paper clip as the antenna.
This is to show what is possible with even such a small/simple
antenna: the signal is really weak but you can clearly
identify it especially at the end of the recording.
Recorded on December 18th 2007 by Michael OH2AUE. |
 Here
is a spectrum plot recorded by Paul M0YET on November
14th 2008 at 21:12 UTC. Please note the excellent signal
quality: he achieved more than 30 dB SNR using a 7 Hz
bandwidth.
|
|
Chandrayaan
1
#33405
(2008-052A) |
Chandrayaan-1 (means
"Moon Craft" in ancient Sanskrit) is an Indian
Space Research Organization (ISRO) mission designed
to orbit the Moon over a two year period with the objectives
of upgrading and testing India's technological capabilities
in space and returning scientific information on the
lunar surface. The satellite is a cubic in shape of
approximately 1.5 m side. The scientific payload data
transmission is in X-band frequency. The Telemetry,
Tracking & Command (TTC) communication is in S-band
frequency. Chandrayaan includes also a Moon
Impact Probe (MIP)
weighing 29 kg which rides piggyback on the top deck
of the main orbiter. MIP is shown on the bbottom picture
to the left and will be released at a predetermined
time after the orbiter reaches the final 100 km orbit
to impact at a pre-selected location. MIP operates at
4.3 GHz +/- 100 MHz. |
Oct
22nd
2008 |
523
kg |
This spectrum plot of the
S-band downlink at 2230.9 MHz was recorded on November
8th 2008 by Paul M0YET. |
Here
is another recording of Chandrayaan-1 kindly provided
by Paul M0YET. He received the satellite on 2230,9 MHz
when rather far away and thus quite weak on November
9th 2008 at 19:53UTC using a 90cm dish and an AOR AR-5000
receiver. The satellite can barely be heard in the audio
file but very well seen in the spectrum plot. |
The X-Band
downlink (8483.967 MHz) of Chandrayaan-1 was recorded
by Paul M0YET on February 7th 2009 at 18:56UTC. |
|
Kepler
Discovery 10
#34380
(2009-011A) |
NASA's Kepler Mission
is to survey our region of the Milky Way galaxy to discover
hundreds of Earth-size and smaller planets in or near
the habitable zone and determine how many of the billions
of stars in our galaxy have such planets. It includes
a 0.95m aperture differential photometer with a 105°
FOV. Kepler was launched on March 6th
2009 from Cape Canaveral/Florida on a Delta rocket into
an Earth-trailing heliocentric orbit. |
Mar 6th
2009 |
1000 kg |
Kepler uses the following
communication links:
- Uplink X-band: 7.8125 bps
up to 2 kbps
- Downlink X-band: 10 bps up to 16
kbps, antenna gain is 6.5dB, transmit power is 14dBW,
activated twice a week for commanding, health and status.
- Downlink Ka-band: up to 4.33125 Mbps, antenna gain
is 46.6dB, transmit power is 14dBW, activated once a
month for science data download. |
 The
X-band downlink was received by Paul Marsh on March
8th 2009. The FFT was received in a 5KHz b/w of the
8424.476 MHz downlink at 19:18 UTC on March 8th 2009.
|
 The
Ka-band downlink was received by Paul Marsh on April
29th 2009 who had put together a 32GHz down converter
from commonly available parts and then used a SDR-14
FFT receiver from RF-Space.
 The
first FFT was received in a 5KHz b/w of the 32166.1711
MHz downlink at 19:41UTC on April 29th 2009 while the
space-probe was about 3226045 Miles away from Earth.
 The
second FFT was received in a 3KHz b/w of the 32166.1653
MHz downlink at 21:27UTC on April 29th 2009 while the
space-probe was about 3226445 Miles away from Earth.
Note: The FFT shows the drift due to doppler shift and
a slight wobble in the carrier which is caused by Paul's
receiver: the GPS reference oscillators 10MHz output
is being multiplied 3420 times to generate the 34.2GHz
local oscillator. Therefore a very slight wobble in
the GPS control loop is strongly amplified.
|
|
Herschel
(FIRST)
#34937
(2009-026A) |
Herschel
Space Observatory carries the largest space telescope
ever launched before. Herschel was launched together
with Planck on an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou /
French Guiana.  From
a point in space called the 2nd Lagrangian Point (or
L2), its 3.5-m diameter mirror will collect long-wavelength
infrared radiation from some of the coolest and most
distant objects in the Universe. Herschel was received
by Paul Marsh when its distance to Earth was only ~170,000
Miles.  The
downlink frequency was 8468.454MHz. The first FFT plot
shows the tail end of a coherent locking cycle. On the
second plot sidebands carrying data can clearly be seen.
