<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<p>Isn't WFOV (AFSPC 12) scheduled to be launched next month?</p>
<p>Ron W6RZ<br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2/13/20 22:47, Leffke, Zachary via
Ground-Station wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:BN7PR05MB456294B7D576E7BC2A10FCE7DF150@BN7PR05MB4562.namprd05.prod.outlook.com">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered
medium)">
<style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Helvetica;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#0563C1;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#954F72;
text-decoration:underline;}
p.msonormal0, li.msonormal0, div.msonormal0
{mso-style-name:msonormal;
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;}
span.EmailStyle18
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:black;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:10.0pt;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">While
I agree with Phil and Kent on this, do remember we got
pretty close to success on a number of those fronts with the
Air Force on the WFOV attempt. In that case, AMSAT and
other benefactors cut the checks to cover the study and VT
researcher time that lead to a PDR level design and
addressed a number of Kent’s points including overall/center
of mass, mechanical mating, electrical mating, outgassing,
thermal constraints, EMI/RFI, even security type issues
(like TEMPEST), etc, etc, etc. We generally got the ‘no
impact to primary mission’ result (which is a ‘go’) from the
integrators (Millennium Space Systems) which they formally
delivered to the Air Force, who responded with a thumbs up
(I remember that review, it was a good day). In fairness,
that was a relatively easier set of constraints due to the
experimental nature and relatively short duration of the
primary mission (lots of margin in power, propellant, etc.)
compared to say a 20-30 year $100M+ operational system.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Had
the prime contractors delivered the primary sensor, and had
we found a ‘measly’ $5M dollars or so (for the launch costs,
a bit more for the actual payload build, which was actually
two payloads to have an identical ground copy), and had we
met all the design constraints, we would have had a launch
and a GEO payload over NA. We had even begun talks on
integration schedule and the initial plans for travel to
California for integration and compatibility testing of the
payload with the bus (which was scary timeline wise, because
we had only gotten to PDR level, and would have only had
about a year to get past CDR, build it, bolt it on, and
complete the integration testing).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">All
this to say that while it is a huge challenge (the
engineering is ‘almost’ easier than the
political/bureaucratic/legal wrangling) it is an achievable
goal, and we got pretty close. And yes, 100% agree that the
devil is in the details…..and there are many, many details
to cover.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">In
my opinion, it’s all about confidence. As I learned from
Bob, N4HY, ‘Amateur’ in the sense we’re doing it because we
love it, but we can present ourselves as professionals. We
have to be confident in ourselves and our ‘product’ which
instills confidence in the people we need to convince such
as the vehicle owners (our junk won’t short your bus…), the
benefactors that help with funding (it’s worth your time and
$...), and the all the rest. Incremental ‘wins’ are a way
to build that confidence...CatSat is a prime example:
AstroSDR flight heritage (or should I say more flight
heritage), channelizers, DVB-S2 processing, X-band
downlink. Even though it’s a 6U LEO bird, it helps build
confidence towards the end goal as it demonstrates what’s
possible (no pressure for the folks in Arizona :-) ). Same
same, but different for AMSAT’s GOLF series: SDRs on amateur
spacecraft, microwave links, etc. We have a lot of great
people doing a lot of great things and our collective
successes get us closer to the goal.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Keep
the faith, we can find a way, just need to be ready to take
advantage of the opportunities when they present themselves,
and be confident that we can do it……and a few more Hams
strategically positioned at Intelsat, Inmarsat, dish
network, directv, Viasat, Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed,
Northrop, NOAA, Air Force, Space Force, NASA, SpaceX, Blue
Origin and/or Amazon, ULA, and various three, four, and five
letter agencies, etc. couldn’t hurt (and maybe a few Texas
oil barons as well….also, anyone have a friend of a friend
of a friend that plays golf with Musk or Bezos?).
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">As
always, just my two cents…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">-Zach,
KJ4QLP
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">--
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Research
Associate<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Aerospace
& Ocean Systems Lab<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Ted
& Karyn Hume Center for National Security &
Technology<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Virginia
Polytechnic Institute & State University<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Work
Phone: 540-231-4174<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Cell
Phone: 540-808-6305<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#26282A"><br>
<o:p></o:p></span>
<div id="ydp1916aa6cyahoo_quoted_2097278075">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div id="ydp1916aa6cyqtfd49229">
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</body>
</html>