All,
The ARISS volunteer team is working quite feverishly in preparation for the
upcoming Soyuz 17S mission with Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, and Mike Fincke,
KE5AIT, on-board. This e-mail provides an interim update for the mission
and some new news regarding on-orbit ARISS hardware. Please refer to the
press release dated Sept 18 for additional information on Richard Garriott's
flight operations.
Hardware Deliveries
SSTV: Richard plans to take a Kenwood VC-H1 SSTV communicator with him
on-board the Soyuz for his flight and leave this on-board the ISS for future
ARISS use. The VC-H1 has completed all hardware certification on the US and
Russian sides. The final test, an EMI radiated emissions test, was
performed last week and the test data was delivered to Sergey Samburov,
RV3DR in Russia this week. The VC-H1 provides a very simple interface for
ISS crew members and does not require the use of a computer. Computer usage
has been a real challenge for ARISS, so the VC-H1 represents a lesson
learned to improve ARISS operations.
Backup Hardware: At this week's ARISS-International Meeting we received
confirmation from Sergey, RV3DR, that the recent Progress flight delivered
the flight backup D-700, a David Clark Headset for the Ericsson system, and
an additional VOX box and cables to support the computer-operated SSTV
system. The D700 may be installed as early as late this week, depending on
crew availability. The flight backup will not provide a significant change
in ARISS ops. It will make it easier for the crew to change program modes
(PMs).
Richard Garriott Operations--Call for Support
Early during Richard Garriott's flight, he expects to setup the VC-H1 and
autonomously transmit a new Earth image every 3 minutes. He hopes to have
this system on a great deal of his flight. We encourage the ham community
to bring SSTV equipment into schools and download these images in real-time.
The ARISS team also plans to display images from hams around the world on a
special on a web/blog site. A beta site has been developed and will be
rolled out to the ham community in the near future.
To successfully implement the on-line SSTV picture site and support it 24/7
during Richard's flight, we will need some savvy individuals that can sort
through the many SSTV photos that ARISS will receive and keep the SSTV site
up to date in near real time. Some computer skills will be required. We
are looking for global support from a few individuals in each international
region to make this happen. That way we will not be asking individuals to
volunteer all-night to realize this project. If you are interested in
helping on this, please e-mail me directly.
Stay tuned for more information on the upcoming ARISS activities. And get
your stations ready!
73, Frank Bauer, KA3HDO
AMSAT V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs
ARISS International Chairman
E-mail: ka3hdo(a)comcast.net