Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report September 27, 2010

1. Upcoming School Contact

English Estates Elementary School in Fern Park, Florida has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Thursday, September 30 at 18:00 UTC. Through hands on activities, students will learn about space satellite tracking. The school has an established liaison with the Lake Monroe Amateur Radio Club and an on-campus ham radio emergency operations station.

2. Astronaut Doug Wheelock Chats with New York Students

On Wednesday, September 22, students from Windsor Central and Owego-Apalachin School Districts in New York participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with astronaut Doug Wheelock, KF5BOC. Wheelock, a graduate of Windsor Central High School, fielded 16 questions put to him by the youth during the ISS pass. The school districts collaborated with the area's Kopernik Observatory and Science Center to put together an education program for the students which included topics on space, radio communication, satellites and rocketry. The final outcome of this project will be the purchase of amateur radio equipment for each school and the formation of amateur radio clubs for the youth.

3. ARISS International Team Meeting Held

The monthly ARISS-International team meeting was held on Tuesday, September 21. Topics of discussion included the recent ARISS elections, Columbus Module equipment and a status on ARISSat-1. Minutes have been posted. See: http://www.rac.ca/ariss/arisstel2010-09-21.htm

4. MAI-75 Experiment to be Activated

The Russian ISS crew members will activate the MAI-75 (Moscow Aviation Institute) experiment on September 27 - 29. The activity is planned for 2 runs per day over Western Russian between approximately 07:00 - 11:00 UTC.

5. Amateur Radio Newsline Covers ARISS Activities

On September 24, the Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1728 included two ARISS related stories. "Ham Radio in Space: ISS ATV Activated Briefly on September 14th" is about the recently held MAI-75 Slow Scan Television session. The second item, "Ham Radio in Space: ARISSAT 1 Near Completion" covers the final preparations of ARISSat-1 prior to shipping to Russia. Both stories may be found at: ftp://ftp.arnewsline.org/quincy/News/news.txt