Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report February 2, 2009

1. Upcoming School Contacts

Humber College Institute of Technology and Higher Learning in Toronto, Ontario, Canada has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Monday, February 2 at 17:34 UTC. The school has concluded an extensive research period in how waves travel through space and the Earth's atmosphere and plans to put theory into practice. It has assembled the primary ground station right on the main campus, and it is hoped that it will inspire future students in conducting similar studies. With help from the media department and a school contest, the school has been working to involve every student in this project. With over seventy thousand students, which include both full-time and part-time students, the college is excited to promote this project within the community.

Pilton Bluecoat Junior School in Barnstaple, Devon, England has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Friday, February 6 at 14:48 UTC. The school has planned an event with the theme "Our Home in Space - The Final Frontier," in which students learn about Earth as part of the wider universe. All classes took part in the initial selection of questions; the final questions were chosen by the school council. Students have studied the development of the ISS and the history of man in space. Older children have written press releases.

Städtisches Gymnasium Herzogenrath in Herzogenrath, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Saturday, February 7 at 10:32 UTC. The school has an amateur radio club whose members initiated the ARISS contact. The students prepared a radio exhibition that was shared with the school. The English and History departments have also participated in this activity. Students competed in an essay contest and created projects related to the "Space Race." Newspapers and television stations have been invited to cover the event.

College of Agriculture, Central Agricultural University in Imphhal, Assam, India has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Sunday, February 8 at 10:06 UTC via telebridge station VK4KHZ in Australia.

2. Russian Students Radio ISS

Students attending the Palace of Children's and Youth's Creativity in Tver, Russia experienced a successful Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Tuesday, January 27. The children prepared 9 questions to ask cosmonaut Yuri Lonchakov, RA3DT. Approximately 300 people attended the event including cosmonaut S. Treshchev and ARISS delegate Sergey Samburov. The Governor of Tver Region, Dmitry Vadimovich Zelenin was also invited. The contact was made possible through the Amateur Radio Club, "Club-22," and its chairman, Sergey Kemov, RA3IS.

3. Successful Canadian Elementary School Contact

On Tuesday, January 27, Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with students attending Castor Valley Elementary School in Greely, Ontario, Canada. He answered all 16 questions posed to him by the youth as an audience of 750 students, parents and guests looked on. The students initiated the contact, thanked Mike for the contact midway through the session, and finished the rest of the questions. Media covered the event and the school was featured on the CTV 6 o'clock news.

4. French University Contact Successful

Students attending CERAM EAI in Sophia Antipolis, France participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Thursday, January 29 via telebridge station VK4KHZ in Australia. Students were able to ask 15 questions of Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, before interference made the downlink unreadable. Approximately 50 students, faculty members and guests witnessed the event which was covered by the media. The audio was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT and JK1ZRW servers and received 11 connections from 9 different countries. A short write up and contact audio have been posted to the ARISS-Europe Web site. See: http://www.ariss-eu.org/2009_01_30.htm

5. French School Contact Successful

Youth attending Ecole & Collège Jean XXIII, a private primary & secondary school in Pamiers, France, experienced an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Friday, January 30. Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, answered 18 questions prepared for him by the students as 150 people gathered to watch. Media coverage included La Gazette Ariegeoise, Le Petit Journal, France 3 and Ariege News. The event is also expected to be reported by La Depeche du Midi, Radio Transparence, Radio Montaillou and Sud Radio. A summary with audio has been posted to the ARISS-Europe Web site. See: http://www.ariss-eu.org/2009_01_31.htm

6. General Radio Operations

Mike Fincke, KE5AIT and Yuri Lonchakov, RA3DT made general voice contacts over the last week. Among those contacted were stations in the U.S., Canada, Russia and Brazil. They also had the radio running in packet mode and crossband repeater mode and transmitted several Slow Scan Television (SSTV) images.

7. ARISS International Team Meeting Held

The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) team held its monthly teleconference on January 27. Among the agenda items discussed were the ARISS Face to Face Meeting to be held in the Netherlands in June, Richard Garriott's mission and SuitSat-2 status. Minutes have been posted. See: https://www.rac.ca/ariss/arisstel2009-01-27.htm

8. K6DUE Replaces NN1SS

K6DUE, callsign of the late Roy Neal, will now be used for the International Space Station Amateur Radio Club, replacing the Greenbelt, Maryland telebridge ground station callsign, NN1SS. Neal was instrumental in persuading NASA to fly amateur radio on the space shuttle and helped establish the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) working group, which ultimately led to the internationally-based ARISS program. The story was reported on the Amateur Radio Newsline. See: http://www.arnewsline.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=18&a...