Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report July 27, 2009

1. Upcoming School Contacts

Borough of New Providence, NJ, Summer Playground Camp in New Providence, New Jersey has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Thursday, July 30 at 17:24 UTC. This is a town sponsored summer camp activity, primarily for elementary school children (K - 6). The New Providence Amateur Radio Club (NPARC) has been involved with this type of camp for the last five years. It regularly provides an introduction to amateur radio on the air by setting up HF and VHF stations and has the campers communicate with hams around the world. The ARISS contact is an obvious extension of this activity.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on Thursday, July 30 at 16:02 UTC via telebridge station ON4ISS in Belgium.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for United Space School in Seabrook, Texas on Wednesday, August 5 at 13:47 UTC via telebridge station ON4ISS. The school is a once a year session of high school students that meets annually in the NASA/Clear Lake Area. These students come from around the world for a two week session, during which they stay with local host families while being mentored by astronauts, engineers, and scientists to design a mission to Mars as their team project. Class sessions are held at the University of Houston at Clear Lake. The contact will allow students to learn firsthand what the experience of spaceflight is like. They may ask questions about the skills needed to be an astronaut, the effects of weightlessness on the body, the food eaten, leisure activities, etc. They will use this knowledge in putting together their team project presentation, which they will present to the Houston space community at the end of their session.

2. De Winne has ARISS Contact with Portuguese Students

On Tuesday, July 21, an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact took place between students attending Escola E.B.2/3 de S. Romão do Coronado in Trofa, Portugal and Frank De Winne, ON1DWN on the ISS. De Winne answered 16 questions put to him by the students. Media coverage included two television stations and the event was highlighted in the evening news.

3. De Winne Participates in ARISS Contact with Ugo Guidi

On Thursday, July 23, children from Ugo Guidi in Forte dei Marmi, Lucca, Italy participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact. Frank De Winne, ON1DWN answered twenty questions posed to him by the students. The audio and video were available on: www.ondaforte.tv. OndaForteTV, local media and newspapers covered the event.

4. ARISS Member Comments on Lunar Landing in EE Times

EE Times published a July 20 special edition that tells the lunar landing story from the viewpoint of a number of engineers. Comments were included from a number of people who felt it was a very personal event in their lives. Comments by Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) member Steve Bible, N7HPR may be found on page 44. See: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/cmp/eetimes_apollo_20090720/index.php

5. ARRL Article on STS-127 Crew

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) posted a web story (100,000 readers) about the Endeavour, STS-127 crew. See: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/07/15/10965/?nc=1

The article was also included in the July 17 issue of the ARRL Letter (circulation of approximately 77,000). See: http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/09/0717/

6. Demonstration of SuitSat-2 Prototype

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) system engineer Gould Smith, WA4SXM attended the Central States VHF Society's 43rd annual conference in Chicago on July 24 - 25. He demonstrated the prototype of the SuitSat-2 hardware, software and antennas. For more information, go to the AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) Web site: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/index.php

7. QST Covers Garriotts at Dayton Hamvention

The July issue of the American Radio Relay League's monthly journal, QST, carried a story about its national convention. Astronaut Owen Garriott and Space Flight Participant Richard Garriott were special guests of ARRL and AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) at this convention in Dayton, the largest ham radio convention in the United States. The article carried a special section about the visiting duo and their forums, and in particular, how Richard signed autographs for students and scouts. Accompanying the story was a photograph of Rosalie White, K1STO, assisting Richard with his autograph duties for a girl who was an admirer of astronauts and spaceflight.