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-- Everything you need to know for the popular worldwide Islands on the Air award. 45th Anniversary Edition.
The Complete DX'er -- Covers nearly every significant aspect of DXing. 3rd edition.
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New ARISS Antennas Installed on Columbus
A cutaway view of the
Columbus module, built by the European Space Agency and now awaiting launch at Kennedy Space Center. [ESA Graphic]
Inside the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, an overhead crane carries the
Columbus module toward a work stand. [NASA Photo by Jim Grossmann]
Two Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) antennas have been installed on the nadir side of the new International Space Station's Columbus module, set to launch later this year. On October 12, the antennas successfully passed electrical and SWR tests, with one of the two antennas, Antenna 42, going through a final test -- a thermal test under vacuum. Based on modeling, engineers have no fear the antenna will pass with flying colors. Columbus will house an additional Amateur Radio station, including the first digital Amateur Radio TV (DATV) station in space, as well as a ham radio transponder. The yet-to-be-built Columbus amateur gear will facilitate operation on new frequencies that will make it possible for ARISS to establish wideband and video operations for the first time and allow continuous transponder operation. Video from the installation and inspection is available at the Columbus Web site.
At the ARISS International conference last year in San Francisco, Graham Shirville, G3VZV, speaking on behalf of ARISS-Europe, outlined plans for a mode L/S ham radio transponder as well as a DATV downlink on S1 band (2.4 GHz). "So, future ARISS contacts could have pictures as well as sound," Shirville told the delegates. ARISS-Europe is looking at a 10 W transmitter and a signal bandwidth of from 4 to 8 MHz. Since the Columbus module will be some distance from the other two ARISS stations, parallel operation will be possible.
Funding to finish and install ham radio antennas on the European Space Agency (ESA)-built laboratory module has been uncertain, however. ARISS Vice Chairman Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, says donations from various sources covered a payment of 9000 Euros (approximately $12,000) in March. A second payment is due this fall. Donations already have come in from the ARRL Foundation, AMSAT-NA and AMSAT-UK, among other organizations, as well as from many individual donors. According to Bertels, there is still a funding shortfall of 15,000 Euros (approximately $21,000 USD). To help out, PayPal donations are being accepted.
Page last modified: 02:50 PM, 23 Oct 2007 ET
Page author: awextra@arrl.org
Copyright © 2007, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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