Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report May 10, 2010

1. Upcoming School Contacts

Komoro Higashi Junior High School in Komoro, Nagano, Japan has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Friday, May 14 at 11:16 UTC. The students have become especially interested in space due to Koichi Wakata, the first long term Japanese astronaut on the ISS. Many children chose to take a space themed course under their general education requirement. As part of their studies, they visited Nobeyama Radio Observatory and worked on radio kits. A JAXA representative visited the school and gave a presentation on space and the ISS. Through these activities, students enhanced their knowledge of space, the ISS and communication using ham radio.

Pita Kallak School in Kuujjuaq, Quebec, Canada has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Thursday, May 20 at 16:28 UTC via station ON4ISS in Belgium. The school plans to form a space club with participants from all grade levels. The students will learn about the ISS and radio protocol through video, the internet and guest speakers and will create projects (mobiles, posters, banners, murals) related to these subjects and display them in "Mission Control" (the gym).

2. Nippon Boy Scouts Experience ARISS Contact

On Tuesday, May 4, the Nippon Boy Scout Amateur Radio Club in Mitaka-shi, Japan took part in a successful Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with on-orbit astronaut and former Boy Scout Soichi Noguchi, KD5TVP. An audience of approximately 100 Scouts and guests were present for the contact. One television station and two magazines reported on the event.

3. ARISS Contact Held During NASM Space Day Event

Tracy Caldwell-Dyson, KF5DBF participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with youth visiting the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in Washington, D.C. during the Space Day celebration on Saturday, May 8. Telebridge station VK4KHZ in Australia assisted with the connection. Prior to the contact, astronaut Dan Tani gave a presentation to the museum audience and after all 15 questions were answered, he asked one of his own. Over 300 people in the gallery listened to the amateur radio session. The Museum draws approximately 30,000 on this Saturday in May.

4. Russian Contacts Successful

On Friday, May 7, an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) test session was held between Expedition 22 astronaut Oleg Kotov and the Peruvian National University of Engineering in Lima. The university's amateur radio ground station that was used for the contact was created under the auspices of Kursk Technical University.

On May 9, an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact took place with Sudzha Great Patriotic War (GPW) veterans from the Kursk Bulge, students of the Kursk State Technical University, high school students and local residents. The contact was conducted from the downtown square. Also participating in the event were Elena Aleksanrovna Bakalova, on behalf of GPW veterans, Nikolai Ivanovich Ilyin, the Head of Administration representing Sudzha District, Kursk Region and Kursk State Technical University Associate Professor, Valery Pikkiev, Sporadik HAM radio club manager.

5. MAI-75 Experiments Planned

MAI-75 (Moscow Aviation Institute) experiments are planned for May 13 from 10:00 - 17:00 UTC and May 14 from 12:45 - 16:00 UTC. The VC-H1 in Robot-36 mode will be used to transmit Slow Scan Television images on May 13 and the computer will be used on May 14.

6. Astronaut Training Status

Andre Kuipers had an ISS amateur radio review session on May 4 in preparation for his tour on the ISS as part of the Expedition 30 crew. Don Pettit will join him as part of that crew and will receive his review of the amateur radio systems in two weeks.

Ron Garan of Expedition 27 completed testing for his amateur radio license and has been issued KF5GPO. He will receive his operational basics course next week.

Kevin Ford has been issued the callsign of KF5GPP and is currently training for a future expedition crew assignment.

7. ARISS Delegate Talk Includes ARISS

ARISS-Canada delegate Maurice-André Vigneault and Darin Cowan, of the ARISS Project Selection & Use Committee visited the Cornwall Armoury for the April meeting of the Seaway Valley Amateur Radio Club in Cornwall, Ontario. They gave a presentation on satellite communications and the ARISS program as a local school expressed interest in having an ARISS contact. They displayed the AMSAT banner and distributed handouts on AMSAT and the ARISS program, as well as stickers and logos from the Canadian Space Agency. Two complete mini satellite stations were also exhibited.

8. ARRL Article on IARU Exhibition

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) ran an article on the IARU (International Amateur Radio Union) exhibition at the European Parliament and the ARISS contact scheduled during the event. The story, "IARU News: Amateur Radio Exhibition Reflects Unity in Europe: European Radio Societies Exhibit in European Parliament," may be found at: http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter?issue=2010-05-06