Sounds from Space

 

Sounds from Space Ships to the Moon

This section is dedicated to Space Ships sent to the Moon. In the old days such probes used analog transmission formats but nowadays digital transmission format are applied. In order to receive and demodulate those signals special receivers are needed. However even when using an analog receiver will enable you to identify the signals and explore them with respect to doppler effect and other phenomena. You can recorded the signal in the audio frequency band and visualize it using a software defined radio.

My special thanks to Paul Marsh M0EYT at www.uhf-satcom.com for getting this section started, Alois Ochojski DL3PD, Michael Fletcher OH2AUE, Sven Grahn, Dick Daniels W4PUJ, Federico Manzini, Jos Heymann, Edgar J. Kaiser DF2MZ, Ghislain LX2RG, Milen Rangelov and Christian Schwarze for their kind contributions.

Picture

Object name
#NORAD

Description

Launch
Date

Weight

OSCAR 0
OSCAR Zero
Moon
#00001

Radio amateurs use the Moon as a passive repeater (reflector) and thus call him sometimes OSCAR Zero. The first radio amateurs who successfully received signals bounced off the moon were Ross Bateman (W4AO) and Bill Smith (W3GKP). They received the echo on 144 MHz in 1953.

Jul 20th 1969

735
*10
20
kg

Enclosed Moon Bounce SSB transmissions were done from KP4BPZ in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, using the 1000 foot diameter radio telescope dish. KP4BPZ was running about 500 watts on 432 MHz. This recording was made by Roy W0SL in Florissant, Missouri on July 3rd, 1965.

The moon can be used as a reflector also at Microwave frequencies as demonstrated in the next few recordings kindly provided by Michael OH2AUE. This recording is from the first Finish 10 GHz EME QSO (in CW) with WA7CJO. OH2AUE built the equipment and the 6.4 meter dish from OH2AXH was used.

The first Finnish 5.6 GHz EME QSO (in SSB) took place in 1995. You can hear the voice of OH2AXH as well as the echo of the reflected signal loud and clear. TRX from OH2AUE and 6.4m dish from OH2AXH. Recorded in 1998 by Michael OH2AUE.

First Finish 3.4 GHz EME QSO (in CW) with WB5LUA. TRX from OH2AUE and dish from OH2AXH. Recorded on January 5th 1998 by Michael OH2AUE.

During the first World Moon Bounce Day on June 27th 2009 Astronaut William Anders, who was part of the Apollo 8 crew, gave an interview to Joe K5SO which was bounced off the moon. William Andres voice was transmitted by W6SRI, the club station of SRI Amateur Radio Society. Recording kindly provided by Pat AA6EG.

Pioneer 1
Pioneer I
Able 2
#00110
(1958-007A)

Pioneer 1, the second and most successful of three project Able space probes and the first spacecraft launched by the newly formed NASA, was intended to study the ionizing radiation, cosmic rays, magnetic fields, and micro-meteorites in the vicinity of the Earth and in lunar orbit. Due to a launch vehicle malfunction, the spacecraft attained only a ballistic trajectory and never reached the Moon. The spacecraft did return some data on the near-Earth space environment and ended its transmission when it reentered the Earth's atmosphere after 43 hours of flight on October 13th 1958 at 03:46 UTC over the South Pacific Ocean.
Radio transmission was at on 108.06 MHz through an electric dipole antenna for telemetry and doppler information at 300 mW and a magnetic dipole antenna for the television system at 50 W. Ground commands were received through the electric dipole antenna at 115 MHz.

Oct 11th 1958

34.2 kg

This recording of the launch of Pioneer 1 is from vinyl no. 5 which was included in the Italian Enciclopaedia L’uomo e lo spazio (The man and the space) issued 1965 by Fratelli Fabbri. Digitized and kindly provided by Federico Manzini.

This recording from Dick W4PUJ/SK is most likely from Pioneer 1 but it could have been also from Pioneer 3.

