Tag Archives: ISS

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/

Jun 23 2015

Ham Radio Field Day from Space

As part of the #askAstro program 16-year-old Brandon Martinez KF7RAO submitted a video question to astronaut Reid Wiseman KF5LKT about Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)

On September 14, 2014 Brandon posted his question to YouTube and on October 10 Reid KF5LKT answered it from the space station. In his reply Reid describes his experience in June of Field Day from space.

Watch Brandon’s question and Reid’s reply

ARISS http://ariss.org/

NASA Astronaut’s ISS Field Day Operation Puts Smiles on Several Faces
http://www.arrl.org/news/nasa-astronaut-s-iss-field-day-operation-puts-smiles-on-several-faces

AMSAT 2015 Field Day – June 27-28
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2015/june/amsat_2015_field_day.htm

Jun 16 2015

Amateur Satellites at Skills Night

Steve Hedgecock M0SHQ sending Packet Radio to the ISS

Steve Hedgecock M0SHQ sending Packet Radio to the ISS

The Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society Skills Nights, are hosted by the CARS Training Team and continue to be a popular and appealing event, especially for newcomers to the hobby.

There was an excellent turnout on the evening of Monday, June 15 with 68 people signing in.

A major highlight of this month’s event was a live demonstration of amateur APRS packet data on 145.825 MHz FM from the International Space Station (ISS) as its flew overhead. Steve Hedgecock M0SHQ had clear reception and even managed to get a few of his own packets sent and relayed by the ISS.

Andrew Garratt M0NRD in Newark-on-Trent was one of those who received Steve’s packets and he immediately sent an eQSL.

Steve had received his new Elk 2m/70cms Log Periodic satellite antenna from the AMSAT-UK shop just a few days before and it performed admirably. During the evening Steve explained how to get started with amateur satellites. They can be received on handheld rigs and worked using low power, just 5 or 10 watts. Further information can be found at https://amsat-uk.org/beginners

On May 31 Steve M0SHQ was filmed making contacts via the SO-50 satellite by the team from the TX Factor TV show so you may see him in one of their future videos.

Satellites were just one aspect of great evening, with a wide range of activities from home construction to how to operate portable taking place. Read the report on the evening at http://www.essexham.co.uk/news/skills-night-june-2015-report.html and http://www.g0mwt.org.uk/skills/cars-skills-jun2015.htm

The next CARS Skills Night will be on Monday, July 20. It’s free to attend and all are welcome.