SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS016
ARLS016 Ham radio on space station

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Space Bulletin 016  ARLS016
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington, CT  November 27, 1996
To all radio amateurs

SB SPACE ARL ARLS016
ARLS016 Ham radio on space station

A foundation has been laid to give Amateur Radio a permanent
presence in space. Earlier this month, Amateur Radio delegates from
eight countries--Russia, Japan, Germany, Great Britain, Italy,
Canada, France and the US--met at the NASA Johnson Space Center in
Houston, Texas, to map plans to include a permanent ham radio
station aboard the International Space Station, to be tended by
station crew members.

From the United States, members of the SAREX Working Group,
officials from NASA, US representatives of the Russian Mir Amateur
Radio experiment and members from the Johnson Space Center Amateur
Radio Club attended the meetings November 4 and 5, chaired by Roy
Neal, K6DUE. ARRL Vice President Joel Harrison, W5ZN (ex-WB5IGF),
represented the League at the gathering. SAREX Working Group member
Rosalie White, WA1STO, of the ARRL Headquarters staff, was among
those on hand. The delegates jointly developed a draft memorandum of
understanding to promote the development of Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station--to be known as ARISS.

The ARISS group will provide for the planning, coordination and
performance of Amateur Radio projects on the space station, similar
to the way the SAREX Working Group currently coordinates Amateur
Radio activities on many space shuttle missions. AMSAT and IARU
organizations in each of the eight countries are to review and
consider approving the memorandum of understanding. In the US, this
includes AMSAT-NA and the ARRL.

The AMSAT-NA Board unanimously approved the memorandum of
understanding at its November 11 Board of Directors meeting in
Tucson, Arizona. Once the memorandum is finalized, AMSAT-NA
President Bill Tynan, W3XO, has been given authority by the board to
sign it.  AMSAT-NA Vice President for Manned Space Frank Bauer,
KA3HDO, congratulated the international ARISS team for a job well
done. ''We look forward to a truly cooperative international venture
on the International Space Station,'' he said.
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