AMSAT Phase 3D DC Vibe Tour Sked!

[Pat Kilroy]

AMSAT PHASE 3D DC VIBRATION TOUR SCHEDULE

The AMSAT P3D vibe schedule is changing fast because with all the 
HST and EOS-1 space hardware competing for time in environmental 
testing at GSFC, P3D is kind of riding on "stand by" right now.  

You are invited to this evening's Goddard Amateur Radio Club 
(GARC) meeting starting at 5:30 p.m. at the WA3NAN club site.  By 
6:15 p.m. a group will break for the GSFC Building 7 vibration 
facility.  Cameras and flashes are okay but attendance must 
be limited to *adult* U.S. citizens with legal picture ID.  No 
RSVP is required under these conditions.  

There are TWO additional tentative P3D "tour" opportunities.  One 
is this Friday, July 23 at 3 p.m. and then again at 6 p.m.  For 
the Friday tours, all should meet at the guard shack at the GSFC 
main gate on Greenbelt Road no later than 15 minutes before tour 
time.  

Please note that all tour arrangements are tentative based on 
a number of constraints, including critical P3D work such as 
attaching the solar panels and vibe table availability.  P3D 
at this moment is in an acoustic chamber in queue for the 
vibration tables.  Watch the AMSAT-DC e-mail list closely 
to check for last minute changes, otherwise you may show up 
and the tour date or time had changed!  To subscribe to the 
AMSAT-DC list -- even for a just few days is okay -- go to 
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/listserv/menu.html and the Mailing 
List services link there.  It's all automated so subscribing 
and unsubscribing is a snap!  

DIRECTIONS 

Talk-in is on 146.835 MHz FM WA3NAN/R.  

Coordinates, lat/lon:  DD MM SS.S    DD MM SS.S

WA3NAN club station  N 38 59 57.2, W076 50 47.6
GSFC Main Gate       N 38 59 30.9, W076 51 08.5
GSFC Building 7      N 38 59 54.1, W076 50 59.6

Closest APRS digi is N3IYI (Bob) in Lanham, MD (3 miles away).  

>From Washington, DC: 
Take the Baltimore-Washington Parkway (Route 295) North to Greenbelt 
Road (Route 193).  Take Greenbelt Road East for approximately two 
miles.  The main gate guard shack is on the left at the first traffic 
light after Cipriano Road.  Visitors to WA3NAN should continue on 
to the next traffic light and turn left onto Soil Conservation Road.  
The GARC facility is on the right (Gate 10) after the second traffic 
light.  Can't miss WA3NAN club antenna farm.  

>From Baltimore: 
Take the Baltimore-Washington Parkway (Route 295) South to the 
Beltsville Agricultural Research Center.  Exit at Powder Mill Road 
and follow the signs to the Goddard Visitor Center.  WA3NAN is on 
the left (Gate 10) across from the large cleanroom building bearing 
the NASA "meatball" logo.  For the GSFC main gate, continue past the 
turn for the Visitor Center to the next traffic light (Greenbelt 
Road).  Turn right on Greenbelt Road, then turn right at the next 
traffic light to enter the main gate. 

>From Virginia: 
Take the Capitol Beltway.  From either the inner or outer loop, 
exit to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway (Maryland Route 295) 
North.  Then follow the directions "From Washington, D.C." above.   

Other Info and Maps:
http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/vc/info/info.htm
http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/vc/events/vc-cal.htm
http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/welcome/gsfcmap/gsfcarea.htm

Please re-read the info above about the contingencies that 
you may encounter in attempting a visit.  Remember that 
the schedule can change in a moment's notice.  

Other Links:
W3IWI PHOTOS http://www.clark.net/pub/tac/p3d.htm HOT ONES! 
GARC STATION http://garc.gsfc.nasa.gov/www/garc-home-page.html

Before visiting to Greenbelt you may wish to visit the AMSAT 
Phase 3D web site at http://www.amsat.org/amsat/sats/phase3d.html 
to get the latest scoop to show the AMSAT team that you have been 
staying abreast of their very hard work.  The team here includes 
Lou, Stan, Dick, Rick, Bob, Chuck & Jay.  Please memorize their 
names, offer them your verbal support, and thank them madly.  

Sincerely,

Pat WD8LAQ


At 05:50 PM 7/20/99 -0400, SCHULTZ@cddis.gsfc.nasa.gov wrote:
>Amsat's Phase 3D satellite is presently at NASA Goddard Space Flight
>Center in Greenbelt to undergo vibration testing. The satellite team
>from Florida has spent the past two days assembling the spacecraft
>into its final launch configuration to prepare it for the shake test.
>Prior to the shake test its fuel tanks will be filled with isopropal
>alcohol to simulate the mass of rocket fuel that will be carried on
>the actual launch. 
>
>The test schedule is very uncertain, the team hopes to complete
>the test and be ready to ship everything back to Florida by this
>weekend, but other test activites at Goddard, most notably the
>preparations for October's Hubble Space Telescope service mission,
>may cause the schedule to slip into next week. 
>
>If any local Amsat folks or other interested persons would like
>a chance to inspect Phase 3D in person while it is here, please
>contact myself (n8fgv@amsat.org) or Pat Kilroy (wd8laq@amsat.org),
>we will try to make arrangments to get you in to Goddard if
>possible. We do not presently have plans for a public open
>house event because of the short notice and the uncertainty of
>the testing schedule. If the satellite is in the test chamber
>there may not be very much to see from outside. We will post
>any updates to amsat-dc as we learn more about the schedule.
>
>I regret that because of Goddard security regulations, this
>offer is limited to persons who are US citizens only.
>
>Dan Schultz N8FGV


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Patrick L. Kilroy                                                WK
SSPP Hitchhiker I&T Lead Engineer  Phone:  301-286-1984
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center   Fax:    301-286-1673
Building 5, Mail Code 568          E-mail: pat.kilroy@gsfc.nasa.gov
Greenbelt, Maryland  20771         Web:    http://sspp.gsfc.nasa.gov
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