ARISS News Release No. 21-06
DaveJordan, AA4KN
ARISS PR
aa4kn@amsat.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ARISS Operations Situation
January 28, 2021
All,
Today was a tough one for ARISS. Let me explain.
As you all know, an EVA (spacewalk) was conducted yesterday toinstall cabling on the exterior of Columbus to support the commissioning of theBartolomeo attached payload capability mounted on the Columbus module. OnJanuary 26, prior to the EVA, our Columbus next generation radio system wasshut off and the ISS-internal coaxial cable to the antenna was disconnectedfrom the ARISS radio as a safety precaution for the EVA. During the EVA, ourcurrent external antenna coaxial cable, installed in 2009, was replaced withanother one built by ESA/Airbus with four RF connectors included, as comparedto the current 2 RF connections. This change was made to allow ESA toconnect ARISS and 3 additional customers to Bartolomeo, as compared to ARISSand one additional RF customer. As you might have seen yesterday,the EVA was conducted and our cable connection was swapped out. Thismorning, the crew restarted the radio system. Not hearing any VoiceRepeater reports, we requested a switch to APRS packet. We still did nothear any downlink reports. At 1746 UTC we had a planned ARISS schoolcontact between our certified telebridge station ON4ISS, operated by Jan inBelgium, and Mike Hopkins on ISS. No downlink signal was heard during thecontact. The crew radioed down “no joy” on the contact about halfwaythrough the contact and the Newcastle High School, Newcastle Wyoming, USAcontact attempt ended.
Clearly, there is an issue. More troubleshootingwill be required. It may be the new external RF cable that was installedduring yesterday’s EVA. It might also be from the connect and disconnectof the interior coaxial (RF) cable. So the interior cable cannot not betotally discounted yet. The crew took pictures of the coaxial cable andconnector attached to the ARISS radio inside the ISS. Because theexterior cable is a Bartolomeo cable and not an ARISS cable, we are workingwith ESA and NASA on a way forward. NASA has opened a Payload AnomalyReport on this issue. We have talked to both the NASA and ESArepresentatives. These are the same folks that worked with us on previousARISS hardware systems as well as the ESA Bartolomeo integrationinitiative. We have also asked our Russian team lead, Sergey Samburov, ifwe can temporarily use the radio in the Service Module for school contactsuntil we are able to resolve this issue. As we gather more information,we will share it with you.
On behalf of the ARISS International Board, the Delegates andthe entire team, I want to thank all of you for your tremendous volunteersupport to ARISS. We WILL get through this and be more resilient as aresult.
73, Frank
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Frank H. Bauer, KA3HDO
ARISS-USA Executive Director
ARISS International Chair
ISS Ham Radio Program Manager & PI
ARISS –Celebrating 20 Years of Continuous Amateur Radio Operations on the ISS
About ARISS:
Amateur Radio on the InternationalSpace Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radiosocieties and the space agencies that support the International Space Station(ISS). In the United States, sponsorsare the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio RelayLeague (ARRL), the ISS National Lab-Space Station Explorers, and NASA’s SpaceCommunications and Navigation program. The primary goal of ARISS is to promoteexploration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematicstopics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew membersaboard the ISS and students. Before and during these radio contacts, students,educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, andamateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org
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Media Contact:
Dave Jordan, AA4KN
ARISS PR