Tag Archives: ISS

Aug 5 2015

UK radio ham’s ISS contact in the press

International Space Station - Image Credit NASA

International Space Station – Image Credit NASA

Adrian Lane 2E0SDR got some great publicity for the hobby in national newspapers and TV about an amateur radio contact he had with an astronaut on the International Space Station.

Many of the ISS astronauts hold amateur radio licences. In their spare time they carry out scheduled amateur  contacts with school students and occasionally talk direct to individual radio amateurs in their home.

There are two amateur radio stations on the ISS; one is located in the ESA Columbus module with the call sign NA1SS, the other is in the Russian Service module and uses the call sign RS0ISS. A description of the stations can be found at http://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html

Adrian Lane 2E0SDR

Adrian Lane 2E0SDR

Adrian’s contact took place in October 2014, he used an Icom FM transceiver running 25 watts with a VHF Eggbeater Antenna designed by Jerry K5OE. In August 2015 he contacted his local newspaper the Gloucester Citizen to place an advert for Under 11’s soccer players for the local youth team. During the conversation he happened to say he had spoken to the ISS.

The Citizen printed the ISS story, which also mentioned the Ruardean Hill Radio Club, on August 4, 2015 and it was picked up by the UK national newspapers. From there it spread to the media world-wide. The original Citizen story is at http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/ground-control-Coleford-shed-international-space/story-27542896-detail/story.html

The story was published in the Thursday, August 6, 2015 edition of many UK national daily newspapers including The Sun, The Times, Telegraph, Independent, Daily Mail, Daily Express and Mirror.

The Thursday edition of the BBC Radio 4 Today show also featured the story at 8:09:46am. To hear it fast forward to 2:09:46 in this recording: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0643x5z#play it was also mentioned on BBC Radio 5.

During Thursday evening the story featured on the TV news station CNN.

On Friday, August 7, Adrian was interviewed about the contact on the BBC TV Victoria Derbyshire programme and was mentioned on the BBC World Service. Watch the BBC TV interview at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33816779

The online version of the Daily Mail story features a video interview with Adrian 2E0SDR
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3186534/Radio-ham-contacts-International-Space-Station-GARDEN-SHED.html

Watch CNN – Ham radio and the ISS broadcast 1930 GMT Aug 6, 2015

Read the Telegraph story at
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11786461/Radio-ham-talks-to-space-station-from-garden-shed.html

Read the Mirror newspaper story at
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/amateur-radio-enthusiast-dials-international-6199955

The Sun newspaper story is behind a paywall at
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/6575742/One-small-step-for-a-ham.html

The Register story: HAM IN SPAAAAAACE
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/06/radio_ham_talks_to_iss_astronaut_from_garden_shed_in_gloucestershire/

On Thursday, August 20, 2015 Onno VK6FLAB was interviewed by Gillian O’Shaughnessy for the ABC 720 breakfast show to talk about Amateur Radio as a direct result of the ISS contact by Adrian 2E0SDR.
https://amsat-uk.org/2015/08/20/amateur-radio-and-iss-on-abc-radio-show/

List of some of the astronauts who have held amateur radio licences http://www.w5rrr.org/astros.html

AMSAT-UK https://amsat-uk.org/
Twitter https://twitter.com/AmsatUK
Facebook https://facebook.com/AmsatUK
YouTube https://youtube.com/AmsatUK

AMSAT-UK publishes a newsletter, OSCAR News, which is full of Amateur Satellite information. A sample issue of OSCAR News can be downloaded here.
Join AMSAT-UK via the online shop at http://shop.amsat.org.uk/

What is Amateur Radio ? http://www.essexham.co.uk/what-is-amateur-radio

Aug 4 2015

Scout ISS ham radio contact video

International Space Station - Image Credit NASA

International Space Station – Image Credit NASA

Scouts at the 23rd World Scout Jamboree at Bunkyo-ku in Japan had an amateur radio contact with the International Space Station.

The contact on July 31, 2015 was between 8N23WSJ and NA1SS operated by astronaut Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS @astro_kjell from the ISS Columbus module.

