Tag Archives: Tim Peake

Dec 9 2015

UK students to have direct contact with astronaut Tim Peake during Principia mission

Blue Peter Principia Mission Patch

Blue Peter presenter Lindsey, Principia mission patch competition winner Troy and UK astronaut Tim Peake KG5BVI

Working with the UK Space Agency, ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) is giving a number of UK schools the opportunity to speak directly to Tim Peake, the first British ESA astronaut, during his mission on board the International Space Station (ISS). This will enable live interaction between pupils and Tim and is anticipated to be one of the highlights of the Principia STEM outreach programme.

Tim Peake KG5BVI training on ISS amateur radio station equipment

Tim Peake KG5BVI training on ISS amateur radio station equipment

During his 6 month mission to the ISS, starting in December 2015, Tim will be undertaking a wide range of science experiments, some of which have been designed by students from around the UK. Additionally he has committed to take part in a large range of educational outreach activities with schools and colleges around the country.

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

“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 pre-arranged schools contacts will take place between January and April 2016 and students will be able to put a number of questions directly to Tim using amateur radio VHF and UHF radio equipment specially installed at the school for the occasion.

HamTV dish antenna at Goonhilly - Credit Frank Heritage M0AEU

HamTV dish antenna at Goonhilly – Credit Frank Heritage M0AEU

The 3.8 metre dish owned by Satellite Applications Catapult is being loaned to the project to track the ISS and will ensure real time video will be available during the schools’ contacts scheduled for early next year. The dish is almost in the shadow of the 29 metre dish “Arthur” built in 1962 to receive the first transatlantic television signals from the Telstar-1 spacecraft.

For Tim Peake’s mission, the ARISS team of licensed UK Radio Amateurs is planning a world first by also receiving live video from the ISS during the contact. Using the HamTV transmitter, which has recently been commissioned on board the ISS, Tim will be the first astronaut to use this equipment during a two way schools contact.

As well as building a vehicle based receive system, which will be installed at the school on the day of the contact, the team recently visited Goonhilly Earth Station in Cornwall to commission a dish to receive the 2.4 GHz HamTV transmissions from the ISS.

During the contact at the schools the ARISS team will be providing information displays on the ISS position and have webcams showing both the local and Goonhilly dishes as they track the ISS.

The hosting schools will be organising presentations and displays before and after the contact and the ARISS team will be providing a live web cast of all the day’s events including the actual contact with Tim Peake.

The live event webcast will be hosted by the British Amateur Television Club (BATC) on their web streaming service at https://principia.ariss.org/live/

The ARISS programme is designed to maximise the impact of the Principia Mission outreach activities. It will directly engage students with media and communication technologies with the goal of inspiring them to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.

UK Space Agency Principia site https://principia.org.uk/

School Shortlist for Tim Peake Space Station Contact
https://amsat-uk.org/2015/07/14/school-shortlist-tim-peake-iss/

NASA TV to cover launch of Tim Peake KG5BVI
https://amsat-uk.org/2015/12/08/nasa-tv-to-cover-launch-of-tim-peake-kg5bvi/

AMSAT-UK https://amsat-uk.org/
Twitter https://twitter.com/AmsatUK
Facebook https://facebook.com/AmsatUK
YouTube https://youtube.com/AmsatUK
Join AMSAT-UK https://amsat-uk.org/new-members/join-now/

ISS Display 2015-12-11

 

Dec 8 2015

NASA TV to cover launch of Tim Peake KG5BVI

Tim Peake KG5BVI with Yuri Malenchenko RK3DUP and Tim Kopra KE5UDN

Tim Peake KG5BVI with Yuri Malenchenko RK3DUP and Tim Kopra KE5UDN

The next three crew members bound for the International Space Station are set to launch on Tuesday, December 15. NASA Television will provide full coverage of the launch beginning at 10:00 UT.

UK astronaut Tim Peake KG5BVI, along with Yuri Malenchenko RK3DUP and Tim Kopra KE5UDN, will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:03 UT (5:03 p.m. Baikonur time) for a six-month stay on the orbital complex.

Principia Mission Patch

Principia Mission Patch

The three will travel in a Soyuz spacecraft, rendezvous with the space station and dock to the Rassvet module at 17:24 UT NASA TV coverage of docking will begin at 16:45 UT.

