ARISS Status January 28, 2008
1. ARISS School Contacts Status
Due to crew schedules onboard the ISS, no Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contacts are planned at this time. The ARISS team expects contacts to resume once STS-122 launches in early February.
2. STS-120 Crew Talks with Italian Students
On January 22, STS-120 crewmembers visited "La Sapienza" University in Rome where approximately 600 students from several universities and high schools gathered. Among those in attendance were students from the schools that participated in ARISS contacts with astronauts Paolo Nespoli, IZ0JPA, and Clay Anderson, KD5PLA. The crew gave a presentation on their mission which included educational activities, and showed videos to their audience. The complete story and photos of the event have been posted on the ARISS Web site. See: http://www.ariss-eu.org/2008_01_25.htm
3. Astronaut Training Status
On Wednesday, January 23, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, RN3DX, participated in a simulation of an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school contact. The Kenwood D700 radio in the JSC Service Module mockup was used for the contact. He spoke with the training support team who participated as students, asking Oleg questions about space and his visit on the ISS. Kononenko is scheduled as a flight engineer on Expedition 17.
A basic Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) operations and school contact class was held with Soichi Noguchi, KD5TVP, and Koichi Wakata, KC5ZTA, on January 24. Wakata is scheduled to fly to the ISS on 15A (STS-119) toward the end of 2008 as Flight Engineer-2 during Expedition 18. Noguchi is the backup for that flight and could participate as part of the 6 man ISS crew operations in 2010.
Mike Barratt, KD5MIJ, has been scheduled for an ARISS training session at JSC on Tuesday, January 29. Barratt is a backup crewmember for Expedition 18.
4. ARISS Looking for New Telebridge Stations
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) team is currently looking to expand its telebridge station network. The proposal has been announced on the ARISS Web site. The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) ran an article, "ARISS Team Looking for Ground Stations," which may be found at: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/01/22/100/?nc=1
The ARRL Letter also ran the announcement. See: http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/08/0125/
5. ARRL Article on JPL Amateur Radio Club Anniversary
The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) ran an article, "Jet Propulsion Lab's Amateur Radio Club Marks 50 Years in Space." See:
http://www.arrl.org/?artid=7957
Source [url=http://www.rac.ca/ariss/oindex.htm#ARISS Status]ARISS Weekly Status[/url]