Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report May 11, 2009

1. Upcoming School Contacts

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for Besyo Elementary School in Saitama, Japan on Monday, May 11 at 11:01 UTC. JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata, KC5ZTA is an alumnus of the school. The conversation will be in Japanese.

Kawanishi Seiwadai Community Center in Hyogo, Japan has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Wednesday, May 20 at 06:57 UTC. The community center was established in 1987 and serves the area's 5000 households. To prepare for the contact, children researched the ISS and studied space and the global environment. This question and answer session concerning life in space will be conducted in Japanese.

2. ARISS Contact Held During Flemish Space Days Event

Flemish Space Days, an event organized by the Flemish Space Industry (VRI), was held in the Brabanthal in Leuven, Belgium on May 8 - 10. Interactive booths, educational workshops and movies on space, avionics and astronomy were some of the activities available to the youth and public. An audience of approximately 110 parents, teachers, students and others attended the event on Sunday, May 10 and watched as twenty students participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with Michael Barratt, KD5MIJ. Telebridge station W6SRJ in California established the radio link with the ISS. Voice communications were then patched over regular telephone lines, allowing the students to question the astronaut. The contact received newspaper coverage, reaching nearly twenty-five thousand.

3. Astronaut Training Status

Astronaut Nicole Stott, KE5GJN, will receive training on the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) radio equipment on Monday, May 18. She is scheduled to fly as part of the ISS Expeditions 20 and 21 crews.

4. ARISS Annual Report Posted

The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Annual Report 2008 has been posted to the AMSAT Web site. See: http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Papers/Annual%20Reports/ARISS_Annual_Report...

5. ARISS Member Receives Chris Jones Memorial Award

On May 2, Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) member Tony Hutchison, VK5ZAI, was presented with the Chris Jones Memorial Award during the Wireless Institute of Australia's (WIA) Annual General Meeting at Monash University, Churchill. Hutchison received the award in recognition of his work with the ARISS program. The award is the highest honor the WIA can confer on a person. See: http://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2009/20090505-4/index.php

6. AMSAT Posts Dayton Hamvention Events

The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) has posted the activities planned for Dayton Hamvention 2009 to be held Friday - Sunday, May 15 -17. Activities will include talks on the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program and the Columbus antennas, as well as a demo of SuitSat-2. Richard Garriott, W5KWQ will be the keynote speaker at the AMSAT/TAPR Banquet on Friday evening, May 15. See: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/index.php

Garriott has also been scheduled for a 15 minute interview on Saturday, May 16 at 4:00 pm ET. The live Web broadcast will be available on: http://w5kub.com

7. Amateur Radio Newsline Report on ARISS Certificate

On May 8, Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1656 included a short item on the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) 25th Anniversary Event. "Ham Radio in Space: ARISS at 25 Certificate" may be found here: ftp://ftp.arnewsline.org/quincy/News/news.txt

Certificate development is expected to be completed by June 1 and certificates should be distributed by the end of June.