Received on May 15th 2009 at 22:25 UTC by Paul Marsh. |
May 14th
2009 |
3300kg |
|
Planck
#34938
(2009-026B) |
Planck was
launched together with Herschel on an Ariane 5 rocket
from Kourou / French Guiana. In the lower picture on
the left you can see it is located below Herschel. The
Planck satellite will observe the cosmic microwave background
radiation (CMB). This is the radiation released into
the Universe by the Big Bang about 14 thousand million
years ago.
Planck carries a telescope with an effective
aperture of 1.5 m that feeds microwave radiation to
two instruments:
 1.)
High Frequency Instrument (HFI) which is an array of
52 bolometric detectors and will image the sky at six
frequencies between 100 GHz and 857 GHz.
 2.)
Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) which is an array of
22 tuned radio receivers and images the sky at three
frequencies between 30 GHz and 70 GHz.
Downlink
frequency was 8468.454MHz, the FFT below shows the tail
end of a coherent locking cycle. The distance to the
probe is only ~170,000 Miles. The FFT's below are from
the IF frequency, simply add 8GHz to get the receive
frequency. In the second plot the data sidebands can
be seen. Received on May 15th 2009 at 22:04 UTC by Paul
Marsh. |
May 14th
2009 |
1800 kg |
|
Lunar
Reconaissance Orbiter
LRO
(2009-031A) |
The Lunar
Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) was the first mission of
NASA's Robotic Lunar Exploration Program launched on
an Atlas V401 rocket from Cape Canaveral. LRO was designed
to map the surface of the Moon and has forever changed
our view of the moon, literally bringing it into sharper
focus and showing us the whole globe in unprecedented
detail.
Enclosed
signal was received on December 28th
2011 at 19:34 UTC on 2271.223 MHz and kindly provided
by Paul Marsh. |
June 18th
2009 |
500 kg |
|
Venus
Climate
Orbiter (VCO)
PLANET-C
AKATSUKI
#36576
(2010-020D) |
PLANET-C is Japan's first
Venus probe, designed to study the dynamics of the atmosphere
and to establish the meteorology of Venus. Venus Climate
Orbiter will be built and launched by JAXA into an elliptical
orbit around Venus with a period of 30 hours. The target
launch date is May 17th 2010
from JAXA Tanegashima Space Centre in Japan. Venus'
surface is invisible under a thick layer of sulfuric
acid clouds and thus Planet-C will image Venus at different
wavelengths (lightning and airglow in visible light,
cloud temperature map in mid-infrared, chemical composition
at cloud top in ultraviolet, ground surface in near-infrared,
and lower atmosphere in near-infrared). It will also
include an ultra-stable oscillator for radio science
experiments. Together with Planet-C as the primary payload
there will be 5 secondary payloads launched: IKAROS,
UNISEC-1 and deployed together in a J_POD module WASEDA-SAT2,
KSAT and Negai*.
 260214
people around the world did participate in the "AKATSUKI
message campaign" and registered their names to
be printed on a special aluminium plate attached to
the aircraft. The confirmation image I received can
be seen when clicking on the icon to the right. |
May
20th 2010 |
500
kg |
 On May
22nd 2010 Bertrand Pinel F5PL
received Planet-C on 8410.8039 MHz with a . Recording
and spectrum plot kindly provided by Bertrand F5PL.
|
|
IKAROS
#36577
(2010-020E) |
 IKAROS
(Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation
Of the Sun) was launched by JAXA together with PLANET-C
and four other secondary payloads. This solar space
kite satellite is also heading towards Venus and is
expected to enter Venus' orbit after the 6 month journey.