The hatches between the Soyuz and space station will be opened at about 19:25 UT, and the newly arrived crew members will be greeted by Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly of NASA and Flight Engineers Sergey Volkov RU3DIS and Mikhail Kornienko RN3BF of Roscosmos. NASA TV coverage of the hatch opening will begin at 19:00 UT.

Kelly and Kornienko will return in March 2016 with Volkov after spending a year on the station collecting valuable biomedical data that will improve our understanding of the effects of long duration space travel and aid in NASA’s journey to Mars.

Together, the Expedition 46 crew members will continue the several hundred experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science currently underway and scheduled to take place aboard humanity’s only orbiting laboratory.

For the full schedule of prelaunch, launch and docking coverage, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

Follow Tim Peake KG5BVI on Twitter at
https://twitter.com/astro_timpeake

Follow the space station crew members on Instagram and Twitter at:
http://instagram.com/iss
and
http://www.twitter.com/Space_Station

Tim Peake and Union Flag

Tim Peake and Union Flag

Nov 12 2015

HamTV on the ISS – Goonhilly update

While at Goonhilly Graham Shirville G3VZV received ISS HamTV on 2395 MHz with a 60cm dish

While at Goonhilly Graham Shirville G3VZV received ISS HamTV on 2395 MHz with a 60cm dish

Noel Matthews G8GTZ of the BATC provides an update on the amateur radio ground station at Goonhilly which will receive video from the ISS during the mission of Tim Peake KG5BVI.

Some of you may remember the presentation Graham Shirville G3VZV, gave at CAT15 subtitled “Tim Peake on a TV near you”.

Some of you may have also noticed a new station on the Tutioune map located at Goonhilly in Cornwall.

HamTV dish antenna at Goonhilly - Credit Frank Heritage M0AEU

HamTV dish antenna at Goonhilly – Credit Frank Heritage M0AEU

This station is using a 3.8 m dish is being loaned to the ARISS project by Satellite Catapult, and will be used to track the ISS and provide real time video during the schools contacts scheduled for early next year. This dish is almost in the shadow of the 29 metre dish built in 1962 to receive the first transatlantic television signals from the Telstar-1 spacecraft.

At the beginning of  November, we (G8GTZ, M0AEU and G3VZV) installed a PC with mini-tutioune software and a DB6NT downconverter to receive the ISS on the dish – It was no surprise that during the tests, we received video for 8.5 minute during one pass and had an MER of 30 dB 🙂

Currently the dish is not tracking the ISS but will be doing so in the near future and will be dedicated to this task for the next 6 months 🙂 In the mean time, the dish is pointing up at 90 degrees (zenith) but the receiver is connected and we received 25 seconds of blank video (visible on the TT monitor page) this morning when the ISS flew over the top of the dish!

There will be a full article on the ARISS Tim Peake project in the next CQ-TV along with pictures of the Goonhilly site.

Whilst we were at Goonhilly last week, Graham could not resist seeing if it was possible to receive the HamTV signal using only a handheld 60cms dish and the Tutioune software – much to the team’s surprise Graham was successful and this was the first reception of the ISS at Goonhilly as the equipment had was yet to be installed on the ground station dish!

Watch CAT15 HamTV on the ISS by Graham Shirville G3VZV

Local and Goonhilly Dishcams with map showing position of ISS at https://principia.ariss.org/dashboard/

Tutioune map
http://www.vivadatv.org/tutioune.php?what=map&sid=26af759a4ad0cf89cb0f0e59c1cd46c2

HamTV https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/hamtv-on-the-iss/

Satellite Catapult https://sa.catapult.org.uk/

British Amateur Television Club (BATC) http://batc.org.uk/
Twitter https://twitter.com/BATCOnline

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/

Mar 20 2015

Astronaut issues challenge for UK students to “make that call”

Tim Peake KG5BVI, the first British ESA astronaut, has issued an invitation to UK school pupils to contact him via amateur radio whilst he is in space.

