SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS002
ARLS002 Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, Steps Down from ARISS and AMSAT Duties

ZCZC AS02  
QST de W1AW  
Space Bulletin 002  ARLS002
From ARRL Headquarters  
Newington, CT  March 25, 2009
To all radio amateurs

SB SPACE ARL ARLS002
ARLS002 Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, Steps Down from ARISS and AMSAT Duties
 
Citing personal and professional reasons, Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS) International Chairman Frank
Bauer, KA3HDO, announced on March 24 that he will be step down from
all his ARISS duties, effective immediately. Bauer serves as ARISS
Program Leader, ARISS International Working Group Chair and as the
Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation's (AMSAT) Vice President for
Human Spaceflight Programs, a position he has held since 1991. He is
also one of two ARISS USA delegates, serving with ARRL ARISS Program
Manager Rosalie White, K1STO.

Bauer is currently the Chief Engineer for the Exploration Systems
Mission Directorate at NASA. This directorate is developing the next
generation human spaceflight vehicles that will take NASA to the
International Space Station (ISS) and then to the Moon, Mars and
beyond. He is also providing some backup support to the Space
Operations Chief Engineer who supports the space shuttle and ISS
programs. "Work responsibilities, which have increased substantially
over the past couple of years, coupled with some recent health
issues within my immediate family, led me to the conclusion that I
could not continue to provide the leadership and passion that has
been characteristic of my past support to these amateur radio
endeavors," Bauer explained. "This was a very hard decision. I will
certainly miss the phenomenal ARISS international team and our
mission to inspire the next generation of space explorers using ham
radio as our platform. But I thought it would be best to step down
at this juncture. Over the past 12 years, we have developed,
mentored and matured an outstanding volunteer team with a wide
breadth and depth. I am fully confident that they will keep the
ARISS program running smoothly without missing a beat."

AMSAT-NA President Barry Baines, WD4ASW, has tapped Will Marchant,
KC6ROL, to become the next AMSAT Vice President for Human
Spaceflight Programs and the AMSAT USA delegate of the ARISS
International Working Group. "AMSAT is fortunate that we have a very
capable leader in Will Marchant who is intimately familiar with
ARISS, our extensive human spaceflight program, and is well
respected internationally," Baines said. "Frank's leadership has
left a significant mark on the overall ARISS program and the
cooperative relationship between Amateur Radio, NASA and other
governmental space agencies; however, Frank also ensured that his
team evolved to the point where the work that he pioneered will be
carried on by those that he mentored and encouraged to take on
greater responsibility."

In his new role, Marchant will work with White and the other ARISS
International Delegates and the ISS Space Agencies to coordinate the
development and operations of the Amateur Radio systems onboard the
ISS. White said that she looks forward to working with Marchant in
his new role: "He has provided outstanding leadership and support to
ARISS from its very beginning, most recently as an Operations Team
Leader. He helped pioneer the school group mentor role as part of
the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) program in the early
1990s. Frank will be missed tremendously. It is incredible how much
volunteer time and effort he put into ARISS educational activities;
it was easy to see it was his passion."

With Bauer stepping down from the ARISS International Chairman role,
ARISS International Vice Chair Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, will become
the ARISS International Chairman, effective immediately. Bertels has
been a leader of ARISS from its inception and serves as the Chairman
of the ARISS-Europe team. He has established a close relationship
between ARISS and the European Space Agency (ESA). This resulted in
the development and the installation of ARISS L- and S-band antennas
on the nadir of Columbus, the European Space Laboratory. Bertels
also chairs IARU Region 1's Amateur Radio Space Exploration Working
Group (ARSPEX). "We can understand the reasons of Frank Bauer's
resignation," Bertels said, "but we also feel how difficult this
decision has been. Frank has inspired a worldwide group of
passionate radio amateurs, working together to a common goal. Now it
is up to us to continue in the same direction and with the same
spirit. That's the best farewell present we can offer Frank."

Bauer's departure represents the culmination of more than 25 years
of leadership and support to Amateur Radio activities on human
spaceflight vehicles, including NASA-sponsored ham radio activities
on the shuttle, Space Station Mir and the ISS. Starting in 1983, he
led the Goddard Amateur Radio Club team that provided around-the
clock space shuttle retransmissions from the WA3NAN club station.
These retransmissions provided the international ham radio community
up-to-the-minute information during the flight of Owen Garriott,
W5LFL, on STS-9 and subsequent SAREX flights. In the days prior to
the Internet, these real-time bulletins and frequent orbital element
updates could only be obtained through Amateur Radio.

In 1996, when the International Space Station design development was
well underway, NASA Headquarters Education Office Executive Pam
Bacon (Mountjoy) requested that the Amateur Radio community form a
single, international team to provide one voice for all ham radio
development and operations on the ISS. The SAREX Working Group, led
by Roy Neal, K6DUE, was tapped to turn this vision into reality. In
November 1996, Neal and White, under the auspices of the ARRL, Bauer
and NASA's Matt Bordelon, KC5BTL, organized a joint
NASA-international Amateur Radio meeting at the Johnson Space Center
in Houston. This led to the formulation of the ARISS International
Working Group of delegates representing Canada, Europe, Japan,
Russia and the US, leading up to the current day ARISS program.

Since the beginning, the ARISS team of volunteers has developed and
deployed ham radio equipment that resides in three modules of the
ISS -- the Service Module, the FGB and the Columbus Module, as well
as having deployed a short duration satellite in a space suit called
SuitSat-1/Radiosskaf/AO-54. These systems enable the ARISS team to
inspire more than 15,000 students each year, encouraging them to
pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics
through Amateur Radio communications with the ISS on-orbit crew. It
also introduces these students and millions from the worldwide
general public to the fun, exciting, multi-faceted world of Amateur
Radio.
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