 IKAROS
is the first fuel-free, solar-powered sail craft to
enter deep space “employing both photon propulsion and
thin film solar power generation” during its flight. The
sail of the IKAROS is a square membrane with a diagonal
distance of 20 meters and only 0.0075 mm thin. Paul
Marsh received IKAROS on May 23rd
2010 on 8431.1752 MHz. Enclosed please see the spectrum
plots he made.
|
May
20th 2010 |
315
kg |
 On May
25th 2010 around 20:20 UTC
also Bertrand F5PL received IKAROS at 8431.171 MHz (DSN
channel number 26) with a Signal strength of about +2
dB @2000 Hz BW. You can hear the signal in enclosed
audio recording.  His
antenna is an automated 10 foot dish with a cassegrain
feed and an LNA with 0.5 dB NF. Bertrand suspects a
problem with the frequency stability of the transmitter
of IKAROS. It is wobbling with a period of about 2 secs
as you can see in enclosed frequency spectrum plots
which he kindly provided.
|
 On May
28th 2010 at 20:46 and 21:30
UTC Bertrand received IKAROS again and made enclosed
specturm plots. At this time IKAROS was using its omni
antenna and its RF power was 7 W.  The
wobble frequency of the transmitter changed to about
4.2 secs and his new theory is that it is related to
the spin frequency of the probe. Thanks to F5PL for
kindly providing the recordings and plots.
|
Despite of the increasing
distance of IKAROS from  Earth
Bertrand received the probe also on June 4th
2010 and provided enclosed very nice spectrum plot.
It shows the wobbling of the signal very clearly. Thanks
to F5PL for kindly providing the plot. |
 Bertrand
Pinel F5PL and Jean-Jacques Maintoux F1EHN prepared
enclosed very nice analysis of the wobbling downlink
signal of IKAROS. Many thanks to F5PL for providing
this document.
|
On June 15th
2010, IKAROS released a spring-loaded detachable camera
module, a cylinder about six centimeters in diameter,
which snapped a series of pictures of the deployed 14-by-14
meter solar sail of the larger craft as it drifted away
(see pictures to the left). |
|
UNITEC-1
#36578
(2010-020F) |
UNITEC-1 (UNISEC Technology
Experiment Carrier -1) is the world's first deep space
satellite jointly developed by more than 20 universities.
UNISEC stands for University Space Engineering Consortium.
UNITEC-1 was launched together with PLANET-C and four
other secondary payloads towards Venus. UNITEC-1 will
be the last satellite to separate from the H-IIA F17
launcher. One of the 3 missions of this nanosatellite
is to provide the amateur radio community a challenge
to receive faint deep space signals. Unitec-1 will transmit
at 5840.000 MHz using the callsign JQ1ZUN. Its transmit
power is 4.8W per each of the two microstrip patch antennas,
thus in total 9.6W. The satellite's downlink schedule
is a 6 hour cycle with mainly pauses and the following
transmissions:
96% of TX time: CW in 1bps
4%
of TX time: AFSK/FM 1200bps packet radio
Six universities
are running experiments on UNITEC-1 which provide the
payload data of the AFSK transmission. The transmission
format is specified as "10M0F2D" and the bandwidth
will be 20 MHz. |
May
20th 2010 |
15
kg |
Before
UNITEC-1 was launched the communication system was tested.
Enclosed audio file of the CW test transmission was
recorded on May 9th 2010. The
second audio file documents an FSK test transmission
and was recorded on May 10th
2010. The recordings were kindly provided by UNISEC.
Special thanks to Naomi Kurahara JE6GXN. |
After
the successful launch on May 21st
2010 first CW and FSK signals were received on 5839.91
MHz during the first pass over Japan around 16:15h JST.
Unfortunately soon after the transmitter of Unitec-1
stopped working. The recordings were kindly provided
by UNISEC. Special thanks to Naomi Kurahara JE6GXN. |
On May
21th 2010 JA4BLC copied the
signal of Unitec-1 at 15:41:49 UTC for 15 seconds.  The
frequency was 5839.905 MHz. He used a 6m parabolic dish
(10mm mesh) with a modified W2IMU horn. Enclosed audio
file and spectrum plot was kindly provided by Yoshiro
JA4BLC. |
|
JUNO
New Frontiers 2
#37773
(2011-040A) |
JUNO (JUpiter Near-polar
Orbiter) was built by NASA and launched on an Atlas
V551 (AV-029) from Cape Canaveral to its 5 years journey
to Jupiter. Starting 2016 it will orbit Jupiter 33 times
during one Earth year before its mission will end with
a de-orbit into Jupiter.
Juno is expected to give
scientists a never-before-seen look behind Jupiter's
clouds
JUNO carries a X-band (8.404 GHz) and Ka-band
(32.083 GHz) communication links with multiple antennas
(LGA fore, LGA aft, LGA totoidal MGA, HGA). RF power
at X-Band is 14 dBW and at Ka-Band its 4 dBW. |
Aug.