Lunik I
Luna 1
Mechta
#00112
(1959-012A)

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/SK. 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 3
Pioneer III
#00111
(1958-008A)

Pioneer 3 was a spin stabilized spacecraft launched by the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile agency in conjunction with NASA. The spacecraft failed to go past the Moon and into a heliocentric orbit as planned. Instead it reached an altitude of 102360 km before falling back and re-entering Earth's atmosphere. It finally burned up over Africa on December 7th at approximately 19:51 UTC.
The revised spacecraft objectives were to measure radiation in the outer Van Allen belt area using Geiger-Mueller tubes and to test the trigger mechanism for a lunar photographic experiment. A transmitter with a mass of 0.5 kg delivered a phase-modulated signal at a frequency of 960.05 MHz. The total effective radiated power was 0.18 W.

Dec 6th 1958

5.9 kg

This recording from Dick W4PUJ/SK is most likely not from Pioneer 3 but most likely from Pioneer 1.

Pioneer 4
Pioneer IV
#00113
(1959-013A)

Pioneer 4 was a spin stabilized spacecraft launched on a lunar fly-by 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 II
Luna 2
#00114
(1959-014A)

Luna 2 was the second spacecraft launched in the direction of the Moon and the first to land on the Moon. It impacted the lunar surface east of Mare Serenitatis near the Aristides, Archimedes, and Autolycus craters on September 14th 1959. Luna 2 was similar in design to Luna 1, a spherical spacecraft with protruding antennae and instrument parts. The instrumentation was also similar, including scintillation- and geiger- counters, a magnetometer, and micrometeorite detectors. The mission confirmed that the Moon had no appreciable magnetic field, and found no evidence of radiation belts at the Moon.

Sept 12th 1959

390.2 kg

This recording of the Lunik II is from vinyl no. 8 which was included in the Italian Enciclopaedia L’uomo e lo spazio (The man and the space) issued 1965 by Fratelli Fabbri. Digitized and kindly provided by Federico Manzini.

This recording of the Lunik II was recorded by Heinz Kaminski in Bochum at the moment when the space-probe crashed on the surface of the moon. It is from vinyl no. 30 which was included in the Italian Enciclopaedia L’uomo e lo spazio (The man and the space) issued 1965 by Fratelli Fabbri. Digitized and kindly provided by Federico Manzini.

Lunik III
Luna 3
#00021
(1959-008A)

The lunar probe Lunik 3, an automatic interplanetary station, flew around the Moon. Recording kindly provided by Alois DL3PD/SK.

Oct 4th 1959

278.5 kg

Luna 3 was the first probe which provided the signals and pictures (see on the right) from far side of the Moon. In total it took 29 pictures. 17 pictures were successfully transmitted back to Earth. Recording provided by Alois DL3PD/SK.

This recording of the Lunik III while it was 248000km away from Earth was recorded on October 4th 1959. It is from vinyl no. 8 which was included in the Italian Enciclopaedia L’uomo e lo spazio (The man and the space) issued 1965 by Fratelli Fabbri. Digitized and kindly provided by Federico Manzini

Pioneer 5
Pioneer V
#00027
1960-Alpha1
(1960-001A)

Pioneer 5 (1960 Alpha 1) was a spin-stabilized space probe used to investigate interplanetary space between the orbits of earth and Venus. The spacecraft measured magnetic field phenomena, solar flare particles, and ionization in the interplanetary region. The digital data were transmitted at 1, 8, and 64 bps, depending on the distance of the spacecraft from the earth and the size of the receiving antenna.

Mar 11th 1960

43 kg

This recording of the Pioneer 5 is from vinyl no. 9 which was included in the Italian Enciclopaedia L’uomo e lo spazio (The man and the space) issued 1965 by Fratelli Fabbri. Digitized and kindly provided by Federico Manzini.

Ranger-4
#00280
(1962-012A)

Ranger-4 was an automatic lunar probe and was designed to transmit pictures of the moon's surface before impacting the moon. An onboard computer failure caused failure of the solar cell deployment. Transmitted on 960 MHz with 50mWatt. Impacted on the far side of the moon without returning any scientific data.

