March 2004 ARISS Meetings ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
Attendee List---March 25-27
Frank Bauer, KA3HDO ARISS Chairman, AMSAT-NA, US ARISS delegate
Gaston Bertels, ON4WF ARISS Vice Chairman, UBA, Europe ARISS delegate
Rosalie White, K1STO ARISS Secretary-Treasurer, ARRL, US ARISS delegate
Masanobu Tsuji, JH2PRZ JAMSAT, Japan ARISS delegate
Robin Haighton, VE3FRH AMSAT-NA, Canada ARISS delegate
Ken Pulfer, VE3PU RAC RAC, Canada ARISS delegate
Keigo Komuro, JA1KAB JARL, Japan ARISS delegate
Sergej Samburov, RV3DR Russia ARISS delegate
Miles Mann, WF1F MAREX Team
Mike Miller, KA5SMA Chairman & US mbr, Project Use and Selection
Committee
Lou McFadin, W5DID Chairman & US mbr, Hardware Committee
Carlos Eavis, G0AKI RSGB, Europe ARISS team
Jim Heck, G3WGM AMSAT-UK
Graham Shirville, G3VZV AMSAT-UK
Jorge Matias CT1GQU Europe ARISS team
Wayne Nakata, N1WPN MAREX team
Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO US ARISS team, liaison to Johnson Space Center
Mark Steiner, K3MS US ARISS team, deputy to Frank Bauer
Olga Frumkin Interpreter
Karen Tadevosyan, RA3APW Russia-AMSAT
Manfred Lugert, DL5FAB Europe ARISS team
Joerg Hahn, DL3LUM DARC, Europe ARISS delegate
Christophe Mercier Europe ARISS team
Scott Stevens, N3ASA US ARISS team, PR Committee
Peter Kofler, IN3GHZ Europe ARISS team, ARISS mentor
Andras Gschwindt, HA5WH Europe ARISS team
Csaba Szombathy, HA5MRC Europe ARISS team
Danny Orban, ON4AOD Europe ARISS team
ARISS Technical Meeting - March 25, 2004
A quick welcome was given by Frank Bauer and all participants introduced
themselves.
Thanks goes to Joerg, Manfred and Gaston for all of the work they
performed in setting
up this event, and being our hosts for our multiple-day meetings.
Technical Discussion
Phase I:
Packet is not hooked up to the computer, so it gets filled up quickly,
and shuts off. The
two-person crew continues to be too busy handling Station functions to
support ARISS
maintenance and repair. And we are a secondary payload, not a primary
one, so many
items that need to be modified or optimized via parameter changes are
not being
accomplished. The use of a computer is still unclear. We believe we have
a computer
available to us, but we need a power supply for it. There was
considerable discussion on
whether we need two computers (one in the FGB, and one in the Service
Module). No
consensus was arrived at on this topic.
Headsets – only 1 is up there. The second one got brought down in
error. One headset
extension cable was working intermittently – it could be the
push-to-talk – so we asked
for it to be brought down. By accident, the US crew support group got
the headset down
instead of the extension cable. This issue is being worked. Crew support
wants the
headset and cable by March 31 for launching on 14-P -- we may not be
able to meet that
deadline, but will send it as soon as possible so it can go up as soon
as possible, probably
on 15P. The extra extension cable is occasionally used in series with
the other extension
so the FGB ham station can be operated from the Service Module near a
window. The
ISS Program Office does not want cables through hatches on a permanent
basis (safety
issue in case of emergency), but crew members can temporarily move
between one
module (FGB) and another (Service Module) with the headset on.
SSTV – with just two crew members, and because every ounce of mass on
Progress
rockets is critical, NASA suggested we wait for a Progress that’s near
the time when
shuttles fly again (when there will be 3 crew members). There won’t be
time for the crew
to install and test SSTV before then. They’ve been too busy keeping
all “ISS systems
running and still have not even completed validation testing of the
on-orbit Phase II
hardware.
We don’t have out-gassing tests done on the SSTV items. Funding is now
in hand for
three tests (SSTV, Yaesu tuner and a third test). The US Team has been
told the SSTV
off-gassing test is getting put on the schedule. As was stated above, we
don’t have a
power supply for the computer that may be used for the SSTV system. Just
before the
shuttles return to flight (March ’05) we hope to ship the SSTV system
– including the
hardware and the software. This will probably be on flight 16P. Bill
McArthur and/or
Sergej Krikalev would be good to have do the SSTV installation and
check-out. Bill’s
medical issues are resolved.
