ARISS International Teleconference

Tuesday June 19, 2007 11:15 UTC (7:15 am ET)

Participants:

Frank Bauer

Rosalie White

Mark Steiner

Sergey Samburov

Larry Agabekov

Keigo Komuro

Masanobu Tsuji

Robin Haighton

Ken Nichols

Gaston Bertels

Lou McFadin

Keith Pugh

Graham Shirville

Miles Mann

Ken Pulfer

Carol Jackson

Kenneth Ransom

Matt Keil

Daniel Lamoureux

Interpreter: Olga Frumkin

Not present:

Dave Larsen

Carlos Eavis

Tadeu Fernandes

Bill Boston

ARISS I Agenda:

Note from Frank: He has been working the Guidance, Navigation, and Control issues with the Russian computer problems on ISS, and wants everyone to be aware that there is the potential for impacts to ARISS operations.

Administrative Session

1. ARISS-I Meeting, Russia, Status, Presenter: F. Bauer

Frank and Sergey have had discussions, along with Sergey’s and Kenneth Ransom’s managers, regarding the dates and support for an international meeting in Moscow. Frank’s main concern is to have a firm commitment for the dates and support for the meeting before we start planning travel arrangements. Unfortunately it is most likely that the meeting will not occur before December, and Frank is inclined to move it to May 2008. Frank would like to know of any concerns regarding this delay, and of any business we need to accomplish in the mean time.

Miles would like to see a Project Selection and Use meeting, and Frank suggested we could have a virtual meeting using a telecon and WebEx shared presentations. Frank will work on dates and specifics after he meets with Mr. Polyshuk, Sergey’s boss.

2. EVA/ATV Antenna, Presenter: F. Bauer

Frank communicated to the US team that during the last EVA, in order to support the GPS responsibilities for the docking of the ATV, the WA4 antenna cable (HF) was swapped out from ARISS use to ATV GPS use. Frank is hopeful that when the cable is brought back to our use we can make necessary mods to the HF antenna. This will be a topic of discussion with Mr. Polyshuk as well.

Sergey explained that it was actually WA3 (on the zenith side), and that they connected their antenna to our WA3 feedthrough. A cable switch will be installed for sharing in the future, at which time he hopes to have the ground cable improvement to the WA4 HF antenna installed as well. Sergey still plans to deliver a better write-up and diagram of what was done and what will be done in the next several days. He just returned from a 10-day business trip and has not been able to provide it yet.

3. New Business (administrative only)

None.

General Session

4. SuitSat-2 Status, Presenter: L. McFadin

Lou’s team met last weekend in Phoenix, AZ to ensure that the work is well-coordinated. The team is preparing to meet with Sergey when he arrives in the US. There is a new person helping with the software defined transponder, which should make things even better.

The US team has received from Russia a fax signifying the official approval of SuitSat-2. Frank has been trying to fax back the confirmation of the meeting the week of July 9, but the teams are moving ahead with the planning for this meeting. This is the best date for Sergey to travel.

5. Columbus Module Status, Presenter: G. Bertels

At the last telecon, Gaston reported that the antennas had been tested to high levels on the vibration table. Since that time the antennas were submitted to nine days of thermal vacuum testing. Two antennas performed well, but one showed cracking in the foam between the laminates. The issue seems to be related to the temperatures used during curing compared to the temperatures of operation. There is a difference of coefficient of thermal expansion between the two laminates that overly stresses the adhesive. ESA decided that it would be best to re-build the antennas with different materials, and have been thermal modeling the new configuration. During July and August, two or three modified antennas will be built with installation onto the Columbus module planned for October. Gaston asked about the electrical characteristics, and was informed that there will be a slight change in impedance at the feedpoint that will not affect operations. Pawel has applied for funds to begin the fabrication and hopes to begin in early July.

6. New business

Miles requested updates on the status of the Kenwood D700 and Field Day.

Kenneth was able to get some very basic reconfiguration done to the radio, but nothing that would significantly improve the ease of use. Given the crew transition, odds are low for crew participation on Field Day this year, but you never know what happens at the last minute.

Respectfully submitted,

Mark Steiner, K3MS, for the ARISS Team