Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report September 5, 2011
1. Upcoming School Contact
Pine Tree Middle School in Longview, Texas has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Friday, September 9 at 14:48 UTC. The contact will be incorporated into a curriculum through which students will learn about science careers and the contributions of scientists. They will also learn about Earth's rotation, the day and night cycle, the physical characteristics of the Sun, Earth and Moon and closed ecosystems and their affect on living organisms, such as humans living aboard the ISS.
2. Vision Australia Contact Successful
Students from Vision Australia in Enfield, New South Wales, Australia took part in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Monday, August 29 via station WH6PN in Hawaii. On-orbit Astronaut Mike Fossum, KF5AQG answered 12 questions put to him by the youth before the ISS went over the horizon. Students were interested in the logistics of living in space as well as how astronauts stay in contact with friends and family during their missions. Vision Australia is a nonprofit agency that provides low vision and blindness services to the community in Australia.
3. Merritt Island Students Speak with Satoshi Furukawa
On Tuesday, August 30, an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact was held between da Vinci Academy of Aerospace Technology students at Merritt Island High School in Florida and Astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, KE5DAW on the ISS. Questions asked included those concerning the long term effects of microgravity on the human body and influences on Furukawa's decision to study in the fields of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Florida Today ran a story on the event: http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011108310317
4. AMSAT News Bulletin on ARISS
AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) included two ARISS-related items in its News Service bulletin (ANS-247) on Sunday, September 4. The first piece was about the new ARISSat-1 telemetry page available at http://www.arissattlm.org/live . The second story was about the ARISS contact held between Merritt Island High School students and ISS Astronaut Satoshi Furukawa. Both items may be found at: http://amsat.org/pipermail/ans/2011/000547.html
5. EE Times, ARISSat Blog
Another entry has been posted to the EE (Electronic Engineering) Times "Chips in Space" blog about amateur radio satellite ARISSat-1. This week the blog covers the "Design challenges, intrigue and solutions" of the project. See: http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-blogs/other/4219588/Chips-in-Space--Desig...
6. Amateur Radio Newsline on ISS Crew
On September 2, the Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1777 included an item about the consequences of the failed launch of Progress 44P on August 24. To view "Ham Radio in Space: Next Crew Launch to ISS May be Delayed," see: ftp://ftp.arnewsline.org/quincy/News/news.txt