SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS008
ARLS008 Atlantis ferrying ARISS ham gear into space
ZCZC AS08
QST de W1AW
Space Bulletin 008 ARLS008
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington, CT September 8, 2000
To all radio amateurs
SB SPACE ARL ARLS008
ARLS008 Atlantis ferrying ARISS ham gear into space
The space shuttle Atlantis blasted off on schedule September 8,
bringing Amateur Radio operation from the International Space
Station a giant leap closer to reality. On board Atlantis is the
initial Amateur Radio on the International Space Station equipment
as well as other supplies needed by the Expedition 1 ISS crew
members.
As part of the multinational ARISS project, the gear will be stowed
aboard the ISS until the Expedition 1 crew comes aboard in late
October. The Expedition 1 crew will consist of US astronaut Bill
Shepherd, KD5GSL, and Russian Cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR, and
Yuri Gaidzenko, whose call sign was not available.
Although astronaut Dan Burbank, KC5ZSX, is aboard Atlantis, there
will be no Amateur Radio operation from the shuttle or the ISS
during this mission, STS-106. Atlantis will deliver the ARISS VHF
and UHF hand-held transceivers as well as a TNC for packet, a
specially developed headset and signal adapter module plus power
adapters and interconnecting cables.
The ARISS initial station gear will be installed temporarily aboard
the Functional Cargo Block module and use an existing antenna that's
being adapted to support FM voice and packet on 2 meters but not on
70 cm. The ARISS gear will get a more-permanent home aboard the
Service Module next year, once VHF and UHF antennas can be
installed.
NASA and the Russian space organization Energia have signed
agreements that spell out the place of Amateur Radio aboard the ISS.
A technical team, called ISS Ham, has been officially set up to
serve as the interface to support hardware development, crew
training and operations from space.
A Russian call sign, RZ3DZR, has been issued for the ISS ham radio
station. A German call sign, DL0ISS, also has been issued, and a US
call sign will be applied for.
For more information about Amateur Radio on the ISS and SAREX, visit
the ARISS Web site, http://ariss.gsfc.nasa.gov/.
NNNN
/EX