Apr 23rd 1962

331 kg

Jules Bergman from ABC Cape Canaveral reports about the launch and the mission of Ranger-4. This recording is from vinyl no. 43 which was included in the Italian Enciclopaedia L’uomo e lo spazio (The man and the space) issued 1965 by Fratelli Fabbri. Digitized and kindly provided by Federico Manzini

Ranger-5
#00439
(1962-055A)

Ranger-5 was designed to transmit pictures of the lunar surface to Earth stations during a period of 10 minutes of flight prior to impacting on the Moon, to rough-land a seismometer capsule on the Moon, to collect gamma-ray data in flight, to study radar reflectivity of the lunar surface and to continue testing of the Ranger program for development of lunar and interplanetary spacecraft. Due to an unknown malfunction, the spacecraft ran out of power and ceased operation. It passed within 725 km of the Moon. Ranger-5 transmitted telemetry on 960 MHz (with 35 W).

Oct. 18th 1962

342 kg

 This recording is part of vinyl no. 57 which was included in the Italian Enciclopaedia L’uomo e lo spazio (The man and the space) issued 1965 by Fratelli Fabbri. Digitized and kindly provided by Federico Manzini

Lunik IV
Luna 4
#00566
(1963-008B)

Luna 4 was the USSR's first successful spacecraft of their "second generation" lunar program. The spacecraft, also referred to as an automatic interplanetary station was launched on a Molniya 8K78 rocket. Rather than being sent on a straight trajectory toward the Moon, the spacecraft was placed first in a 167 x 182 km Earth orbit and then was rocketed in a curving path towards the Moon. On April 6th 1963 it passed over the moon's surface in a distance of 8500 km.

April 2nd 1963

1422 kg

This recording of the Lunik IV is from vinyl no. 59 which was included in the Italian Enciclopaedia L’uomo e lo spazio (The man and the space) issued 1965 by Fratelli Fabbri. Digitized and kindly provided by Federico Manzini

Ranger-6
#00747
(1964-007A)

Ranger-6 was designed to achieve a lunar impact trajectory and to transmit high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface during the final minutes of flight up to impact. The frequency of the tracking and data signal was 960.05 MHz. The television transmitters of the dozen cameras operated at 959.52 MHz and 960.58 MHz (each 60W). All camera systems failed and thus no images were returned when Ranger-6 impacted on the moon on February 2nd 1964.

Jan. 30th 1964

381 kg

 This recording is from the Observatory in Bochum/Germany and is part of vinyl no. 67 which was included in the Italian Enciclopaedia L’uomo e lo spazio (The man and the space) issued 1965 by Fratelli Fabbri. Digitized and kindly provided by Federico Manzini

Ranger-8
#01086
(1965-010A)

Ranger 8 was launched on February 17th 1965 on an Atlas-Agena B from Cape Canaveral, USA. It reached the Moon on February 20th 1965. The first image was taken at 9:34:32 UTC at an altitude of 2510 km (see upper right picture). Transmission of 7,137 photographs of good quality occurred over the final 23 minutes of flight. The final image taken before its impact in Mare Tranquilitatis has a resolution of 1.5 meters (see lower right picture). The spacecraft performance was excellent.

Communications were achieved through the quasi omnidirectional low-gain antenna and the parabolic high-gain antenna. Transmitters aboard the spacecraft included a 60 W TV channel F at 959.52 MHz, a 60 W TV channel P at 960.05 MHz, and a 3 W transponder channel 8 at 960.58 MHz. The telecommunications equipment converted the composite video signal from the camera transmitters into an RF signal for subsequent transmission through the spacecraft high-gain antenna. Sufficient video bandwidth was provided to allow for rapid framing sequences of both narrow- and wide-angle television pictures.

Feb. 17th 1965

367 kg

In early 2020 Christian Schwarze was able to acquire an old tape dated February 19-20th 1965, which had the name Ranger 8 written on its box. He sent the tape to me and I digitized it. It contains 30 minutes of several reportages, most likely all of them from NBC News, covering the launch of Ranger 8 and the presentation of its excellent results  in terms of pictures of the moon surface.

This first recording is covering the launch of Ranger 8 on February 17th 1965. The report is from NBC News at Cape Kennedy. Tape was kindly provided by Christian Schwarze.

This second report is from a "7pm report" with the reporter being at JPL summarizing the mission of Ranger 8. Tape was kindly provided by Christian Schwarze.

