Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report April 6, 2009

1. U.K. Students Contact the ISS

On Monday, March 30, students from Parkside Community College in Cambridge, U.K. took part in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact. Spaceflight Participant Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP/HA5SIK answered 17 questions put to him by the students as an audience of approximately 200 watched. British Amateur Television Club (BATC) streamed video of the event on its Web site.

2. U.S. Girls Speak with Spaceflight Participant via Radio

The Girl's Middle School (GMS) in Mountain View, California experienced a successful Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Monday, March 30 via telebridge station K6DUE in Maryland. Twenty girls asked one question each of Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP/HA5SIK as sixty students looked on. The audio was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT and JK1ZRW servers and received 15 connections from stations in the U.S., Poland, Italy, Germany, England, Canada and Brazil.

3. ISS Radio Contact with Japanese Students

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact took place on Tuesday, March 31 between Mike Fincke, KE5AIT and students from Science Dream Association (SDA) in Kobe-city, Japan. The original scheduled pass was too low for a successful contact. Mike Fincke and Koichi Wakata made a connection on the following pass and Fincke was able to answer 22 questions before the ISS went over the horizon. An audience of approximately 100 people attended the event and four newspapers provided media coverage.

4. ARISS Contact with Puerto Rican Students

On Tuesday, March 31, students attending Marcelino Canino Canino Middle School in Dorado, Puerto Rico participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with Spaceflight Participant Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP/HA5SIK. Simonyi answered all 15 questions posed to him by the children. Approximately 300 students and 60 adults, including the Secretary of Education, were present for the event. There was no media coverage, but the school plans to provide television stations with a DVD of the contact. Marcelino is a 2005 NASA Explorer School (NES).

5. Australian Students Question Astronaut

Kalori Catholic School students in Wallaroo, Australia spoke with Mike Fincke, KE5AIT on Wednesday, April 1. The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact was facilitated by telebridge station WH6PN in Hawaii. Students were able to have all seventeen questions answered. The audio was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT and JK1ZRW servers and received six connections from stations in England, Germany, Switzerland, and the U.S.

6. Florida Students Speak with Spaceflight Participant

Milwee Middle School students in Longwood, Florida spoke with Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP/HA5SIK on Wednesday, April 1. This Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact was made possible through telebridge station ON4ISS in Belgium. The students were able to ask 11 questions of the spaceflight participant before the ISS went over the horizon. The audio was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT and JK1ZRW servers and received 10 connections from stations located in Belgium, England, Germany, Switzerland and the U.S.

7. Japanese Students Radio ISS

On Thursday, April 2, students from Miyahara Elementary School in Saitama, Japan participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact. Fourteen students asked one question each of Koichi Wakata, KC5ZTA in front of an audience of 450. Media coverage included two television stations, including NHK (The Japan Broadcasting Corporation), seven newspapers and two magazines.

8. ARISS - France Contact Successful

Albert Camus and Jules Verne Elementary Schools in Viry Châtillon, France experienced a joint Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Thursday, April 2. Mike Fincke, KE5AIT answered 16 questions posed to him by the students. Approximately 150 were present for the event including the mayor of Viry-Chatillon and Mr. Alberto Novelli, representing ESA. Local newspapers and "Le Parisien" reported the news. The audio was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT and JK1ZRW servers and received three connections from stations in the U.S., China and England.

This was the last contact of Expedition 18 and Mike Fincke's 40th contact during this increment.

9. Carl Sandburg Elementary Participates in ARISS Contact

On Thursday, April 1, students attending Carl Sandburg Elementary School in Kirkland, Washington experienced an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact which was made possible through telebridge station W6SRJ in California. Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP/HA5SIK answered the 20 questions put to him by the students. An audience of approximately 75 students, teachers and parents were present for the contact. The audio was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT and JK1ZRW servers and received ten connections from stations located in England, New Zealand, Turkey and the U.S.

King-TV posted an article covering the event. See: http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_040209EDB-space-station-simonyi-KC...

10. ARRL Article on Dayton Award Winners

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) ran an article, "Dayton Amateur Radio Association Announces 2009 Award Winners." The Special Achievement Award will go to Spaceflight Participant Richard Garriott, W5KWQ who participated in many Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) activities while onboard the ISS. See: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/04/01/10743/?nc=1

The ARRL Web site has 100,000 regular readers.

11. ARISS News on Amateur Radio Newsline

On April 3, the Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1651 ran 2 Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) news items. The first, "Names in the News: Dayton Hamvention Announces 2009 Award Winners," covers Richard Garriott as the Special Achievement Award recipient. The second item, "Ham Radio in Space: KE7KDP Again Operating from the ISS," is about Charles Simonyi's mission, including his ARISS school contacts. See: ftp://ftp.arnewsline.org/quincy/News/news.txt

12. Charles in Space Web Site

The Charles in Space Web site has a section where the public has posted space related questions concerning Charles' current mission and his Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) activities. To view the questions and answers, see: http://www.charlesinspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Read_the_Answers.welcome#

13. General Contacts and SSTV

Over the past week, Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP/HA5SIK made several general contacts with ground stations around the world including those in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Hungary and Venezuela. He also transmitted Slow Scan Television (SSTV) images using the VC-H1. Images may be viewed on the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) SSTV gallery site: http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/SSTV/

14. Astronaut Training Status

On Monday, March 30, the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) team provided training to Mike Fossum to prepare him for the ham radio licensing exam. ARISS member Kenneth Ransom is also working with other astronauts from Expeditions 25 - 28 to get them trained and licensed.