Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report August 31, 2009
1. Upcoming School Contacts
Craigmore High School in Blakeview, South Australia, Australia has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Wednesday, September 2 at 00:48 UTC. The school is located approximately 35 Km north of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It encourages participation in projects sponsored by the government and private industry and has established an amateur radio station at the school.
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for Vrije Basisschool in De Haan, Belgium on Thursday, September 3 at 07:42 UTC via telebridge station VK4HZ in Australia. This is an ESA Event. Children who will speak to Frank De Winne have been chosen through participation in an ESA competition.
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for ESA/European Space Operation Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany on Friday, September 4 at 20:10 UTC via telebridge station LU8YY in Argentina. The contact is planned during an open day event, "The Long Night of the Stars," and 3000 visitors are expected. The event will bring space science and space operations in an audio visual show to the visitors. The event will have presentations, demonstrations of space operations, real satellite hardware and children and student oriented attractions like building and launching of small paper rockets. There will be semi-professional telescopes made available on site for direct viewing of the stars.
2. ARISS Contact Between Michael Barratt and Tenison Woods College
On Monday, August 24, an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact was held between Tenison Woods College in Mount Gambier, South Australia and Michael Barratt, KD5MIJ, on the ISS. Telebridge station W6DUE in Maryland provided the link-up. Over 100 attended the event. Two television stations, one commercial television station and one Amateur TV as well as the regional newspaper and ABC radio provided news coverage.
3. Volkssterrenwacht Urania Participates in ARISS Contact with De Winne
Students visiting Volkssterrenwacht Urania in Hove, Antwerp, Belgium experienced an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Monday, August 24 via telebridge station VK4KHZ in Australia. ESA Astronaut Frank De Winne, ON1DWN answered twenty questions posed to him by the students. An audience of approximately 150 attended the event including representatives from one radio station, one television station and a newspaper. Urania is a public observatory which provides lessons for children ages 7 - 16.
4. ARRL Article on STS-128 Crew
The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) posted an article on the STS-128 crewmembers. "Space Shuttle Discovery to Launch with Three Hams on Board" may be found at: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/08/25/11038/?nc=1
The story was also included in the ARRL Letter: http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/09/0828/
5. ARRL Article on ARISS Satellite
The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) covered Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) news in its story, "SuitSat-2 Now Called ARISSat-1." See: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/08/26/11039/?nc=1 There are approximately 100,000 regular readers of the ARRL Web site.
The article also ran in the ARRL Letter (circulation of approximately 77,000). See: http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/09/0828/
6. ARISS News on Amateur Radio Newsline
On August 28, Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1672 reported two Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) news items. To view "Ham Radio in Space: SuitSat 2 now ARISSat-1" and "That Final Item: The Story of the Man who Trains Astronauts to be Hams," see: ftp://ftp.arnewsline.org/quincy/News-A/news.txt
7. Astronaut Training Status
Astronauts Timothy Creamer, KC5WKI and Soichi Noguchi, KD5TVP are scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) training session on Wednesday, September 9. Calgary school children will participate in the session.