Ranger-9
#01294
(1965-023A)

Ranger 9 was the last of the Ranger satellites. It transmitted high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface during the final minutes of its flight before it impacted the moon. The spacecraft carried six television vidicon cameras, 2 full-scan cameras (channel F, one wide-angle, one narrow-angle) and 4 partial scan cameras (channel P, two wide-angle, two narrow-angle) to accomplish these objectives. After 64.5 hours of flight, impact occurred at 14:08:19.994 UT at 12.828 S latitude, 357.613 E longitude

Mar. 21st 1965

367 kg

 This recording of the last 40 seconds before Ranger-9 impacted the lunar surface is part of the compilation "The Conquest of Space" of the Astronautical Society of Western Australia and kindly provided by Jos Heymann.

Luna-16
#04527
(1970-072A)

Luna 16 was an unmanned space mission, part of the Soviet Luna program. It was  the first robotic probe to land on the Moon and return a sample of lunar soil to Earth. The sample mass was 101g and was retrieved from Sea of Fertility (Mare Fecunditatis). Analysis of the dark basalt material indicated a close resemblance to soil recovered by the American Apollo 12 mission. According to the Bochum Observatory in Germany strong and good quality television pictures were returned by the spacecraft. However as Luna-16 landed at night and its artificial illumination failed unpublished panoramic images are reported to contain only a few light spots seen in Earthlight. Luna 16 was a landmark success for the Soviets in their deep space exploration program; the mission accomplished the first fully automatic recovery of soil samples from the surface of an extraterrestrial body.

Sept. 12th 1970

5600 kg

Luna-17
Lunik 17
Luna YE-8
Lunochod-1
Lunokhod-1
YE-8-203
#04691
(1970-095A)

Luna-17 included a moon rover. It was launched on Nov. 10th 1970 at 15:44h UTC from Baikonur cosmodrome by a four-stage Proton rocket into 192 x 237 kilometre orbit with 51.5° inclination around the Earth and then one hour later the orbit was changed to send the spaceprobe to the moon. Lunochod-1 landed softly on the moon on Nov 17th 1970 and manouvered across the moon surface providing scientific data including TV images.

Nov. 10th 1970

5600 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 25
th 1972 by Sven Grahn.

Feb 14th 1972

5600 kg

Smart-1
moon Orbiter
#27949
(2003-043C)

Smart-1 was launched by ESA on an Ariane 5G rocket from Kourou.  Mission ended September 3rd 2006 with its planned impact into moon. It transmitted at 2235.1 MHz, 8453.024225 MHz and at 32121.49350 MHz.

Sep 27th 2003

367 kg

Enclosed audiogram was recorded at 2235.1 MHz on October 26th 2003 from 10:59 until 15:00 UTC. An unmodulated carrier with initially rising positive Doppler shift and a frequency inflection at 14:28:12 was received from the 5W transmitter of Smart-1. This means that the point of maximum relative approach speed was observed at the inflection point. The audiogram displays a spectrogram of the observed signal around the frequency inflection point. The positively sloped lines before frequency inflection and the negatively sloped lines after the inflection illustrate the stepwise frequency tuning that was necessary to keep the audio signal within the receiver’s 2.8 kHz USB bandpass. Audiogram kindly provided by Edgar J. Kaiser DF2MZ.

Enclosed spectrum plot was recorded at 8453 MHz on August 15th 2006 and was kindly provided by 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.

This 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 Marsh 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.

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.

June 18th 2009

500 kg

Enclosed signal was received on December 28th 2011 at 19:34 UTC on 2271.223 MHz with a RHCP antenna and kindly provided by Paul Marsh M0YET.

On December 10th 2013 at 23:30 UTC DF2MZ recorded a complete orbit of LRO on 2271.5 MHz. At the beginning and end of the orbit you can see strong frequency jumps of the downlink signal when the transmitter is switched from non-coherent to coherent mode and vice versa. The strong doppler shift of the signal results from viewing the satellite orbit from the side. Spectrum plot recorded kindly provided by Edgar J. Kaiser DF2MZ.

Also on January 13th 2013 at 16:40 UTC DF2MZ recorded a complete orbit of LRO on 2271.5 MHz. Much weaker doppler shift as this time the satellite orbit was viewed almost orthogonally. Spectrum plot recorded kindly provided by Edgar J. Kaiser DF2MZ.

