Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report February 21, 2011

1. Upcoming School Contacts

Preston North East Primary School in Preston, Victoria, Australia has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Tuesday, February 22 at 08:04 UTC via telebridge station W5RRR in Houston. Students in Grades 5 and 6 have been engaged in an integrated unit of work that focuses on Earth and the Solar System. The students have been learning why we are able to live on Earth and why other planets are not suitable to sustain human life.

Nishibori Eizaburo Memorial Explorer Museum Radio Club, located in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Tuesday, February 22 at 09:12 UTC. The radio club is an independent club that will use the museum facilities for this event. Children are learning about the ISS mission and space science and it is hoped that the contact will pique student interest in science and space technology.

2. Successful ARISS Contacts Held

Students from Matsubara High School, located in Matsubara, Osaka, Japan, experienced an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with U.S. astronaut Cady Coleman, KC5ZTH on Monday, February 14. The contact, which highlighted lessons on radios and the ISS, was attended by approximately 200 people. Media representatives from 3 newspapers, one radio station and 3 television stations, including NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) covered the event.

On Thursday, February 17, students attending "Claudio Varalli," and "Salvador Allende" High Schools in Milano, Italy participated in an ARISS contact with ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli, IZØJPA on the ISS. Telebridge station W5RRR in Houston handled the connection. Varalli, which has both a technical school and a secondary school that focuses on foreign languages, has a radio club station, IZ2SHS that is used to practice languages. "Salvador Allende" emphasizes three courses of study in science, humanities and accounting. More than 100 students, teachers and visitors attended the event and listened as Nespoli fielded 16 questions posed to him by the students. Regional and local media covered the contact, which was available on EchoLink and streamed on the Web.

An ARISS contact was held between youth visiting Experiencing Learning, "Imparare Sperimentando," in San Quirino, Italy and on-orbit astronaut Paolo Nespoli, IZ0JPA on Saturday, February 19 via station LU8YY in Argentina. A crowd of approximately 400 people gathered at Imparare Sperimentando, an interactive exhibition that covers a wide variety of physics experiments and science, and watched as the students asked 16 questions of the astronaut. Regional and local media covered the event. The audio was fed into EchoLink and streaming video was provided by AMSAT-Italia.

3. Kentucky Standard Says ARISS Inspires Students to Study Science

The Kentucky Standard Editorial Board printed an article about the recent ARISS - Foster Heights Elementary School contact, made possible with the help of Nelson County Area Technology Center students, and how this activity inspires children to learn more about science and technology. The story talks about how the radio contact fits in with President Barack Obama's recent State of the Union address on how the nation needs to encourage students to learn and excel, especially in math and science. See: http://www.kystandard.com/content/space-contact-may-increase-science-and-mat...

4. ARISS International Team Meeting Held

The ARISS International Team met for its monthly teleconference on Tuesday, February 15. Discussions included the upcoming ARISS-I face to face meeting, as well as status reports on Columbus Module projects and ARISSat-1 plans. Minutes have been posted to the ARISS Web site. https://www.rac.ca/ariss/arisstel2011-02-15.htm

5. AMSAT - ARISSat-1 Updates

On February 20, the AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) News Service bulletin (ANS-051) provided a status on ARISSat-1. Roscosmos has delayed the deployment of ARISSat-1 until the next Russian EVA scheduled in July. On April 12, the crew will connect the satellite, while still inside the ISS, to an external antenna and turn it on in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Gagarin's first manned spaceflight. For more information, see: http://amsat.org/pipermail/ans/2011/000488.html

6. ARRL - Doug Wheelock will be Guest at Dayton Hamvention

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) posted a story in its February 17 ARRL Letter about astronaut Doug Wheelock's plans to attend the Dayton Hamvention which will be held May 20-22, 2011. Wheelock will talk about his stay on the ISS, his contacts with school children and his many general contacts with hams. For the full story, "Astronaut Doug Wheelock, KF5BOC, to Be Guest of ARRL and AMSAT at Hamvention,®" go to: http://www.arrl.org/news/astronaut-doug-wheelock-kf5boc-to-be-guest-of-arrl-...

7. Astronaut Training Status

Three astronauts were given the ARISS Basic Operations class this past week. Kevin Ford, KF5GPP (Expedition 33), Chris Cassidy (Expedition 35) and Akihiko Hoshide, KE5DNI (Expedition 32) all participated in the training sessions.

8. Amateur Radio Newsline Covers ARISSat

On February 18, the Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1749 posted the story, "Ham Radio in Space: ARISSat-1 Deployment Delayed until July." The story covers the recent events affecting the satellite. See: ftp://ftp.arnewsline.org/quincy/News/news.txt