Richard
Garriott is scheduled to launch Oct.12, 2008.
I'm
grabbing bits & pieces of various news bulletins to summarize.
There
is a lot more information out there, I can't get it all in here.
ARISS International Chairman
Frank Bauer, KA3HDO brings
the latest news on the upcoming
Soyuz
17S mission with
Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, and
Mike
Fincke, KE5AIT, on-board.
SSTV:
Richard plans to take a Kenwood VC-H1 SSTV communicator
with him on-board the Soyuz for his flight and leave this on-board the
ISS for future ARISS use. The VC-H1 provides a very simple interface
for ISS crew members and
does not require the use of a computer. Computer usage has been a real
challenge for ARISS, so the VC-H1 represents a lesson learned to
improve ARISS operations.
The standard downlink of
145.800
will be used for voice contacts,
school contacts and SSTV transmissions. Anyone with a FM receiver
capable of monitoring the 145.800 MHz downlink can receive audio and
SSTV images.
ISS will be using Analog SSTV in
Robot-36
Mode.
Backup Hardware: At this week's
ARISS-International Meeting we
received confirmation from Sergey, RV3DR, that the recent Progress
flight delivered the flight backup D-700, a David Clark Headset for the
Ericsson system, and an additional VOX box and cables to support the
computer-operated SSTV system. The D700 may be installed as early as
late this week, depending on crew availability. The flight backup will
not provide a significant change in ARISS ops. It will make it easier
for the crew to change program modes (PMs).
Richard
Garriott Operations - Call for Support
Early during Richard Garriott's flight, he expects to setup the VC-H1
and autonomously transmit a new Earth image every 3 minutes. He hopes
to have this system on a great deal of his flight. We encourage the ham
community to bring SSTV equipment into schools and download these
images in real-time. The ARISS team also plans to display images from
hams around the world
on a special on a web/blog site. A beta site has been developed and
will be rolled out to the ham community in the near future.
To successfully implement the on-line SSTV picture site and support it
24/7 during Richard's flight, we will need some savvy individuals that
can sort through the many SSTV photos that ARISS will receive and keep
the SSTV site up to date in near real time. Some computer skills will
be required. We are looking for global support from a few individuals
in each
international region to make this happen. That way we will not be
asking individuals to volunteer all-night to realize this project. If
you are interested in helping on this, please e-mail me directly.
Stay tuned for more information on the upcoming ARISS
activities. And get your stations ready!
73,
Frank Bauer, KA3HDO
AMSAT V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs
ARISS International Chairman
E-mail:
ka3hdo<at>
comcast<dot>
netThanks
also to
Miles Mann - WF1F
and
the MAREX
web site for additional details.
Please visit the
MAREXMG site for lots more links and ARISS information !
In this update
we also have a special three part series.
These are sortof in
a sequence, so be sure to follow each one thru.
These
articles had such good information, I felt it important enough to get
permission to republish these on SomeNet, to help spread the word. Tell
your friends about these.
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