The S-Band TT&C downlink of LRO on 2271.5 MHz was received and enclosed FFT plot was generated in May 2014 by Milen Rangelov.

On October 5th 2017 at 21:45 UTC I received the downlink of LRO. I used a 2.3m dish with a linear feed and an Arabsat downconverter with a local oscillator of ca. 3650 MHz. Total noise figure of the system is estimated to be ca. 4 dB.

GRAIL A & B
Ebb & Flow
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 Paul Marsh M0EYT.

LADEE
#39246
(2013-047A)

The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is a NASA lunar exploration mission by NASA. It was launched on a Minotaur V rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on September 7th 2013 at 03:27 UTC. The mission has 3 major goals:
- determine the global density, composition and time variability of the lunar exoshphere
- determine if the Apollo astronaut sightings of diffuse emissions at tens of kilometers above the surface were sodium glow or dust
- document the dust impactor environment

Sept. 7th
2013

248 kg

LADEE was received on October 12th 2013 at 18:38 UTC on 2248.5 MHz while it was in moon orbit. Enclosed recording and spectrum plot kindly provided by Paul Marsh M0EYT.

On December 23rd 2013 between 03:45 and 5:45 UTC DF2MZ recorded 2 complete orbits of LADEE on 2248.5 MHz. Spectrum plot recorded kindly provided by Edgar J. Kaiser DF2MZ.

Chang'e-3
CE 3
YUTU
#39458
(2013-070A)

Chang'e 3 comprises two modules, a Service Module and a Lunar Landing Vehicle (LLV) with a total mass of 3700 - 3800 kg. The Chang’e-3 mission is comprised of China’s ‘Yutu’ lunar lander riding piggyback atop a much larger four legged landing probe. The voyage from the Earth to the Moon began with the flawless launch of Chang'e-3 atop China’s Long March 3-B booster at 1:30 a.m. Beijing local time, December 2nd, 2013 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, in southwest China. Chang’e-3 made a powered descent to the Moon’s surface on Dec. 14th by firing the landing thrusters at the altitude of 15 km (9 mi) for a soft landing in a preselected area on the Bay of Rainbows.

Dec. 1st
2013

3700 kg

Signals of Chang'e 3  transmitting on 8496 MHz and the Rover YUTU transmitting on 8462.08 MHz were received by Paul Marsh on December 14th 2013.

Audio recording and spectrum plot of Chang'e 3 received on December 14th 2013 at 18:35 UTC on 8496 MHz by M0EYT. Recording and spectrum plot kindly provided by Paul Marsh M0EYT.

Audio recording and spectrum plot of the rover YUTU received on December 14th 2013 at 18:41 UTC on 8462.08 MHz by M0EYT. Recording and spectrum plot kindly provided by Paul Marsh M0EYT.

Spectrum plot of Chang'e 3 shortly before its LOI (lunar orbit insertion) received on December 12th 2013 at 18:55 UTC on 2210.81 MHz by DF2MZ. Spectrum plot kindly provided by Edgar J. Kaiser DF2MZ.

Shortly after the landing on the moon (still before the rover was deployed) DF2MZ received some strong short bursts on 8462.08 MHz from YUTU using only a small antenna with only 15dB gain. Spectrum plot recorded on December 14th 2013 at 18:24 UTC and kindly provided by Edgar J. Kaiser DF2MZ.

On January 10th 2014 at 21:38 UTC Paul M0EYT received not only the downlink signals from Chang'e-3 but also the uplink signal on 7.209 GHz reflected by the surface of the moon. Spectrum plot and audio recording of the uplink signal kindly provided by Paul Marsh M0EYT.

Also on January 12th 2014 at 20:30 UTC Paul M0EYT received the uplink signal on 7.203 GHz reflected by the surface of the moon. In addition he received the downlink signal from the rover and proved that he had survived the long lunar night. Spectrum plot and audio recording of the uplink signal kindly provided by Paul Marsh M0EYT.

On February 2nd 2015 at 19:57 UTC Paul M0EYT received the downlink signal of YUTU on 8.462036 GHz. Spectrum plots and audio recording kindly provided by Paul Marsh M0EYT.

