SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS024
ARLS024 ARISS international partners meet

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Space Bulletin 024  ARLS024
From ARRL Headquarters  
Newington, CT  December 1, 2000
To all radio amateurs

SB SPACE ARL ARLS024
ARLS024 ARISS international partners meet

The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
international--or ARISS--partners are meeting December 1-3 at
Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. The three-day session will
update current status of the ARISS program and attempt to map its
future direction.

Expected on hand were ARISS delegates from the US, Russia, Germany,
Belgium, Canada, Japan and Italy, in addition to representatives of
NASA, AMSAT-NA, TAPR and the Mir Amateur Radio EXperiment group,
MAREX-NA.

Space Amateur Radio EXperiment Working Group (SAREX) Chairman Roy
Neal, K6DUE, will serve as meeting moderator. ARISS rules and bylaws
development and ratification tops the list of discussion items this
weekend.

The Expedition 1 crew of Commander William "Shep" Shepherd, KD5GSL,
and Russian cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR, and Yuri Gidzenko has
been aboard the ISS since November 2. With about three months left
in its tour of duty, the crew has been extremely busy with its
normal work schedule. Crew members did take time earlier this month
to check out the initial amateur station gear aboard the ISS. On
November 17, Shepherd enjoyed a few casual QSOs with earthbound
hams.

ARISS spokesman Will Marchant, KC6ROL, says the crew has used
Amateur Radio for personal contacts with family members but that
crew members have been too pressed for time to engage in casual
contacts. In addition, the shuttle Endeavour launched November 30 is
carrying huge solar arrays to the ISS.

Marchant said he hopes ARISS can ramp up the level of school and
casual contacts after the first of the year. A tentative schedule of
school contacts is pending. The topic of future contacts between ISS
crew members and students is on the agenda for this weekend's
meeting.

The ARISS delegates will look at how school contacts can be smoothly
integrated into the ISS crew schedules and attempt to come up with
an equitable system for the international partners to select schools
for ARISS QSOs.

ARISS delegates also will be looking ahead to the next phase of
Amateur Radio hardware on the ISS, which will include more power and
wider capabilities. Packet operation will be tested soon.

More information about ARISS and SAREX is at
http://ariss.gsfc.nasa.gov/ .
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