Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report September 7, 2009
1. Upcoming School Contacts
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for Atheneum Middenschool Keerbergen in Keerbergen, Belgium on Thursday, September 10 at 09:31 UTC. This will be a telebridge contact via station W6SRJ in California, conducted in Dutch, with Frank De Winne, ON1DWN.
UNICEF Belgium has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Thursday, September 10 at 09:55 UTC via LU1CGB in Argentina. UNICEF Belgium is running a campaign called WaSH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene) to make students aware of how important water is for humans. Frank De Winne is one of UNICEF's goodwill ambassadors and as water provisioning is one of the most challenging problems in space, it seemed appropriate to link the campaign with Frank's mission. Students participating in the campaign may win a chance to travel to Euro Space Center to speak with De Winne through this contact.
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for Tokyo Denki University High/Junior High School in Koganei, Tokyo, Japan on Saturday, September 12 at 08:25 UTC. The school has a radio club which recruits new members each year. Students study for their licenses, learn how to make radio contacts and learn about space and the ISS.
2. ARISS Contact with Craigmore High School
On Wednesday, September 2, an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact was held between Craigmore High School in Blakeview, South Australia and Expedition 20 Astronaut Frank De Winne, ON1DWN, on the ISS. An audience of 40 people gathered for the event and one newspaper provided media coverage.
3. ESA Astronaut De Winne Speaks with Vrije Basisschool, Belgium
On Thursday, September 3, Frank De Winne, ON1DWN, participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with Vrije Basisschool in De Haan, Belgium via telebridge station VK4HZ in Australia. De Winne answered twenty-two questions posed to him by the students. Approximately 240 students, teachers and parents as well as radio, television and newspaper reporters attended the event. The audio was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT and JK1ZRW servers. This was a European Space Agency (ESA) event. Students who participated in the ARISS contact were chosen through an ESA competition.
4. ARISS Contact with ESA/ESOC Successful
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact was held at the European Space Agency (ESA)/European Space Operation Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany on Friday, September 4 via telebridge station LU8YY in Argentina. The contact was held during an open day event, "The Long Night of the Stars." Students from a local school, "Schuldorf Bergstrasse," in Seeheim participated in the contact. Astronauts Robert Thirsk, Frank de Winne and Christer Fuglesang took turns answering eleven questions posed to them. An audience of 200 gathered at the stage for the contact and several audio and video links were provided for all the visitor rooms of the Open Day event at ESOC, so that an additional 750 visitors could connect to the contact. The event was covered by the television station Hessischer Rundfunk HR3, the radio station HR-Info Radio Hessischer Rundfunk Frankfurt and two newspapers, Frankfurter Rundschau and Darmstaedter Echo. There was also a live coverage via the Internet (Kosmologs) and five freelance journalists were present. The audio was also fed into the EchoLink AMSAT and JK1ZRW servers.
5. Stockholm Students Question Fuglesang via ARISS Contact
On Sunday, September 6, students from Sätraskolan in Skärholmen, Stockholm, Sweden participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact via telebridge station LU8YY in Argentina. STS-128 Mission Specialist Christer Fuglesang, KE5CGR, answered 14 questions as an audience of 400 gathered for the contact. Media covered the event and the audio was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT and JK1ZRW servers.
6. ARISS News on Amateur Radio Newsline
On September 4, Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1673 reported on the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) project ARISSat-1. To view "Ham Radio in Space: Good News for ARISSat-1," see: ftp://ftp.arnewsline.org/quincy/News-A/news.txt
7. Astronaut Training Status
Astronaut Tracy Caldwell is scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) licensing session on Wednesday, September 9. Caldwell is scheduled to fly with Expedition 23 in April 2010.