More than 4 years after the start of the mission Edgar DF2MZ received the signal from Chang'e-3 lunar lander on 8496 MHz, first the carrier and then the data signal. Spectrum plot recorded on January 9th 2018 at 00:55 UTC and kindly provided by Edgar J. Kaiser DF2MZ.

About 7 years after its launch, on November 24th 2020 Paul M0EYT received the downlink signal of CE5 on 8.455 GHz. Spectrum plots kindly provided by Paul Marsh M0EYT.

Chang'e 5-T1
CE 5-T1
#40283
(2014-065A)

Chang'e 5-T1 (Chang'e 5 Test Vehicle) is a Chinese test mission for the Chang'e 5 lunar sample return mission. It is to validate the technology for the reentry vehicle. Chang'e 5-T1 consists of a Chang'e 2 type spacecraft featuring the Chang'e 5 return capsule. It was launched on October 23rd 2014 on a CZ-3C/G2 rocket. The probe was on a free-return lunar orbit and made a loop behind the Moon. Finally it successfully tested a high speed atmospheric reentry of a capsule returning from the moon. The return capsule landed successfully on October 31st 2014 in China.

Oct 23rd 2014

 

On October 24th 2014 Edgar J. Kaiser DF2MZ detected the downlink signal on 2210.810 MHz.

Paul Marsh M0EYT confirmed the finding and kindly provided enclosed audio recording and spectrum plot. The audio was received on October 28th 2014 on 2210.817 MHz whereas the spectrum plot was generated on October 25th 2014 at 15:45 UTC. Recording and spectrum plot kindly provided by Paul M0EYT.

Before the reentry of the return capsule, it separated from the service module of China's test lunar orbiter. After performing several orbital transfers, on November 29th 2014 the service module reached the Moon-Earth-L2 Lagrange Point of the Earth-Moon-System at a distance from Earth of about 449000 km. On November 29th 2014 Edgar J. Kaiser DF2MZ detected the downlink signal of the service module on 2210.800 MHz again.

On January 8th 2015 at 22:37 UTC Edgar DF2MZ received Chang'e 5-T1 on 2234.520 MHz while it was on its way from Moon-Earth-L2 point to Moon orbit. He used an 1m parabolic dish and a linear feed. Recording and spectrum plot kindly provided by Edgar Kaiser DF2MZ.

On February 13th 2018 at 10:30 UTC DD1US received the Chang'e 5-T1 moon orbiter on 2234.500 MHz.

4M-LXS
4M
LX0OHB-4M
#40284
(2014-065B)

On October 23rd 2014 LuxSpace (the Luxemburgian daughter company of OHB in Germany) launched a small ham radio satellite into a moon orbit. The mission has the name "4M-LXS" or "Manfred Memorial Moon Mission" in memoriam of Manfred Fuchs, the previous head of OHB. 4M-LXS was launched with a Chinese test rocket together with the lunar probe Chang'e 5-T1 (CE 5-T1) and it is located on the Vehicle Equipment Bay of the 3rd and last stage of the launcher. 4M-LXS sent telemetry as well as prerecorded short messages. Mission duration was expected from October 23rd to October 31st 2014. Transmissions were based on a 1 minute sequence and a 5 minute cycle. 4M-LXS transmitted on 145.980 MHz with 1.5 Watts into a 2m monopole (lambda/4) antenna (resulting in an average EIRP of -6dBW) using JT65B (WSJT) format. JT65B uses multiple frequency shift keying (MFSK) with 65 tones at 2.69 Baud. The effective throughput is 0.25 cps (characters per second). Minimum requirements to receive 4M-LXS were a 12dBic circular polarized directional antenna, cable loss between antenna and LNA 0.5 dB, LNA NF<1dB, SSB receiver (BW 2.5 kHz), WSJT software. This should have resulted in a system temperature of 641°K and thus in a minimum received signal of -158 dBm. The satellite worked fine and many reception reports were received.

Oct 23rd 2014

 14 kg

Enclosed very strong downlink-signal was kindly provided by Ghislain LX2RG from LuxSpace SARL.

Enclosed strong downlink-signal was received and kindly provided by Ghislain LX2RG from LuxSpace SARL.

