Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report March 30, 2009

1. ARISS Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO Resigns

On March 24, Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Chairman Frank Bauer stepped down from all his ARISS responsibilities due to personal and increased work responsibilities. This included all the ARISS International Team, ARISS Operations, AMSAT-NA, and NASA responsibilities for all aspects of the program. Frank is working to ensure a seamless transition to the new leadership team. Gaston Bertels will be taking over as ARISS-I Chair until elections can be held in the Netherlands this June. Will Marchant will be taking over as the AMSAT-NA Vice President for Human Spaceflight and stepping up to fill Frank's role as AMSAT U.S. delegate to the ARISS-I team. Rosalie White will remain as the ARRL U.S. delegate. For the full press release, go to the ARISS Web page under "Latest News." http://www.rac.ca/ariss/oindex.htm

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) W1AW Bulletin, The ARRL Letter and the ARRL Web page posted this news.

For the ARRL Web story, go to: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/03/25/10724/?nc=1

The ARRL Letter may be viewed here: http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/09/0327/

The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) posted a story on Frank Bauer's resignation and his replacement, Will Marchant. See: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/news/morenews.php

On March 27, Amateur Radio Newsline carried the story in its Report 1650. See: ftp://ftp.arnewsline.org/quincy/News/news.txt

2. Upcoming School Contacts

Parkside Community College in Parkside, Cambridge, U.K. has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Monday, March 30 at 17:00 UTC. Station GB4FUN will handle the connection between the school and Spaceflight Participant Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP/HA5SIK.

The Girl's Middle School (GMS) in Mountain View, California has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Monday, March 30 at 18:22 UTC via telebridge station K6DUE in Maryland. The contact is planned with Spaceflight Participant Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP/HA5SIK. GMS is a small, independent school for girls in 6th - 8th grade. The school's mission is to nurture and empower girls during this pivotal time in their lives. It looks for non-traditional educational opportunities to help girls expand their horizons.

Science Dream Association (SDA) in Kobe-city, Japan has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Tuesday, March 31 at 09:56 UTC. The SDA was founded in 2007 to promote science education in collaboration with children, parents and teachers.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for Marcelino Canino Canino Middle School in Dorado, Puerto Rico. The contact will take place on Tuesday, March 31 at 15:36 UTC. The student body is made up of 577 students of which approximately 77% live under the poverty level. 100% of the students receive Title I services and over 100 students receive special education services. A Microsatellite Student Program has been implemented where students design, construct, build and launch microsatellites which are then tracked and recovered with the help of amateur radio operators. The coordinating teacher has prepared a NASA Explorer Schools proposal and other science oriented proposals in the school to help motivate its largely underprivileged population to become competitive professionals in the global economy. Two contests have been held at the school - one for an activity logo and another for an essay. Scientists, state government functionaries, Department of Education representatives, and students from other grade levels in elementary and high school have been invited to attend the event. Of major interest to the students is the fact that Joseph Acaba, the first astronaut of Puerto Rican descent, recently flew to the ISS on STS-119. The school is planning its own press releases and expects media coverage. This contact is scheduled with Spaceflight Participant Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP/HA5SIK.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled with Kalori Catholic School in Wallaroo, Australia on Wednesday, April 1 at 07:25 UTC via telebridge station WH6PN in Hawaii. Students have learned about the solar system and the history of space exploration. They have written research papers on NASA, planned a Mars Outpost and learned about basic circuitry. They have designed dioramas of the solar system and participated in a poster contest. The students also used a telescope observe the night sky.

Milwee Middle School in Longwood, Florida has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Wednesday, April 1 at 17:55 UTC via telebridge station ON4ISS in Belgium. This contact is scheduled with Spaceflight Participant Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP/HA5SIK.

Miyahara Elementary School in Saitama, Japan has been approved for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact. It will take place on Thursday, April 2 at 09:14 UTC.

Albert Camus and Jules Verne Elementary Schools in Viry Châtillon, France have been scheduled for a joint Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Thursday, April 2 at 13:35 UTC. Students have been given lessons in astronomy, space history and amateur radio. They have learned about and created models of the ISS. They used the internet for research and gained knowledge about NASA and ESA. They have also worked on creating a Web site.

Carl Sandburg Elementary in the Lake Washington School district in Kirkland, Washington has been approved for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact. The contact is slated for Thursday, April 2 at 19:35 UTC, assisted by telebridge station W6SRJ in California. This is a planned event with Spaceflight Participant Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP/HA5SIK.

3. New Zealand Contact Successful

On Thursday, March 26, students from Cotswold School in New Zealand experienced an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact. Students asked 18 questions of Mike Fincke, KE5AIT via the telebridge station VK5ZAI in Australia. The audio was fed into EchoLink AMSAT and JK1ZRW servers and received 22 connections from stations in 8 countries. The Press ran an article on the contact. See: http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch/2297671/A-lesson-pupils-w...

4. Canadian School Contact Successful

St. Joseph High School in Nepean, Ontario, Canada participated in a successful Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Friday, March 27 via the new telebridge station LU1CGB in Argentina. Students were able to have 18 questions answered by Mike Fincke, KE5AIT before losing the signal from the ISS. Approximately 200 were in attendance for the event. The audio was fed into EchoLink AMSAT and JK1ZRW servers and received 11 connections from stations in Australia, Brazil, China, England, Malaysia and the U.S.

5. Italian Students Radio ISS

Mike Fincke, KE5AIT participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with the Istituto Comprensivo Statale "Alessandro Volta," in Mandello Del Lario, Italy on Friday, March 27. This contact was both a direct and telebridge contact due to the local antenna obscuration at the school. The contact was established by school "Andrea Ponti" station I2JRY in Gallarate, Italy, then "Alessandro Volta" station IZ2PBM took over and finally I2JRY ended the contact. Approximately 50 students from "Andrea Ponti" and 200 from "Alessandro Volta" were present for the contact. Streaming video was available and received 64 connections. Media coverage included several television stations and newspapers. The audio was fed into EchoLink AMSAT and JK1ZRW servers and received 16 connections from stations in 8 countries. A summary has been posted on the ARISS-Europe Web site. See: http://www.ariss-eu.org/2009_03_28.htm

6. ARISS Team Meeting Held

The monthly Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Team meeting was held on Tuesday, March 24. Agenda items covered included Frank Bauer's resignation and the upcoming ARISS face to face meeting in the Netherlands. Minutes have been posted: http://www.rac.ca/ariss/arisstel2009-03-24.htm

7. General Contacts Made

Over the past week, Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke, KE5AIT made several general contacts with ground stations including those in Brazil, Australia, Canada and the U.S.

STS-119 Mission Specialist Joseph Acaba, KE5DAR, called over Puerto Rico. A contact made with Tony Santiago, KP4IA on March 24 was reported on by a local television news channel: http://www.wapa.tv/noticias/locales/obama_elogia_a_los_astronautas/200903241...

Spaceflight Participant Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP/HA5SIK docked on Saturday, March 28, and was already on the radio Sunday making contacts over North and South America.

8. SSTV Images

Spaceflight Participant Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP/HA5SIK has started transmitting Slow Scan Television (SSTV) images using the VC-H1.

Received images may be submitted here: http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/SSTV/submit.php

Images may then be viewed on the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) SSTV gallery site: http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/SSTV/

More information on SSTV images may be found on the SSTV blog: http://ariss-sstv.blogspot.com/