http://www.rhci-online.net/radiogram/radiogram.htm

  https://github.com/GyanD/codexffmpeg/releases/tag/2023-03-05-git-912ac82a3c

RSID: <<2024-02-16T00:31Z MFSK-32 @ 9265000+1500>>


Welcome to program 342 of Shortwave Radiogram.

I'm Kim Andrew Elliott in Arlington, Virginia USA.

Here is the lineup for today's program, in MFSK modes as noted:

  1:46 MFSK32: Program preview (now)
  2:54 MFSK32: NASA mission will explore ultraviolet in space*
  6:44 MFSK64: NASA tests hybrid laser and radio antenna*
11:45 MFSK64: This week's images*
27:42 MFSK32: Closing announcements

* with image(s)

 

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And visit http://swradiogram.net

We're on X/Twitter now: @SWRadiogram

 

From New Atlas:

Ultraviolet eyes will explore the universe under new NASA mission

By Michael Irving
February 13, 2024

NASA has officially selected a new mission - the Ultraviolet
Explorer, or UVEX. By scanning the skies in UV light, it will be
able to study the hottest objects and fleeting events like
supernovae, complementing existing and upcoming telescopes
watching in optical and infrared light to create a
multi-wavelength map of the cosmos.

Ultraviolet is kind of an overlooked part of the light spectrum,
when it comes to telescopes – most tend to focus on visible and
infrared wavelengths, which arguably have more to see. After all,
most stars aren't very visible in ultraviolet, but that doesn't
mean there's nothing out there. The hottest objects radiate UV
light, including stars near the beginning and end of their lives,
as well as energetic events like supernovae and collisions
between neutron stars.

As such, UVEX has three major goals: First, it will conduct an
all-sky survey in both near- and far-ultraviolet light, creating
a UV map that's far deeper and more detailed than existing ones,
thanks to its instruments being 50 to 100 times more sensitive
than those on the Galaxy Explorer (GALEX), its predecessor which
operated between 2003 and 2013.

Second, UVEX will excel at picking out stars and galaxies that
are hot, but low in mass and metals, a class that's hard to
detect in other kinds of light. And finally, it will be able to
swivel at short notice to investigate transient events, like
stars collapsing and triggering supernovae, or pointed towards
the sources of gravitational wave signals to see if there are any
UV flashes.

UVEX has been in the works for years, but has now been selected
by NASA for its Explorers Program, beating out other proposals
like the X-ray-focused STAR-X. UVEX is expected to launch in 2030
and run for a two-year mission, with a price tag of about US$300
million plus launch costs.

Once it's up and running, UVEX would provide a unique view of the
universe, working in conjunction with the recently launched
Euclid and James Webb Space Telescope, as well as the upcoming
Vera C. Rubin Observatory and the Nancy Grace Roman Space
Telescope, all of which observe in a mix of visible and infrared
light.

Sources: NASA, UVEX

https://newatlas.com/space/ultraviolet-explorer-uvex-mission/
 

Shortwave Radiogram now changes to MFSK64 ...


 

RSID: <<2024-02-16T00:36Z MFSK-64 @ 9265000+1500>>


This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64

Please send your reception report to radiogram@verizon.net

 

From New Atlas:


NASA tests hybrid antenna for laser and radio space
communications

By David Szondy
February 11, 2024

In a move to make high-speed communications with deep space
missions a practical reality, NASA is testing a giant hybrid dish
antenna that is capable of handling both radio and laser signals
across hundreds of millions of miles of space.

One of the highlights of NASA's Psyche mission to the asteroid of
the same name is its Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC)
unit, which is a laser transceiver capable of sending and
receiving laser signals, enabling communications many times
faster than conventional radio systems.

So far, it's had some remarkable successes since the robotic
probe was launched on October 13, 2023. In November, the DSOC
successfully transmitted data from a distance of 10 million miles
(16 million km), or 40 times the distance from the Earth to the
Moon.

The only problem is that the link between Earth and Psyche was by
way of a jury rigged test setup. The DSOC was aimed at the Hale
Telescope at Caltech's Palomar Observatory in San Diego County,
California with the aid of a laser beacon transmitted from the
Optical Communications Telescope Laboratory at JPL's Table
Mountain Facility near Wrightwood, California.