Miles will work further on the SSTV software – first there needs to be
a software review
by the US Team in April to validate what pieces need changes. The
changes are mostly
for making it easier for the crew to use, and for some of Sergej’s
requirements and
concerns. For instance, when the photo folder is opened, nothing shows
while the photos
are being processed, and the operator thinks nothing is happening or
that the wrong folder
was opened. A face-to-face meeting should be held to ensure that all the
requirements for
flight and flight operations have been met. During this ESTEC trip, a
final list of
requirements will be written down. We need to have software ready three
months before
launch. We need to prepare installation procedures, too.
Phase II:
The D-700 and cables have been launched. Lou displayed the antenna
switch assembly
that was launched and the RF cables that have not been launched. The
antenna switch
enables the Glisser system to be easily switched on for EVAs. The ISS
Ham radio system
shuts down during EVAs. All items are required to be labeled for
specific uses.
Speakers –Sergej says the crew wants a portable speaker so we need a
2.5-m length
cable. Or they can use headsets, but would need a splitter. We could
purchase splitters
rather than custom-build them.
Yaesu FT-100 Modifications – Karen will make the FT-100 modifications
to get the
hardware ready for flight; he works with Yaesu. Some of the
modifications include
replacing the Yaesu-provided tuner cable with a new cable with molded
mini-DIN
connectors and Teflon wire. The team will determine who does what jobs
for the
connectors and cables. The US will pursue with the safety team, Lou’s
method of using a
special covering for the Yaesu-provided tuner cable, and the Russians
will pursue flight
approval of the molded connectors and Teflon wire.
Protocols for delivering the Russian connectors need to be in place
before we build the
power switching assemblies. Kenneth will work this action.
Columbus module—Gaston said work is done with ESA engineers. The patch
antennas
will be affixed to panels on the nadir of the module. Because of
dimensions, VHF
wouldn’t be okay, but UHF and L and S band would be okay. Patches
would be
fiberglass, affixed to an aluminum frame, with coax for the feedline –
installed before
launch. Feedthroughs are being installed, for coax runs. ARISS would
deliver short coax
cables, RF connectors, and patches (two for each feedthrough in case
something would
impact and ruin one), and they would be for UHF, L and S band. Funding
is an issue –
100,000 Euros are needed for this. ESA (Manned Space Microgravity in the
Netherlands) would cover half of this amount; Gaston is looking for the
rest. The ESA
astronaut corps and ESA are positive. ESA has agreed to sign off on the
project as soon
as we have the funding – when the General Director for Columbus sees
Gaston, he asks if
we have the money. The money covers feedthroughs, coax cables, employee
time,
certification, but not the antennas. ARISS is designing and building the
antennas.
Gaston and Rodrigo have written letters asking for donations from the
government,
education agencies, ham radio societies, etc. Manfred will look into
German Aerospace
Agency funding for educational outreach. Rosalie suggested writing to
Mark
Shuttleworth about a donation. Gaston met with a Belgian ESA satellite
education
person, and they are thinking about ARISS. The money has to be there in
the next few
months. The module was supposed to be finished in mid-2004, but the
delay in flying
shuttles has helped us by pushing back the due date for the money. Dani
Orban will
present the antenna design, the gain and antenna pattern later at this
meeting. The efforts
for Columbus have been an outstanding initiative by the European team.
Open items:
Computer: According to Mike Foale, our primary issue is the lack of a
power supply. A
power supply is being built in Russia; it converts 28 volts to 80 volts,
and it will convert
to other voltages. It is like the power supplies that are on board now.
We will need a
special cable for a power supply to go to the computer. Kenneth Ransom
has the action
to understand what we have on-board, and how we can best get a dedicated
computer for
our system.
The computer (A-22) brought up by Shuttleworth would work better for
slow scan than
some of the other computers on-board. So we might want to get access to
the A-22.
Network Operations—There was a lengthy discussion on whether our
computer should
be hooked to the network. If we don’t, we won’t have easy access to
several resources on
the network. The primary items that we will not have are pictures that
were captured by
the ISS cameras and Keps to support our future orbit prediction
programs. Without the
network we would need to port pictures over to our computer by hand
using a CD, disk or
memory stick. We need the network to automatically update Keps instead
of sending a
file for the crew to do the updates manually if we want them to have an
ISS Ham orbit
prediction program. If we don’t use the network, we are more on our
own.