Queqiao
Chang'e 4 Relay
CE 4 Relay
#43470
(2018-045A)

Queqiao (Magpie Bridge) , also known initially as Chang'e 4 Relay, is a Chinese relay satellite mission in support of the Chang'e 4 rover landing on the far site on the moon. The 425 kg relay satellite is based on the three-axis stabilized CAST-100 small satellite bus featuring an 130 N hydrazine propulsion system. It carries a deployable 4.2 m dish antenna for the relay equipment. It provides four 256 kBps X-band links between itself and the lander/rover and one 2 MBps S-band link towards earth. Besides the relay function, the spacecraft also carries the Dutch NCLE Low-frequency radio detector to provide radio-sky images, and frequency dependence of radio in the very low frequency band and to perform low-frequency radio astronomical observations.

May 20th 2018

425 kg

On May 21st 2018 at 20:17 UTC Paul M0EYT received the modulated TTC downlink signal of Queqiaoon 2234.502 MHz. Spectrum plots and audio recording kindly provided by Paul Marsh M0EYT.

Paul also received an unmodulated downlink signal on 2230.777 MHz on May 21st 2018 at 20:35 UTC. Spectrum plots and audio recording kindly provided by Paul Marsh M0EYT.

On May 22nd 2018 at 17:38 UTC also DD1US received a strong signal from Queqiao on its way to the moon. The sidebands of the signal are not from the satellite but spurs of the receiver. Received and recorded on 2234.507 MHz by DD1US.

Lunar OSCAR 93
DSLWP A1
DSLWP A
LongJiang 1
#43471
(2018-045B)

DSLWP A1 and A2 (Discovering the Sky at Longest Wavelengths Pathfinder) are two identical Chinese lunar microsatellites mission to perform ultra-long-wave astronomical observations developed at the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT). The 47 kg micro-satellites were launched piggy-back with Queqiao (Chang'e 4 Relay, but are to insert them by themselves into 300 km × 9000 km elliptical lunar orbits. The satellites are three-axis stabilized and carry a radio-astronomy payload featuring two linear polarization antennas mounted along and normal to the flight direction, which uses the moon as a shield to avoid radio emmanations from earth. Additionally, the satellites carry a King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) developed micro-optical camera. Finally, the satellites also carry an amateur radio communications system. Onboard each satellite, there are two VHF/UHF SDR transceivers to provide beacon, telemetry, telecommand, digital image downlink and a GMSK-JT4 repeater. Onboard transmitting power is about 2 W. Radio Amateurs will be able to receive telemetry downlinks but will also be allowed to send telecommands for taking and downlinking pictures. There are also plans to enable FreeDV digital voice communications through this spacecraft.

Satellite A1 transmits 500 baud GMSK with 1/4 turbo code on 435.425 MHz and 250 baud GMSK with 1/2 turbo code and precoder on 436.425 MHz in every 5 minutes by default. Each transmission lasts about 16 seconds.

Communication to DSLWP was lost during a manoeuvre on its way to the moon.

May 20th 2018

47 kg

On May 20th 2018 at 19:20 UTC Roland PY4ZBZ received the downlink signal from DSLWP A on 436.400MHz.

20 minutes later at 19:40 UTC on May 20th 2018 he received both satellites.

Spectrum plots kindly provided by Roland PY4ZBZ.

Lunar OSCAR 94
DSLWP A2
DSLWP B
LongJiang 2
#43472
(2018-045C)

DSLWP A1 and A2 (Discovering the Sky at Longest Wavelengths Pathfinder) are two identical Chinese lunar microsatellites mission to perform ultra-long-wave astronomical observations developed at the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT). The 47 kg micro-satellites were launched piggy-back with Queqiao (Chang'e 4 Relay, but are to insert them by themselves into 300 km × 9000 km elliptical lunar orbits. The satellites are three-axis stabilized and carry a radio-astronomy payload featuring two linear polarization antennas mounted along and normal to the flight direction, which uses the moon as a shield to avoid radio emmanations from earth. Additionally, the satellites carry a King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) developed micro-optical camera. Finally, the satellites also carry an amateur radio communications system. Onboard each satellite, there are two VHF/UHF SDR transceivers to provide beacon, telemetry, telecommand, digital image downlink and a GMSK-JT4 repeater. Onboard transmitting power is about 2 W. Radio Amateurs will be able to receive telemetry downlinks but will also be allowed to send telecommands for taking and downlinking pictures. There are also plans to enable FreeDV digital voice communications through thise spacecraft.