Tim will launch to the International Space Station (ISS) in November of this year and will spend 6 months working and living on the ISS. Thanks to a collaboration between Amateur Radio on the International Space Stations (ARISS), the UK Space Agency, the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) and the European Space Agency (ESA), UK school pupils will be able to contact him whilst he is on board the ISS via a scheduled amateur radio link-up. Continue reading →

Dec 10 2014

Send your code into space with astronaut Tim Peake KG5BVI

Students programming the Astro Pi computers Credit: UK Space Agency (Max Alexander)

Students programming the Astro Pi computers Credit: UK Space Agency (Max Alexander)

Leading UK space organisations have joined forces with UK Astronaut Tim Peake KG5BVI and Raspberry Pi to offer students a chance to devise and code their own apps or experiment to run in space. Two Raspberry Pi computers are planned to be flown to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of Tim’s 6 month mission and both will be connected to a new “Astro Pi” board, loaded with a host of sensors and gadgets.

Launched December 10 at an event held by the UK Space Agency, the Astro Pi competition will be officially opened at the BETT conference (January 21-24) and will be open to all primary and secondary school aged children who are resident in the United Kingdom. The competition will be supported by a comprehensive suite of teaching resources that are being developed by ESERO-UK and Raspberry Pi.

Astro Pi Logo

Astro Pi Logo

During his mission to the ISS, Tim Peake KG5BVI plans to deploy the Astro Pi computers in a number of different locations on board the ISS. He will then load up the winning code whilst in orbit, set them running, collect the data generated and then download this to Earth where it will be distributed to the winning teams.

Speaking at the Astro Pi launch event, Dr David Parker, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency, also revealed that the UK Space Agency has been given a £2 million programme, as part of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, to support further outreach activities around Tim’s mission, particularly to help inspire interest in STEM subjects.

Tim Peake KG5BVI said I’m really excited about this project, born out of the cooperation among UK industries and institutions. There is huge scope for fun science and useful data gathering using the Astro Pi sensors on board the International Space Station. This competition offers a unique chance for young people to learn core computing skills that will be extremely useful in their future. It’s going to be a lot of fun!

To help students on their way in developing their code, five inspirational themes have been devised to stimulate creativity and scientific thinking. The themes are Spacecraft Sensors, Satellite Imaging, Space Measurements, Data Fusion and Space Radiation.

A Raspberry Pi computer. Credit: UK Space Agency (Max Alexander).

A Raspberry Pi computer. Credit: UK Space Agency (Max Alexander).

In the primary school age category, teams will be asked to devise and describe an original idea for an experiment or application which can be conducted on the Astro Pi by Tim during his mission. The two best submissions will get the opportunity to work with the Astro Pi team to interpret their ideas and the team at the Raspberry Pi Foundation will then code them ready for flight on the ISS.

In the secondary school age group, the competition will be run across three age categories, one for each of Key Stages 3, 4 and 5 (in England and Wales, and their equivalent ages in Scotland and Northern Ireland). In the first phase, competitors can submit their ideas for experiments and applications. At least the best 50 submissions in each age category will win a Raspberry Pi computer and an Astro Pi board on which to code their idea. In phase 2, all teams will develop code based on their original concept and two winning teams will be selected in each age category. The winning teams’ code will be readied for flight by the Raspberry Pi Foundation and CGI.

As well as having their code uploaded to the ISS, all winning teams will each receive a class set of Raspberry Pi and Astro Pi boards, meet the Astro Pi team and participate in a winners event during Tim’s flight.

In addition to the main prizes, each of the UK space companies supporting the project have offered a prize. These prizes will be awarded to the best submission associated with each of the themes, across the age ranges.

Major Tim Peake KG5BVI

Major Tim Peake KG5BVI

ESERO-UK and Raspberry Pi are developing a comprehensive suite of teaching resources to link to the curriculum and assist teachers of STEM subjects in engaging their students in the competition. As well as explaining how to use and write code for the Astro Pi and its sensors, the resources will provide a context for the Astro Pi in the curriculum and link to teaching subjects and areas.

The first two resources of the series are available now in the National STEM Centre eLibrary and the rest will follow.

Launching the Astro Pi computers, and consequently the successful implementation and completion of this competition is subject to nominal progress through the ESA integration programme and operations on-board the ISS.

BBC TV News: Astronaut Tim Peake KG5BVI invites Raspberry Pi challenge
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30415207

Astro Pi: Your code in space http://astro-pi.org/

Source: UK Space Agency press release https://www.gov.uk/government/news/send-your-computer-code-into-space-with-astronaut-tim-peake