While using the network minimizes crew time, it adds more rules for us
to follow. There
are great concerns regarding viruses, especially on the network
If we use NASA tracking programs that are on other ISS computers (and
are already on
the network), that will resolve a significant need for crew intervention
because Keps for
these programs are already updated periodically by the space agencies,
making less work
for the crew. If we get our own orbit prediction software approved, we
are better off in
some ways, plus we’d have redundancy. But we’d have to train the
crew, and also, we’d
be totally on our own regarding keeping this prediction software
current. Conclusion: we
should work to include whatever capabilities we require in the ISS Orbit
Prediction
Software that is already on-board (it may take no modifications), so
that the crew can get
AOS and LOS information, but the crew should not have to do any work to
update the
Keps on it. Frank summarized this as follows:
First ideal-- we will utilize the space station network and software
resources to support
our orbit prediction requirements. Second ideal-- we will operate our
system without
network capability, but if it becomes relatively simple to get on the
network, we will
learn what is needed to meet the station network security requirements
and pursue getting
on it.
Project Selection & Use Committee (PS&U)
The PS&U committee reviews proposals for Amateur Radio projects for
deployment
onboard the ISS. The committee recommends the acceptance or
non-acceptance of those
projects to the international delegates. The committee has a list of
questions that must be
addressed by the group proposing a project, and the committee bases its
decision on the
answers.
The committee is currently looking at these projects.
* Shadow Experiment
* ISS ATV (Graham Shirville)
* CDATV Project (Miles)
* SpaceCam 2 Project (Miles)
* Linking ISS to the Internet
* Ionospheric research project
* antennas for the Columbus module
A significant problem was reiterated to the team in attendance. Once
ARISS approves a
project, and it is built and onboard, we still need space agency
approval for crew time for
training and on-orbit for QSOs, installation and maintenance. All
attendees were
reminded to minimize crew interaction and make systems as autonomous as
possible to
ensure that their projects will be installed and utilized. Sergej
suggests we call projects a
scientific educational outreach experiment. He thinks we can get more
crew time if our
projects are scientific educational outreach experiments. ESA has many
scientific
projects proposed, but ESA is happy to see and support educational
outreach projects.
Shadow Experiment – Sergej Samburov
We have to get the plasma portion of this project certified before it
can fly. The Russians
want to propose a cold experiment and a hot one. The cold experiment is
just the time
text sent by a beacon through the packet system. The hot experiment
includes the plasma
pulse – ARISS isn’t responsible for this. Hams who participate in
the experiment would
get certificates. No Progress vehicle has been identified yet to launch
the project; it may
take a few years for this. ARISS would be responsible for the software
to provide the
signal for the time segment through packet. We could go through the SSTV
computer
clock. Bob Bruninga might have some ideas utilizing APRS. The 10-minute
experiment
will be done 5-10 times in a 6-month period.
See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/PS&UPresentations/2_projectke1.pdf
The Shadow team is
asking for clearly expressed support by ARISS of the project,
assistance in notification of the Amateur Radio community, and any other
help for
success. The PS&U members will develop a recommendation for the
ARISS delegates.
ISS ATV – Miles Mann
Miles proposal is for compressed digital ATV using an ICOM high speed
digital
transceiver. It uses much less bandwidth than analog FM video. He
proposed the use of
the L-band uplink. However, the ITU only allows downlinking on 1.2 Ghz,
so S band
might be considered. The software will need funding. ICOM has said their
radio is and
isn’t open protocol, so we have to find out their final plans on this,
and we’d have to
decide whether we want to be involved if it isn’t open protocol.
See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/PS&UPresentations/4_CDATVISSproposal2.pdf
Concept for an
External Payload: a Digital ATV Transponder & Beacon – Graham
Shirville
External payloads are desirable for ARISS -- ARISS might want to
consider a standard
enclosure for external payloads. Graham proposed a digital 13 cm
downlink and an
analog FM 23 cm uplink. Existing, inexpensive FM equipment is easier for
amateurs
than DATV, and they can generate more power on the ground than will be
possible on
the ISS. The better signal-to-noise ratio of the digital downlink will
be balanced on the
uplink by more ERP. Receiving DATV by amateurs will be easy due to
available of
standard satellite receivers. We should look into Earthkam and see how
we might partner
with them. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/PS&UPresentations/3_a18atviss.pdf
Digital SSTV :
SpaceCam2 – Miles Mann
Software is available for this, but major updates would be needed, and
it would require
funding to do the updates. No hardware changes would be required to our
existing
system, but we’d need a Laptop such as Mark Shuttleworth’s computer,
and we couldn’t
use the existing on-board IBM A-21 computer.