Watch Radio scouting with the ISS

ARISS 23rd World Scout Jamboree contact
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2015/august/ariss_event_0308.htm

23rd World Scout Jamboree http://www.23wsj.jp/

Aug 3 2015

Third spaceflight for astronaut Paolo Nespoli IZ0JPA

Astronaut Paolo Nespoli IZ0JPA

Astronaut Paolo Nespoli IZ0JPA

Italian ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli, who holds the amateur radio callsign IZ0JPA, will be heading for space a third time, as part of Expeditions 52 and 53 to the International Space Station. He will be launched on a Soyuz vehicle in May 2017 on a five-month mission.

The new mission is part of a barter agreement between NASA and Italy’s ASI space agency involving ESA astronauts. It will be ASI’s third long-duration flight, following Luca Parmitano’s Volare in 2013 and Samantha Cristoforetti’s Futura this year.

Paolo’s first spaceflight was his two-week Esperia mission on the Space Shuttle’s STS-120 in 2007, ASI’s second short-duration flight under the barter agreement. One of his main tasks was to help install the Node-2 module on the Space Station.

He returned to the Station in 2010 for ESA’s 160-day MagISStra mission as part of Expeditions 26 and 27. In addition to his many experiments, he was involved in the dockings of two cargo craft: Europe’s second Automated Transfer Vehicle and Japan’s second HII Transfer Vehicle.

Following his second flight, Paolo worked at ESA’s ESRIN centre in Italy and at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne. He recently began training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre near Moscow, Russia, for his new adventure.

March 2015 Paolo Nespoli IZ0JPA at at BBC Solar Eclipse event
https://amsat-uk.org/2015/03/02/radio-hams-will-be-at-bbc-solar-eclipse-event/

Jul 20 2015

Apollo Soyuz SSTV Event Diploma

International Space Station - Image Credit NASA

International Space Station – Image Credit NASA

In commemoration of the Apollo Soyuz SSTV event, ARISS will be distributing a limited edition diploma to those who received one of the SSTV images transmitted from the International Space Station on July 18-19, 2015.

You can receive a commemorative diploma by filling in one of two application forms:
•  English version: http://ariss.pzk.org.pl/Apollo-Soyuz/en
• Russian language: http://ariss.pzk.org.pl/Apollo-Soyuz/ru

The deadline to apply for the diploma is the end of July 2015.

73, Frank Bauer, KA3HDO
ARISS International Chair

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) http://www.ariss-eu.org/

Jul 14 2015

ISS SSTV July 18-19 on 145.800 MHz FM

ISS SSTV image 1 received by Murray Hely ZL3MH January 31, 2015

ISS SSTV image received by Murray Hely ZL3MH January 31, 2015

ARISS SSTV images will be transmitted this weekend from the amateur radio station in the ISS Russian Service Module to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Mission.

40 years ago this week, the historic joint Apollo-Soyuz mission was conducted.  Apollo-Soyuz (or Soyuz-Apollo in Russia) represented the first joint USA-Soviet mission and set the stage for follow-on Russia-USA space collaboration on the Space Shuttle, Mir Space Station and the International Space Station.

The Soyuz and Apollo vehicles were docked from July 17-19, 1975, during which time joint experiments and activities were accomplished with the 3 USA astronauts and 2 Soviet Cosmonauts on-board.  Apollo-Soyuz was the final mission of the Apollo program and the last USA human spaceflight mission until the first space shuttle mission in 1981.

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of this historic international event, the ARISS team has developed a series of 12 Slow Scan Television (SSTV) images that will be sent down for reception by schools, educational organizations and ham radio operators, worldwide.  The SSTV images are planned to start sometime Saturday morning, July 18 and run through Sunday July 19.  These dates are tentative and are subject to change.  The SSTV images can be received on 145.800 MHz FM and displayed using several different SSTV computer programs that are available on the internet.

We encourage you to submit your best received SSTV images to:
http://spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/submit.php

The ARISS SSTV image gallery will post the best SSTV images received from this event at:
http://spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php

Also, as a special treat, on Saturday July 18 the ISS Cosmonauts will take time out to conduct an ARISS contact with students attending the Moon Day/Frontiers of Flight Museum event in Dallas Texas.  This Russian Cosmonaut-USA Student contact is planned to start around 16:55 UTC through the W6SRJ ground station located in Santa Rosa, California.  ARISS will use the 145.800 MHz FM voice frequency downlink (same as the SSTV downlink) for the Moon Day contact.