Satellite A2 transmits 500 baud GMSK with 1/4 turbo code on 435.400 MHz and 250 baud GMSK with 1/2 turbo code and precoder on 436.400 MHz in every 5 minutes by default. Each transmission lasts about 16 seconds.

Lunar OSCAR 94 crashed into the far side of the moon on July 31st 2019 around 14:08 UTC ending its very successful amateur radio mission around the moon.

May 20th 2018

47 kg

On May 20th 2018 at 19:40 UTC Roland PY4ZBZ received the downlink signals from DSLWP A and DSLWP B.

On June 16th 2018 at 22:34 UTC Roland received the 250bd GMSK signal from DSLWP B.

Spectrum plots kindly provided by Roland PY4ZBZ.

Beresheet
SpaceIL LUnar Lander
#44049
(2019-009B)

The SpaceIL Lunar Lander or Beresheet (nicknamed "Sparrow" during development) is a lunar lander developed by the Israeli nonprofit organisation SpaceIL. It was originally an entry to win the Google Lunar XPRIZE (GLXP).The SpaceIL Lunar Lander is a lunar lander, which has a propulsion system to enable itself to leave earth orbit and to enter a trajectory to the moon. The lander is a four-legged circular platform and has a launch mass of 585 kg, including 435 kg of fuel. It stands 1.5 meters high, and 2 meters in diameter. Solar panels mounted on top of the spacecraft deck provide power. The lander will carry imagers, a magnetometer, and a laser retroreflector. It also carries a digital time capsule of Israeli cultural and historic artifacts. In October 2015, SpaceIL contracted via Spaceflight Inc. a shared launch to earth orbit on a SpaceX Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) rocket launched from Vandenberg. Later it was rebooked on a launch with the PSN 6 communications satellite to a supersynchroneous transfer orbit, also on a Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) rocket launched from Cape Canaveral. Beresheet is scheduled to land on the moon on April 11th 2019.

Feb 22nd 2019

150 kg

On March 31st 2019 around 10:40 UTC Edgar DF2MZ received Beresheet on 2280 MHz while it was approaching perigee. On the waterfall diagram one can see a ground station handover around 10:40 UT. Recording and spectrum plot kindly provided by Edgar Kaiser DF2MZ.

DF2MZ received Beresheet also during its last phase before if crashed on the surface of the moon on April 11th 2019 at 19:23 UTC. Waterfall diagram kindly provided by Edgar Kaiser DF2MZ.

Chandrayaan 2
#43xxx
(2018-xxx)

Chandrayaan-2 (means "Moon Craft" in ancient Sanskrit) is the second Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Moon mission. Chandrayaan-2 is an advanced version of the previous Chandrayaan-1 mission. It consists of an orbiter, lander and rover configuration. The orbiter with scientific payloads will orbit around the Moon. The lander will soft-land on the Moon at a specified site and deploy the rover. The scientific payloads onboard the orbiter, lander and rover are expected to perform mineralogical and elemental studies of the lunar surface.

The synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is operating in L-band. The Telemetry (SIT) and Tracking & Command (TC) communication is in S-band frequency. There is also a high bandwidth downlink in X-band.

ITU is listing the following frequencies:

Beam     Frequ./MHz   Bandw./kHz       Class
LSAR
       1250                 70000                E1
LSAR1
     1252.5              75000                E1
LSAR2
     1250                 75000                E1
OR-TC
     2409.75                   6                 EH&ET
S1T
           2217.12               500                 EH&ET
S1T
           2230.8                 500                 EH&ET
S1T
           2283.84               500                 EH&ET
SSAR
        2500                75000                 E1
X1T
           8484                11000                 EH

mid April 2019

xxx kg

Picture

Object name
#NORAD

Description

Launch
Date

Weight

If you have further sound tracks from space objects please let me know. I will be happy to post them here on my homepage. Many thanks in advance.

Vy 55 & 73 de Matthias DD1US               


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