See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/PS&UPresentations/5_SpaceCam2StatusESA1.pdf
Linking the ISS
(Using Ham Radio) Over the Internet – Scott Lindsey-Stevens
There are several methods for this to consider – Echolink (a ham
license is needed to
listen to these transmissions), IRLP (people don’t need a ham license
– third parties can
listen in via scanners). No funding is needed initially for these. No
crew training is
needed for this, although they’d have to understand that school QSOs
could be longer. In
some regions, kids would be bored because they already do this type of
thing. Kids not
interested in ham radio, but interested in computers, might be pulled
into ham radio.
ARISS asks: What is the objective of this project? It might be used with
schools waiting
for QSOs – they could listen and learn. We have to ensure that the
kids understand that
this mode uses Amateur Radio.
See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/PS&UPresentations/6_ISSLinkLindsey-Stevens.pdf
Thursday’s meeting
ended at 1718 local time.
ARISS-I International Meeting
March 26, 2004
ESTEC – Noordwijk, Holland
The meeting was started at 9:30. A welcome was given by Frank Bauer and
Gaston
Bertels. Introductions were done by everyone. Frank provided a testament
in memory of
Roy Neal, K6DUE, and his knowledge and guidance to ARISS, helping us get
ARISS
established, accepted, and make it a reality. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/02_Roy_Slide.pdf
Thomas Kieselbach and
Pam Mountjoy were also remembered for their great assistance
in ARISS activity. Rosalie asked that everyone check the attendee list
to ensure their
name, call sign and email address is correct. Manfred announced our
schedule for a tour
of parts of ESTEC.
Gaston moved that we approve the minutes of the last meeting, and the
delegates did so.
The report for the European ARISS region was given by Gaston, who began
by saying
ARISS-Europe is a working group of Europeans. ARISS-Europe has an
elected board
with Gaston as Chairman. Danny Orban, ON4AOD, is Technical Director –
he will give
a report on the Columbus module. Joerg Hahn and Christophe Mercier are
Technical
Counselors, and Peter Kofler, IN3JHZ, is a School Mentor along with
Gaston. School
QSOs in Europe have been very successful, and there have been two
already in 2004.
See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/03_ARISSEuropeReport.pdf
Gaston has worked
quite hard to get ARISS accepted as a worthwhile program by the
European Space Agency (ESA). Having Frank DeWinne take an interest in
ARISS
helped Gaston, who went to the ministry of education. Gaston was invited
to DeWinne’s
de-briefing, and it was there that Gaston sold ARISS to ESA, the
scientists that DeWinne
worked with, and education officials. Just recently, the ESA education
office asked to
offer the ARISS program a statement of understanding between the two
organizations. In
principal, there are two ESA astronauts on-orbit each year – so twice
per year, a joint
ARISS/ESA national program could be organized that involves all primary
schools in a
member state. Frank and Rosalie will take the request to NASA HQ in
Washington DC,
since ARISS is co-sponsored by NASA.
Ken Pulfer, VE3PU, presented the report for the Canadian ARISS region.
He began by
remembering achievements Roy Neal made toward progress on ARISS. Ken
then
discussed how we have changed, and there are many new faces successfully
helping with
ARISS work. Canadians have done a lot of ARISS PR to hams, to
schoolteachers and
students, and to the general public. Canada would like to see its older
schools get
scheduled. Ken hopes to further foster interest by the hams at the
University of Toronto
in ARISS hardware work, and he wishes to develop greater interest in
ARISS by the
general Canadian ham. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/04_CanadaReportPulfer.pdf
Frank gave the report
for the ARISS team in the USA. Rather than being a progress
report, Frank’s discussion covered the substantial re-organization of
the team to better
serve the program. ARISS recalls the many things Carolynn Conley did,
and now,
Kenneth Ransom has taken her place. Frank displayed a graph showing the
US team, and
their ARISS duties. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/05_USTeamReportBauer.pdf
Sergej provided a
report for the ARISS Russia team, which consists of him plus a few
volunteers. He thanked Karen for joining the team, and hopes more
volunteers can be
found. Karen’s background covers many things including development of
packet
hardware; Sergej feels Karen will be a great help. Sergej said, “The
crew likes the table
we built and launched, and uses it for computers. The table has an extra
shelf for future
equipment, and was installed in December.” The FT-100 and cables (to
be finished by
the US) for the antenna switches may be launched on a fall Progress
flight. Sergej’s
group is working on an official operations manual for the crew. He has
several school
applications; the next crew wants more notice for scheduling schools.
Masanobu gave an account for the ARISS Japan team, including an article
he displayed
from CQ ham radio magazine about an ARISS Japanese school QSO. Besides
getting an
arrangement set up for ARISS to get the Kenwood and the Yaesu
Vertex-Standard
equipment, the Japan team got special call signs for the schools, with
the suffix ISS.