For more information on ARISS, please go to our web site http://www.ariss.org/

The ARISS international team would like to thank our ARISS-Russia colleague, Sergey Samburov, RV3DR, for his leadership on this historic commemoration.

Frank H. Bauer, KA3HDO
ARISS International Chair

Previous ISS SSTV transmissions have used the SSTV mode PD180 with a 3-minute off time between each image.

ISS Slow Scan TV information and links for tracking the ISS at https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/iss-sstv/

You can receive the SSTV transmissions online using the SUWS WebSDR remote receiver located near London along with the MMSSTV software https://amsat-uk.org/2014/08/15/suws-websdr-moves-to-new-site/

Jul 14 2015

School Shortlist for Tim Peake Space Station Contact

Major Tim Peake KG5BVI

Major Tim Peake KG5BVI

On Tuesday, July 14 at the UK Space Conference in Liverpool the names were announced of the UK schools which have won the opportunity to contact UK astronaut Tim Peake via amateur radio during his mission to the International Space Station. Tim holds the call sign KG5BVI and is expected to use the special call GB1SS from the amateur radio station in the Columbus module of the ISS.

Tim Peake KG5BVI training on ISS Amateur Radio Station Equipment

Tim Peake KG5BVI training on ISS Amateur Radio Station Equipment

Tim will launch to the ISS in December of this year and will spend 6 months working and living in space. The Amateur Radio competition is a collaboration between the UK Space Agency, the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) and the European Space Agency (ESA).

Selected schools will host a direct link-up with the ISS during a two-day, space related STEM workshop which will be the culmination of a large range of learning activities using space as a context for teaching throughout the curriculum.

ARISS UK (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) will provide and set up all necessary radio equipment such as low earth orbit satellite tracking antennas and radios, to establishing a fully functional, direct radio link with the ISS from the schools’ very own premises. In a ten-minute window when the ISS will be over the UK, an amateur radio contact will be established with Tim, and students will be able to ask him questions about his life and work on board the ISS.

Owing to the nature of scheduling the links, which is dependent on geography, the exact orbit of the ISS and the crew schedules, the exact dates and times for possible links will not be known until 2 weeks before the link up is scheduled. The shortlisted schools will all be prepared for such scheduling challenges and, by having a number of schools, we can ensure that all links are used.

Soyuz TMA-19M Mission Patch

Soyuz TMA-19M Patch

Jeremy Curtis, Head of Education at the UK Space Agency, said:

We’re delighted with the amount of interest in this exciting project and look forward to working with the selected schools as they make a call into space.

Both Tim’s space mission and amateur radio have the power to inspire young people and encourage them into STEM subjects.

By bringing them together we can boost their reach and give young people around the UK the chance to be involved in a space mission and a hands-on project that will teach them new skills.

The following schools have been shortlisted for a possible ARISS call with Tim whilst he is in orbit on the ISS:

Principia Mission Patch

  • Ashfield Primary School, Otley, West Yorkshire
  • The Derby High School, Derby
  • The Kings School, Ottery St Mary
  • Norwich School, Norwich
  • Oasis Academy Brightstowe, Bristol
  • Powys Secondary Schools Joint, Powys
  • Royal Masonic School for Girls, Rickmansworth
  • Sandringham School, St Albans
  • St Richard’s Catholic College, Bexhill-on-Sea
  • Wellesley House School, Broadstairs

John Gould, G3WKL, President of the RSGB, said:

The Radio Society of Great Britain will be delighted to support shortlisted schools by teaching their pupils about amateur radio and helping them through their licence exams where appropriate. Members of our Youth Committee are based across the UK and will be keen to visit the chosen schools in their area and chat to the pupils.

The ARISS UK Operations team will now work with the shortlisted schools to prepare them for this exceptional opportunity during the mission of the first British ESA Astronaut.

ARISS Europe http://www.ariss-eu.org/