Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report October 31, 2011

1. Upcoming School Contacts

Kantonsschule Zug in Zug, Switzerland has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Monday, October 31 at 14:56 UTC. The contact will highlight lessons on gravity, orbits, the ISS (and its flight path), as well as electromagnetic waves and amateur radio. This ARISS event will be held in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Kantonsschule Zug.

Sundance Elementary School in San Diego, California has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Tuesday, November 1 at 20:00 UTC. Students are learning about radios, radio waves, space and space-related topics. The local ham radio club will give presentations to the youth.

2. ARISS Contact with Cherry Creek School District

Students in the gifted and talented program, "Inside Out" from Cherry Creek School District in Centennial, Colorado participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Thursday, October 27 via telebridge station IK1SLD in Italy. On-orbit Astronaut Mike Fossum, KF5AQG fielded eleven questions in detail before losing the radio connection. The contact was integrated into the science curriculum covering topics such as radio propagation and space. A story about the school contact has been posted to NASA's Web site: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition29/exp29_ham...

3. Israeli Students Radio ISS Astronaut

On Friday, October 28, youth attending the Space Laboratory, Herzliya Science Centre in Herzliya, Israel took part in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact. An audience of 70 gathered and listened as Astronaut Mike Fossum, KF5AQG answered fifteen questions posed by the students concerning mission training, life in space and experiments onboard the ISS. The contact was incorporated into lessons covering the space environment, orbital mechanics, satellite design and radio communications.

4. ARISS International Team Meeting Held

A successful ARISS International Face-to-Face Meeting was held Friday and Saturday, October 28 - 29 at the Space Center Houston in Houston, Texas. ARISS delegates gave reports on their respective regions. Representatives of other ARISS committees including Educational Outreach, Operations and Hardware also gave status updates. ARISS proposals under consideration were discussed. Meeting minutes will be posted in the near future.

5. Debrief Session Held with Expedition 27/28 Crew

On Wednesday, October 26, ARISS team members participated in an ISS Ham debrief session with Expedition 27/28 crew member Ron Garan. The astronaut provided feedback on the ISS Ham radio equipment and ARISS school contacts. His remarks will aid the ARISS team in updating its program and procedures.

6. AMSAT Meetings to be Held Next Weekend

The 2011 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting will be held Friday - Sunday, November 4 - 6 in San Jose, California. Several presentations on ARISSat and education are planned for Saturday, November 5:

"Fabrication, Integration and Testing of ARISSat-1" - Lou McFadin, W5DID "ARISSat-1 in Flight" - Gould Smith, WA4SXM "Decoding Satellite Telemetry form ARISSat-1" - Douglas Quagliana, KA2UPW/5 "ARISSat-1 Operational Survey" - Steven Bible, N7HPR "ARISSat-1 Post Mortem" - Gould Smith, WA4SXM "The Importance of Educational Outreach for AMSAT" - Barry Baines, WD4ASW

More information about the AMSAT meetings may be found on its Web site: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/symposium/2011/index.php

The presenters and their talks are also reported in the October 30 AMSAT News Service (ANS-303) bulletin. http://amsat.org/pipermail/ans/2011/000563.html