Masanobu and Keigo thanked volunteers including Satoshi, Jay and Fumio.
Satoshi has a
good association with the government, and has helped with frequency
matters,
particularly ARISS’ use of frequencies on the 2-meter band. Frank
thanked the Japan
delegation and Satoshi in particular for their work on this matter.
During the lunch break, the Project Selection & Use Committee met,
as did some
members of the PR Committee.
Ken presented a report on the PR Committee, and started with how the
logo has been
widely used and is known, but we should think about whether we want to
have a policy
that it is to be used only on a white background. Our Web sites are
doing well, and are in
different languages. For some PR areas we’re doing well, but some
areas need work.
Ken passed out a brochure that could be modified for different audiences
(teachers, hams,
general public, space agencies) and for different countries. Frank has
some presentations
that people can modify for use. The internationals need to know a point
of contact for
forwarding their news stories. Ken asked the Russian representatives
about a Russian
Web site, and asked the Japanese representatives if there is someone
updating their site.
Ken proposed to the delegates that Scott Lindsey-Stevens join the PR
Committee, and he
was unanimously elected. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/06_PRCommitteeReportKPulferARISS4.pdf
Frank reported on the
Roy Neal Commemorative Event. After some initial problems
(due to the crew not being available), the event was activated by the
ISS crew, and we
began receiving QSL cards plus messages of thanks for the program.
Participants -- 85
people in the US took part, 40 in Europe took part plus a few in the
other countries. A
special certificate will be given to Sergej to try to have flown on the
ISS, and pictures
taken for publicity purposes. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/07_K6DUECommemorativeBauer.pdf
Rosalie gave a report
on QSL cards, listing how many were in stock in each ARISS
region. Each region probably has enough to continue through the rest of
the year. It was
suggested that in a few days, the ARISS team should begin submitting
ideas for design
changes. In summer 2004, the ARISS officers will set up a timeline for
changing the
card before going to a printer. For our October ARISS meeting, each
ARISS region will
re-check the QSL card supply. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/08_ARISSQSLrptWhite.pdf
Ken provided
information about third party traffic issues prior to, and after, the
WRC-03
conference in Geneva when international Amateur Radio regulations were
reviewed. The
new provision says Amateur stations may be used for transmitting
international
communications on behalf of third parties only in the case of an
emergency or disaster
relief. But more importantly, the new provision says an administration
may determine the
applicability of this provision to amateur stations under its
jurisdiction. Thus, each
country’s administration can define what is a communication on behalf
of a third party,
and with whom the stations under its jurisdiction may exchange such
communications. If
the other station’s administration permits the same communication,
then the
communication may be exchanged internationally. This eliminates the
former
requirement for bilateral agreements between the countries concerned,
which often took
years to negotiate and approve, and allows each administration to
unilaterally permit
educational communications to take place internationally. ARISS needs
for the FCC and
the Russian telecommunications agency to give some verbiage for us. This
is important
because for Increment 11, the US astronaut will probably not have a
license. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/09_3partyKPulfer.pdf
Hardware Status
Frank began this report by showing planned capabilities for the Phase 2
station. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/10_HardwareStatusBauerSamburov.pdf
Sergej pointed to the
graphic, showing where the ham equipment
resides. With the long extension cables, crew members can even use the
toilet while on
the air – the fans are loud enough that you wouldn’t hear the flush,
says Sergej! The HF
antenna is 2.5 meters long. For WA3, the ground controllers noticed
something moving
during a Progress docking. It was discovered that during the EVA the
crew left a cloth
tiewrap on the antenna. In the most recent EVA, Sasha Kaleri removed the
cloth, which
is good.
For Progress 15P or 16P, late 2004, we hope to deliver the Yaesu FT-100D
system, the
SSTV hardware and software, and the Phase l headset and extension cable.
For early 2005, or when the shuttles return to flight, we hope to
deliver MISSE-5/
PCSAT2 as an external payload.
Joint operations will be in the FGB and the Service Module. For the
antennas: WA1 is
for the Kenwood, WA2 is for the Ericsson 70 cm, WA3 is for the Yaesu
FT-100
2m/70cm., and WA4 is for HF with the Yaesu FT-100.
The Kenwood D-700 supports voice, crossband 2m/70cm repeater, APRS,
1200-baud
packet, emergency mode, and 9600 baud packet. We’ve checked out voice
and 1200-
baud packet only. The ARISS team simplified this complex radio for ease
of operation
by the crew. It was a tremendous international effort with significant
participation by the
Russian, US and Japanese manufacturers teams.