That's a very simple way of describing a very complex system that
required all sorts of automated aids plus the ability to predict
the position of and lock onto a spacecraft that was so far away
that it takes 20 seconds for a signal to cover the distance. It
also meant tying up two very expensive astronomical observatories
where researchers have to schedule time years in advance.

What NASA would prefer is something a bit more dedicated and
permanent, so in a separate project the space agency is working
on a hybrid antenna that can be incorporated into the three
stations of the Deep Space Network situated at Goldstone,
California; Madrid, Spain; and Canberra, Australia.

The test version is a 34-m (112-ft)
radio-frequency-optical-hybrid antenna called Deep Space Station
13, at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex, near
Barstow, California. For the test, the giant dish has been
modified with seven ultra-precise segmented mirrors equivalent to
a 3.3-ft (1-m) aperture telescope. This catches the laser beam
from space and focuses it on a receiver in the form of a
high-exposure camera attached to the antenna's subreflector
suspended above the center of the dish. The signal is then sent
by optical fiber to a cryogenically-cooled semiconducting
nanowire single photon detector to boost it to readable levels.

According to NASA, the antenna was able to maintain contact with
Psyche and late last year it was able to establish a downlink of
15.63 Mbit/s or about 40 times the rate of radio across a
distance of 20 million miles (32 million km). It was also able to
simultaneously receive the probe's radio signal.

The hope is that the hybrid antenna will be able to maintain
contact with Psyche at a distance equivalent to that of Mars at
its farthest point from Earth, or 232 million miles (374 million
km). The next step will be to scale up the optical mirror array
to the equivalent of a 26-ft (8-m) telescope and to later
retrofit some of the 14 dishes that make up the DSN to collect
both high-speed laser signals and lower speed radio traffic.

"For decades, we have been adding new radio frequencies to the
DSN's giant antennas located around the globe, so the most
feasible next step is to include optical frequencies," said
Barzia Tehrani, communications ground systems deputy manager and
delivery manager for the hybrid antenna at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL). "We can have one asset doing two things at the
same time; converting our communication roads into highways and
saving time, money, and resources."

Source: NASA

https://newatlas.com/space/nasa-hybrid-antenna-laser-radio-space-communications/


Image: Artist's concept of a purpose-built radio/laser
antenna ...
 

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This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64

Please send your reception report to radiogram@verizon.net
 

This week's images ...

 

For World Radio Day 2024 (February 13), Zach in Ontario shared
this photo of the 1942 Crosley AM/SW radio he restored. He
replaced the walnut colour with fire engine red.
http://tinyurl.com/2bglkhed ...

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A barn owl lands on a post at sunset. Part of The Atlantic's
Superb Owl Sunday VIII collection. http://tinyurl.com/29kor2dh
...

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A rainbow behind Perch Lighthouse in the Clyde at Port Glasgow,
Scotland. http://tinyurl.com/27ln2mhk ...

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A pedestrian braves the weather on Aleksandra Čaka Street in
Riga, Latvia, during heavy snowfall. http://tinyurl.com/25shmkpr
...

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Milsey Bay in North Berwick, Scotland, on an early February
morning. http://tinyurl.com/25pjrncy ...

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Sunrise in Washington DC, February 8. http://tinyurl.com/26vvtjp3

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Witchhazel currently in peak bloom at the Morris Arboretum in
Philadelphia. http://tinyurl.com/26str5zv ...

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Early blooms at the University of Oxford's Harcourt Arboretum,
February 12. http://tinyurl.com/25n7msbg ...

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Our painting of the week is "New Harmony" by Paul Klee.
http://tinyurl.com/2xmgt7x6 ...

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Shortwave Radiogram returns to MFSK32 ...


 

RSID: <<2024-02-16T00:57Z MFSK-32 @ 9265000+1500>>

This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK32 ...


Shortwave Radiogram is transmitted by:

WRMI, Radio Miami International, wrmi.net

and

WINB Shortwave, winb.com


Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net

And visit http://swradiogram.net

Twitter: @SWRadiogram or twitter.com/swradiogram

I'm Kim Elliott. Please join us for the next Shortwave
Radiogram.


 

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