Final Two Ham Antennas Installed Aboard Space
Station
 Cosmonaut Valery Korzun, RZ3FK, with the WA1 VHF-UHF
antenna prior to its installation on the ISS Service Module during an August 26
space walk. [NASA Photo] |
NEWINGTON, CT,
Aug 29, 2002--The last two Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS) antennas were installed this week during a space walk. The installation
wraps up work that began last January when the first two of the four
Italian-designed antennas were attached to the ISS exterior. During the second
of two space walks this month, two members of the Expedition 5 crew attached
essentially identical VHF-UHF flexible-tape antennas to the ISS Service Module
on August 26. The space walk--or EVA (extra-vehicular activity)--had been
postponed from August 23.
Expedition 5 Flight Engineer Sergei Treschev,
RZ3FU, joined Crew Commander Valery Korzun, RZ3FK, during the nearly
10-hour-long space walk. In addition to installing the new ham radio antennas,
the pair prepared the station for upcoming space walks and worked with Russian
and Japanese experiments on the station's exterior.
 Expedition
5 Commander Valery Korzun, RZ3FK, is attired in his thermal undergarment prior
to donning a Russian Orlan spacesuit as he prepares for an
upcoming space walk from the Pirs docking compartment on the
International Space Station. The EVA to install the ham antennas was the 43rd
from the ISS. [NASA Photo]
|
Installation of
the new ARISS antennas on the Zvezda Service Module--the crew's living
quarters--makes possible two separate ham stations aboard the orbiting
outpost--one for VHF operation, the other for UHF (70 cm). Similar
flexible-tape antennas for VHF-UHF and for HF were installed during January
space walks by the Expedition 4 crew, although there is not yet any HF gear
aboard the ISS.
 Cosmonaut
Sergei Treschev, RZ3FU, checks out the ARISS ham station located in the ISS Zarya
Functional Cargo Block. The US call sign is NA1SS; the Russian call sign is
RS0ISS. [NASA Photo]
|
The newest two VHF-UHF flexible tape
antennas--designated WA1 and WA2--were installed along the perimeter of the aft
end of the Zvezda
Service Module, near the Soyuz
docking port.
ARISS is an
international project sponsored jointly by ARRL, NASA and AMSAT. A
paper entitled "2001: an Amateur Radio Space Odyssey on the International Space
Station," which details the development of ARISS and discusses the four new
ARISS antennas, is available via the ARISS Web site.
Page last modified: 03:58 PM, 29 Aug 2002 ET
Page author: awextra@arrl.org
Copyright © 2002, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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