Joerg asked if the six digi-talkers could be used now. Sergej is
offering the power
supplies needed for this. Discussion on this topic will continue.
At 4:00 PM the meeting broke for a tour of the ESA test facilities.
Saturday, March 27 9:15AM
Miles gave a report on Space Cam. There is a wish list for improving the
software, but
Miles isn’t sure there is time to ready all of them. Lou said a few of
the things on the list
are really needed – such as when selecting user folders, it creates
thumbnails, but the user
can’t tell the computer is selecting folders. Some of the other
changes would be nice but
aren’t so much a priority. Lou said we need to prioritize the list of
improvements for
importance, and concentrate on the most important ones first. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/13_SpaceCam2StatusESA1.pdf
Phase 2 Hardware
Lou and Sergej started this report with the development status of Phase
2. There are a
number of open items being worked on. Karen will be helping with some of
the work.
The tuner needs testing for out-gassing and other certification issues
– this is the USA’s
responsibility. Testing of the FT-100 is the responsibility of the
Russians. The power
switching assembly needs certification.
The SSTV hardware is built, and it needs one more certification check
plus the outgassing
test. A new item is the speaker cable (Y-cable for listening on stereo
speakers).
If we don’t get a suitable computer, we also need a computer power
supply. Sergej is
building one – a 28VDC > 22 VDC unit. We would like a dedicated
small Web-camera
instead of collecting photos on several ISS cameras; this would minimize
crew operation.
Another open item is the HF antenna. Lou stated that it has no ground,
and it is believed
that it is installed on fiberglass. There was substantial discussion on
this. Frank stated
that this is not an issue until we determine that it is through on-orbit
testing. Several
agreed that there is probably sufficient metal under the antenna to
serve as an adequate
ground plane. It was agreed to set up a technical sub-committee to
discuss simulated and
on-orbit testing before deciding on a final approach. The system may be
fine as-is. Or
there may be some modifications required. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/11_OnboardHWstatus3-04R1.pdf
PC-SAT2
Lou gave Bob Bruninga’s presentation on PCSAT2 – Synergy in the
Amateur Satellite
Service. This experiment is built in a suitcase that is half filled with
a solar cell
experiment. The suitcase will be an external payload on one of the solar
arrays or
possibly near an airlock. The experiment is being done through the Naval
Academy in
partnership with the DOD and ARISS. Frank and Ron Parise attended some
of the flight
review meetings. A typical student user station is a handheld radio. The
system has
APRS packet on 70 cm, PSK-31, optional voice repeater capability, and
optional packet
up/down on 145.825. Bob got permission from the ARISS delegates last
December to
continue work on this project. It is on hold until the shuttles are
flying again. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/12_ARISSPCSAT2Bruninga.pdf
ARISS Digi-talker
Joerg spoke on the status of the digi-talker, a voice memory unit that
stores 3-minute
messages. It can be connected to an ISS transceiver, and a message from
the ISS crew
could be spread to school students worldwide with little work from the
crew. There are 6
units already built by Thomas Kieselbach, and funded by the German
Aerospace Group.
The units were tested, but the power requirements were higher than what
the phase 1
system could provide. Now with the D-700, the digi-talkers will probably
work fine. All
that is needed are cables. Lou asked for a schematic and a unit, and he
will build a cable.
He will take a unit to test for out-gassing. The Project Selection &
Use Committee will
move forward with this project at an accelerated pace to get a positive
recommendation to
the delegates.
ARISS Educational Outreach / School Selection Committee
Rosalie reported on the work of the ARISS Educational Outreach / School
Selection
Committee. The results of the NASA fiscal year annual report for 2003
showed that 41
of the 43 schools having QSOs in 2003 submitted evaluation forms. These
forms are
partly what determine annual funding to ARISS from NASA. Students
participating
during the 41 QSOs totaled 13,586. Another 650 listened from other
schools or facilities,
and 890 teachers participated. Frank asked Gaston to ensure that the two
Spanish schools
filled out their forms for next year’s report, since so many students
were involved. We
also ask that ESA fill out a form for outreach schools that listened in,
and individuals
listening via the Web streaming files. Rosalie handed out the new NASA
lithograph and
brochures on Amateur Radio for youth. Now that ISS hardware is more
varied, the group
discussed how schools can do more than just a Q&A for their QSO if
they wish. The US
has many schools that have been waiting since 2001, and Canada also has
two like this.
