Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report January 24, 2011

1. Upcoming School Contacts

Istituto Comprensivo "Marco da Melo" in Mel, Belluno, Italy has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Tuesday, January 25 at 07:11 UTC. ARISS will be incorporated into the curriculum as students study and perform experiments involving telecommunications, electrophysics and telegraphy.

Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace Nr I im. Stanislawa Staszica in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, Poland has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Wednesday, January 26 at 07:36 UTC. The school is setting up an astronomy and amateur radio club for the students and there are plans for a series of lectures on astronautical engineering and astronomy.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for Foster Heights Elementary School in Bardstown, Kentucky on Friday, January 28 at 16:14 UTC. The Nelson County Area Technology Center will work with and sponsor a direct contact for Foster Heights Elementary. The children will participate in hands-on activities to learn about space, satellites, electricity and radio communications.

2. Two Italian Schools Experience ARISS Contact

On Tuesday, January 18, two Italian schools, "Istituto Comprensivo Ladispoli" and Middle School "Corrado Melone", located in Ladispoli, Rome, Italy participated in a joint Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with Paolo Nespoli, IZ0JPA. Twenty-eight space-related questions were answered and greetings exchanged over two ISS passes. ARISS mentor Francesco De Paolis, IK0WGF introduced the event and presented the ARISS program to an audience of 250 students, teachers and visitors. National Television (RAI NEWS 24 hours), local media and newspapers covered the event. The contact was the highlight of a curriculum covering space, geography and telecommunications.

3. Expedition 24 Crew Debrief Session

An ARISS debrief session was held with Expedition 24 crewmembers Doug Wheelock, KF5BOC and Shannon Walker, KD5DXB on Tuesday, January 18. The feedback they provided on the ISS Ham radio equipment and school contacts will aid the ARISS team in updating its program procedures.

4. ARISS International Meeting Held

The monthly ARISS International Team meeting was held on Tuesday, January 18. Topics of discussion included the upcoming face to face meeting and a status on the Columbus module equipment as well as ARISSat-1. Minutes have been posted. See: https://www.rac.ca/ariss/arisstel2011-01-18.htm

5. Space Daily Article Includes ARISSat-1

SpaceDaily.com talks about ARISSat-1 at the end of its article about planned Russian EVAs from the ISS. See: http://tinyurl.com/6jeqf5b

6. QST Covers ARISS News

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) February QST has ARISS members Lou McFadin, Gould Smith, and others on a beautiful full-color cover with ARISSat. The article on pages 30-33 talks about the ARISS Team, ARISSat and how to work through the satellite. It has a boxed in area of ideas for how teachers might integrate ARISSat into the curriculum.

In addition, 80% of the "Media Hits" column talks about astronaut Doug Wheelock's activities with schools and individual hams that got publicized. The column starts off with: "Without a doubt, the biggest Amateur Radio news in the end of 2010 was the activity of Colonel Doug Wheelock aboard the International Space Station." The column gives many examples of PR. It then says, "All of these [contacts] were reported in the news along with 400 schoolchildren at the Holy Family Catholic School who made contact, reported in The Daily Sentinel (CO) and on KJCT television."

There is also a short piece in the "In Brief" column about Commander Doug Wheelock, KF5BOC, returning to Earth after making radio contacts during his 160 days on orbit.

The ARRL monthly journal has a circulation of 156,000.

7. AMSAT Posts Update on ARISSat-1

On January 23, the AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) News Service bulletin (ANS-023) gave an update on ARISSat-1 which included its readiness for launch and its latest Safety Review. "ARISSat-1 Loaded Aboard Progress-41P for Launch on January 28" may be found at: http://amsat.org/pipermail/ans/2011/000479.html

The AMSAT Web site has also been updated with ARISSat news. See: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/index.php

8. ARRL Article on NASA's NanoSail-D

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) posted a story about NASA asking ham radio operators to listen on 437.270 MHz for the signal of the NanoSail-D satellite released on January 19 and send reports to the NanoSail-D dashboard. The full story, "NASA Seeks Amateur Radio Operators' Aid to Listen for Nanosatellite's Beacon Signal" may be found at: http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter?issue=2011-01-20#toc04

9. Amateur Radio Newsline on ARISS

On January 21, the Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1745 posted an item, "ARISSat-1 Update" under its heading Ham Radio in Space. See: ftp://ftp.arnewsline.org/quincy/News/news.txt