SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS001
ARLS001 ISS CubeSat Deployment, "Ham Video" Commissioning Postponed
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Space Bulletin 001 ARLS001
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington, CT February 7, 2014
To all radio amateurs
SB SPACE ARL ARLS001
ARLS001 ISS CubeSat Deployment, "Ham Video" Commissioning Postponed
Two Amateur Radio-related activities aboard the International Space
Station have been postponed. The deployment of Amateur Radio
CubeSats planned for February 6 has been put off, and a new date has
not yet been announced. NASA reported that astronaut Koichi Wakata,
KC5ZTA, this week installed a deployer mechanism that will be used
in concert with the Kibo robotic arm to release the first set of
CubeSats. He ran into difficulty last week installing some related
electronics, delaying the CubeSat deployments. NASA now wants to
make sure the CubeSats do not fall into the intended orbit of the
Global Precipitation Measurement satellite, which goes into space
later this month.
The CubeSats were aboard the Cygnus freighter that launched from
Virginia's Eastern Shore January 9. Since arriving, the CubeSats
have been awaiting deployment by the Kibo robotic arm. The
satellites include Lithuania's first two satellites - LituanicaSat-1
and LitSat-1 - as well as ArduSat-2, UAPSat-1, and the 915 MHz
SkyCube. LituanicaSat-1 carries a 145/435 MHz FM transponder, while
LitSat-1 will have a 435/145 MHz linear SSB/CW transponder. The
Kaunas University of Technology developed LituanicaSAT-1, while the
Lithuanian Space Federation developed LitSat-1. Mineo Wakita,
JE9PEL, has posted details of these and other Amateur Radio
satellites due for deployment this month at,
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/archive/amsat-bb/10day/msg101271.html .
Meanwhile, the European Space Agency has postponed the commissioning
of the "Ham Video" system aboard the ISS Columbus module, which had
been set to start this week as well. ARISS-Europe Chairman Gaston
Bertels, ON4WF, said the four commissioning steps most likely will
take place on weekend dates in March, and that a couple of the steps
may be combined to condense the process.
"The agenda is still to be finalized," he said. NASA astronaut Mike
Hopkins, KF5LJG, was to have installed the Ham TV equipment this
week and connected the 2.4 GHz transmitter to the ARISS 41 antenna
already installed on Columbus. NASA reported that Hopkins spent much
February 6 in the Tranquility module troubleshooting the carbon
dioxide removal assembly there. Hopkins also will be involved with
the Ham Video commissioning process.
Once operational, the Ham Video transmitter will be used for ARISS
educational contacts with schools in Europe. There are no immediate
plans to deploy downlink video for US ARISS, in part because no
North American ground stations have been planned.
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