See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/14_ARISSedrptWhite.pdf
General Ops
Kenneth presented a report on general operations. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/15_GeneralOpsKRansom.pdf
Crew Training
Mark spoke about training of crew members and taxi astronauts on the use
of the
equipment. The committee prepares cue cards and on-orbit manuals for how
the
equipment works. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/16_ARISS2003TrainingTaylorandSteiner.pdf
Crew Licensing
Kenneth talked about how we got Mike Fincke trained quickly for
Expedition 9.
Kenneth related that Dan Tani, the Expedition 11 US backup, is licensed.
Bill McArthur
is a ham for the Expedition 12 crew, and Suni Williams, KD5PLD, is
scheduled for
Expedition 12, depending on when the Shuttle start flying again. Clayton
Anderson is
licensed, and is the Expedition 12 US backup.
Leroy Chiao is studying for his license, but John Phillips probably won’t
get licensed,
and Kenneth is checking on Jeff Williams’ interest (he is US backup
for Expedition 12).
For John Phillips, who goes up with Sergej Krikalev, we will have 3rd
party issues and we
should look into the WRC-03 changes in order to make the best of this
situation. Rosalie
will talk with ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay. Frank will work with
Sergej in an
effort to get 3rd party permission from the Russian ministry of
communication. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/17_LicensingKRansom.pdf
Project Selection and
Use Committee
Mike Miller spoke on the results of the committee meeting held
yesterday, and decisions
made for approving proposals to recommend to the ARISS delegates. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/18_PS&USummary2.pdf
The committee
recommends the Shadow project with the provision that the project is
approved by the appropriate authorities in the sponsoring country, and
that the sponsors
need to clarify the packet timing requirements. Also, Robin suggested
that any liability
for violations would be the responsibility of the sponsoring country.
The delegates voted
unanimously to approve the project.
Mike covered Graham’s proposal for a 13 cm downlink digital ATV
transponder and
beacon device, and a 23 cm uplink using digital encoding – one or more
on-board
cameras with a graphic overlay acting as a test card. Mike also covered
Miles’ proposal
to install an easy-to-use CDATV (Compressed Digital Amateur Radio TV)
camera with a
graphic overlay acting as a test card. Joerg Hahn reminded the team that
the French
delegation proposed an ATV proposal at a previous ARISS Meeting at ESA
ESTEC.
The PS&U committee proposed recommendations, and these are in the
committee’s
report.
The delegates approved the idea of having ATV on ISS, with the following
recommendations:
* ensure frequency compliance per ITU rules
* investigate the possibility of deploying via the Express Pallet
* design changes to protect from direct sun exposure to the optics due
to unplanned
attitudes of the ISS
* use a non-proprietary, open-source protocol
* combine the Amateur TV projects (UK, French, US)
* complete a link budget study to determine the technical feasibility,
and
* present responses to the PS&UC and then a presentation would be
given at the October
2004 ARISS meeting.
Further, the delegates requested that a single point of contact
coordinate the trade studies
and lead the proposal development effort for ATV on ISS. The delegates
recommend
that Graham Shirville be that point of contact.
Mike continued with ISS via the Internet – EchoLink, IRLP
(high-quality streaming
video), etc -- see Scott’s presentation. The committee recommended
that:
the initiator should:
* consult with the international partners
* perform some engineering tests to validate the pros and cons of the
various systems
* resubmit to the committee when test results are available
* participate in teleconferences with PS&UC prior to the October
2004 ARISS meeting
The delegates concurred with the committee’s recommendations, and
voted to accept
them.
The delegates said it was important that the Project Selection & Use
Committee have
proposals in hand from initiators at least a month prior to ARISS
Meetings in order for
committee members to make recommendations at least one month ahead of
the meeting.
If proposals come in late, these won’t be considered by the delegates
until the next
ARISS meeting. The PS&UC should generate a list of projects they are
going to
recommend before the meeting with the proposed recommendations to the
delegates
several weeks (two minimum) prior to the ARISS meeting.
Ionospheric Topside Sounding Experiment
Csaba provided some information via his presentation sponsored by the
Budapest State
University of Technology and Economics, Faculty of Electrical
Engineering’s Space
Research Group. The proposal stated that most sounders are ground-based,
so it would
be interesting to have an experiment from space. Such an experiment
would improve
hams’ models of propagation for HF, and help with propagation
predictions. The digital
data (signal level, frequency and time) to be downlinked to Earth from
the ISS for this
experiment would be helpful to Amateur Radio operators, scientists and
professionals.
