Former AMSAT-NA President Robin Haighton, VE3FRH, became
a Silent Key in early December, a few days after suffering a major stroke.
According to the AMSAT News Service, Haighton was a founding member of the
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) project and served the
North American amateur satellite community for many years as a board member,
Executive Vice President and President of AMSAT-NA.
 |
| British astronaut Tim Peake, GB1SS, with prototype of Astro Pi project board (AMSAT-UK photo) |
ANS also reports that British ham David Honess, M6DNT,
recently received the Sir Arthur Clarke Award from the Arthur C. Clarke
Foundation and the British Interplanetary Society. Honess was recognized for
his work on the Astro Pi project as part of the Principia mission of British
astronaut Tim Peake, GB1SS. The Astro Pi project resulted in the installation
of two Raspberry Pi computers aboard the International Space Station as a
platform for students back on Earth to write and run their own computer code in
space.
Finally, ANS reports that Robert Brand, VK2URB, is
working on a wide-area radio network planned for eventual deployment on Mars.
The project is part of a methane detection system scheduled to land on the red
planet in 2025. The MEDIAN system will consist of 10 "penetrators"
that will be ejected from the Mars Nano-Lander's heat shield once it has been
jettisoned from the lander about 6 kilometers above the planet's surface. The
penetrators are planned to spear into the ground and form a ring about 8
kilometers in diameter. They are designed to measure wind speed and direction and
detect the presence of any methane in the Martian atmosphere, then send the
data by radio to an orbiting spacecraft. Some scientists believe the presence
of methane gas may indicate the possibility of microbial life on Mars. Brand is
planning to test the system on a salt lake in Australia early next year, with
amateur radio playing a significant role.