5th
2011 |
1500
kg |
 On August
9th 2011 around 07:50 UTC Paul
M0EYT received Juno while it was already 1.1 Mio km
away from Earth. You have to add 8 GHz to the frequency
displayed in enclosed spectrum plot to get the actual
receive frequency. The audio file is from the same recording.
Both were kindly provided by Paul Marsh M0EYT.
|
|
GRAIL
A & B
Discovery 11
#37801 & #37802
(2011-046A &
2011-046B) |
The GRAIL (Gravity Recovery
And Interior Laboratory) mission consists of two spacecrafts
(Grail A & B) which were jointly launched on a Delta
II rocket from Cape Canaveral. The mission objective
is to determine the structure of the lunar interior
and to advance understanding of the thermal evolution
of the Moon. S-band is used for communication with Earth
(TT&C) as well as for inter-satellite communication.
Grail A transmits on 2279.503 MHz while Grail B transmits
on 2280.592 MHz. A Ka-band payload, the Lunar Gravity
Ranging System (LGRS) will be used to allow high precision
range-rate measurements between the two spacecrafts.
Furthermore the spacecrafts feature low power X-band
tracking beacons (around 300 mW EIRP). Grail A transmits
on 8451.5995 MHz while Grail B transmits on 8451.7995
MHz. |
Sept.
9th
2011 |
each
133 kg |
On September 13h
2011 around midday Paul Marsh M0EYT was able to receive
all 4 signals from the 2 spacecrafts while they were
about 400 000 km away from Earth on their way to the
moon orbit.
 This recording
of the S-Band signal from Grail A on 2279.503 MHz was
recorded on September 13th
2011 at 13:02 UTC. Recording and spectrum plot kindly
provided by M0EYT.
 This recording
of the X-Band signal from Grail A on 8451.5995 MHz was
recorded on September 13th
2011 at 13:19 UTC. Recording and spectrum plot kindly
provided by M0EYT.
 This recording
of the S-Band signal from Grail B on 2280.592 MHz was
recorded on September 13th
2011 at 13:05 UTC. Recording and spectrum plot kindly
provided by M0EYT.
 This recording
of the X-Band signal from Grail B at 8451.7995 MHz was
recorded on September 13th
2011 at 13:26 UTC. Recording and spectrum plot kindly
provided by M0EYT.
  This recording
of the S-Band signal from Grail A at2280.487 MHz was
recorded on December 31st 2011
at 16:45 UTC only a few minutes before the boosters
of Grail A were again activated and Grail entered into
an initially highly elliptical orbit around the Moon.
Recording and spectrum plots kindly provided by M0EYT.
|
 |
Phobos-Grunt
Fobos-Grunt
PHOBOS-GR
#37872
(2011-065A) |
Phobos-Grunt
is a Russian mission designed to land on the martian
moon Phobos and return a sample to Earth. It was launched
on November 8th 2011 at 20:16
UTC on a Zenit 2SB41.1 rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
in Kazakhstan into an elliptical Earth orbit. Unfortunately
the spacecraft did not perform its scheduled burn to
leave the Earth orbit and begin its trajectory to Mars.
The downlink frequencies are:
8414.6328 MHz of the
transfer module
8428.7316 MHz of the return module |
Nov.
8th
2011 |
730
kg |
 |
Mars
Sciency Laboratory
MSL
Curiosity
#378xx
(2011-0xxx)
|
The
Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) was launched on an ATLAS
V (541) from Cape Canaveral USA. Part of it is a large
rover nicknamed Curiosity with the objective of exploring
the martian environment as a former or current habitat
for life. The mission is planned to operate on Mars
over at least a full martian year (687 Earth days) once
MSL reaches Mars after an 8 month cruise. Here is the
downlink information of MSL during its cruise:
Downlink frequency: 8401.419752 MHz
Transmit power:
69.2 dBm
Ground G/T Required 54.7 dB/K
Downlink
Data Rate: 2000 bps (rates range from 10 bps – 62.5
kbps) Polarization = RHCP
Subcarrier: 24999.94 Hz
Subcarrier Type: Square wave
Modulation Format:
PCM/PSK/PM
Cording Format: Turbo 1/3
Symbol
Rate: 6000 sps
Modulation Index: 72 deg |
Nov.
26th
2011 |
750
kg |
 The
X-Band signal from MSL was recorded on November 26th
2011 at 23:58 UTC by Paul M0EYT. Spectrum plots kindly
provided by M0EYT.
|
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name
#NORAD |
Description |
Launch
Date |
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