Rohde & Schwarz offered an HF receiver, and will provide flying
equipment at no
charge, and will perform the shock and vibration tests. A public test
opportunity is at
http://webradio.ha5mrc.hu and email for corresponding is szombathy@mht.bme.hu and
gschwindt@mht.bme.hu After some discussion, it became clear
that the proposers
expected a very high downlink capability (>>1Mbps) which is
currently beyond the
capabilities of ISS Ham. They expected to use some of the ISS downlink
resources,
which are also beyond the scope of the ARISS program.
The sponsors were asked to give the committee more details and determine
how they
could support their experiment with our existing ISS Ham resources
before further
consideration will be done. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/21_Presentation_BUTE.pdf
News about the
Columbus module
Danny spoke about the Columbus module. RF feed-throughs are now on
Columbus!
This allows for 8 antennas, but it is proposed we use 4 single or
dual-band patches. What
was suggested is dual band 70/23, dual band 23/13, dual band 70/13, and
one other. The
antenna is an L profile, and it is aluminum with a patch on top. Gaston
still has to work
the funding issues if this is to become a reality. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/22_ColumbusARISS_040326a.pdf
High Speed Packet
Capability
Karen presented a talk on behalf of AMSAT-Russia on improving high speed
packet
capability. He asks what kind of system we would like, and asks that we
suggest
applications and technical requirements. Ideas include orbital data and
picture over
memory flash to server, high speed transport link “ground-ISS” and
applications over
link and/or independent applications, migration from analog to digital,
and so on. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/20_PacketandRussiaPresentationRA3APW.pdf
Express Pallet
(Expedite the Processing of Experiments to Space Station)
Mark Steiner talked about the Express Pallet that fits on the truss
(these projects would
not be pressurized), and he provided some specifications that are likely
to change. Such
projects would share space with other experiments, so we would have to
be good
neighbors with RFI, etc. A more comprehensive report will be available
in October. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/19_Express_PalletSteiner.pdf
Funding
Robin reported on his requirement to answering to the AMSAT-NA board
about
expenses AMSAT covers for ARISS, and listed what has been spent from
1998 through
2003. He mentioned that ARRL spends a large amount of money, too, as
does NASA,
and ESA contributes also. But he asked about other ham radio societies’
contributions.
It is true that other ham societies’ volunteers to ARISS usually pay
much of their own
travel costs to meetings. Robin asked that we put this topic on the
agenda for the October
2004 meeting in order to get thoughts from the other societies. He feels
ARISS should
develop a budget in order to assist with this issue. Some of AMSAT-NA’s
major costs
include travel expenses for ARISS meetings, and travel to do hardware
testing, and costs
for building hardware plus cables, boxes and so on. On the other side of
the coin, what
we have for Amateur Radio on the ISS is phenomenal for the costs we must
pay.
NASA’s New Exploration Initiative to the Moon, Mars and Beyond
Frank reassured us that there is no question that the shuttles will fly
again. The current
prediction is that will happen in March 2005; Frank thinks a little
longer. NASA is now
looking at architecture and funding for exploring space – the moon,
Mars and beyond.
Space Station will be finished by 2010 using the space shuttle, which
would then be
mothballed at that time. The NASA Education Office has asked us to look
at the role
ARISS might play in the initiative for moon/Mars/and beyond. So from an
ARISS
perspective, we will want to focus on, and strategize about, and endorse
this new
initiative. We should think about things such as a payload for going to
Mars. A repeater
on the moon. A Mars telecom satellite. Remote control of ATV –
although there are long
path issues. Hamsats at the Moon-Earth libration point. And so on. Our
space agencies
are going to Mars now, so it’s natural we should think about it, and
do initial planning,
now. Rosalie mentioned that we could start with targeting our
educational materials on
exploration beyond the ISS. We will have further discussions on this
topic at our October
meeting. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/23_ExplorationInitiativeBauer.pdf
Fall 2004 Meeting
Plans & Meeting Closure
Our next meeting will be October 10-13 in Arlington, VA, following the
AMSAT-NA
Meeting (Oct 8-10). This enables us to present information to AMSAT
members, and
possibly get more ARISS volunteers and support. We plan to tour the new
Udvar-Hazy
Air & Space Museum at Dulles. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Meetings/ESTEC2004/Presentations/24_FutureMeetingPlansBauer.pdf
The team should think
about how often to meet, and give suggestions for the 2005
meeting, possibly April-May or later (maybe June), or October-November.
Ken will be
at IARU meetings in April-May. Joerg says ESA might host the meeting in
Italy. We
might also go to Russia. Karen was going to look into this.
The meeting closed at 6:10 PM with comments from Frank about how well we
work as a
team, and from all of the ARISS delegates on our progress. We’ve had a
good year!
Respectfully submitted,
Rosalie White, K1STO
ARISS Secretary-Treasurer