SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS016
ARLS016 International Space Station Marks Five Years in Space

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Space Bulletin 016  ARLS016
From ARRL Headquarters  
Newington, CT  November 21, 2003
To all radio amateurs

SB SPACE ARL ARLS016
ARLS016 International Space Station Marks Five Years in Space

The International Space Station has been in space five years and has
had Amateur Radio and a permanent crew onboard for three years as of
this month. Since attaining orbit, the ISS has grown from a lone,
uninhabited module into a continuously staffed, house-sized research
facility.

The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program
has been a part of the ISS since November 2000. The US, Russia,
Canada, Japan and Europe have cooperated in making the ISS a reality
as well as with making ARISS a success.

The ARISS initial station gear went into space in September 2000. A
month later, the FCC granted vanity call signs NA1SS and NN1SS to
the International Space Station Amateur Radio Club for US ARISS
operations. Russia has issued the call signs RZ3DZR and RS0ISS for
ISS use.

The capabilities of NA1SS also are slated to expand in the near
future. Already on board is a Kenwood TM-D700E VHF/UHF transceiver.
The unit will mean a significant boost to the power output of the
ARISS initial station gear--from 5 W to 25 W. Additional gear,
including SSTV hardware, tentatively is set for transport in
January.
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