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 Previous: Amateur Radio Volunteers Go on Alert as Florence Skirts Bermuda |  Next: Alleged Corporate Misdeeds Could Cost Amateur Radio Licensee His License |
The ISS as it appeared in August 2005. [NASA Photo] |
Atlantis launches into space September 9 for a visit with the ISS. [NASA Photo] |
Nine's a crowd: The joint ISS Expedition 13 and shuttle Atlantis crews aboard the space station. [NASA TV Photo] |
One of the current ISS solar arrays, backdropped by Earth. The current mission will outfit the space station with additional solar arrays, doubling its power-generating capacity. [NASA Photo] |
NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 11, 2006 -- The arrival of the shuttle Atlantis crew at the International Space Station today has raised the number of radio amateurs now aboard the space station to five. Greeting the six Atlantis astronauts as they entered the ISS at 1230 UTC were Expedition 13 crew members Commander and Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov, RV3BS, US astronaut Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ, and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter, DF4TR. The shuttle linked up with the ISS a couple of hours earlier, following its oft-scrubbed launch from Kennedy Space Center on September 9.
Two Amateur Radio licensees, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper, KD5TVR, and Dan Burbank, KC5ZSX -- both mission specialists -- are part of the shuttle crew. No Amateur Radio operation from space is anticipated during the joint shuttle-ISS operations, which will focus on resuming space station construction.
NASA says that during three spacewalks, Atlantis crew members will install a second set of solar arrays on the space station -- doubling the station's ability to generate power from sunlight -- and the P3/P4 truss to support the arrays. Mission STS-115 marks the first station assembly mission since late 2002.
The only woman on Mission STS-115, Stefanyshyn-Piper will be making first trip into space since becoming an astronaut 10 years ago. Burbank previously flew on Mission STS-106. The STS-115 crew also consists of Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Christopher Ferguson and mission specialists Joe Tanner and Steven MacLean, who represents the Canadian Space Agency.
Stefanyshyn-Piper and Tanner, both mission specialists, are scheduled to begin a new pre-spacewalk procedure called "camping out" when they enter the station's Quest airlock this afternoon. NASA says the "camping out" procedure helps spacewalkers to begin the extra-vehicular activity sooner by reducing the amount of time typically required for the pre-breathe exercise and some spacewalk preparations.
Before docking the Atlantis with the ISS, Commander Brent Jett and Pilot Chris Ferguson commanded the shuttle to do a back-flip maneuver. This allowed the Expedition 13 crew to photograph Atlantis' heat shield for possible launch damage. Engineers on the ground will analyze the photos.
During a subsequent spacewalk, Atlantis crew members will remove PCSAT2 from the exterior of the ISS. The Amateur Radio payload, which resembles a suitcase, has been in operation for a little more than one year. It subsequently will be returned to Earth.
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