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Doc. #23
Report of the SAREX Working Group (SWG)
July 2001
Members: Roy Neal, K6DUE, Chair
Rosalie White, K1STO, ARRL representative (also elected ARISS Secretary/Treasurer)
Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, AMSAT representative (also elected ARISS Chair)
ARRL Board Liaison: Joel Harrison, W5ZN
1. Task, or Objectives, of the Committee
Director's Workbook, Section 5.7-G. Reference: Minute 25 of the 1994 Second Meeting
2. Summary
The SAREX Working Group (SWG) spent recent years learning to work with the Russians, building Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS). We continued to do this the past six months while simultaneously learning to work globally with all of our international partners (European countries, Japan and Canada). We have completed 18 successful school contacts and encouraged the astronauts to do general QSOs, and even compete in Field Day! We continue to design, build, procure and test hardware for an improved station.
3. Committee's Formal Report (This report covers January to July 2001):
ARISS On the Air
CNN interviewed astronaut Marsha Ivins, KC5WKF, in February after her shuttle flight returned to earth -- she was asked about ham radio on the ISS, and said: "We have a fine station that's been in service almost since the beginning of ISS occupancy, with more plans for the future." Since January, 16 US school groups, 1 Canadian and 1 Russian school successfully completed ARISS QSOs. This was in spite of the ARISS Expedition 1 crew working 20-hour days activating and repairing systems in what Commander Shepherd, KD5GSL, called "the station's shake-down cruise." Rosalie and Frank took part in a seven-way QSO to say congratulations and thanks from ARRL and AMSAT to Commander Shepherd.
F&ES provided data about schools for our Web stories and news releases. TV, radio and print stories ran throughout the US; MSNBC carried the audio from most of the QSOs. NASA HQ's news chief requested details on "newsworthy educational ARISS activities that reach the under-served" -- NASA wanted to tell our stories at the many educational events they sponsor.
In late January, we asked the crew to turn on the packet module. One aspect of the equipment didn't function, and the SWG began troubleshooting. In February, the SWG composed the procedure for the ISS crew to test the module's battery and perform the re-load procedure that could recover the beacon. The procedure was okayed by the Procedures Validation Group and ISS Ops Plan Support Crew. NASA wrote a change request order to uplink the procedures to the Expedition 1 crew. (And we think we have paperwork!)
Shortly after the Expedition 2 crew replaced the Expedition 1 crew, astronaut Susan Helms, KC7NHZ, began regularly QSOing with hams. F&ES has received QSL card requests from 300 hams. Canada, Germany and Japan have also received requests.
ARISS Funding -- Most Comes from NASA
The SWG presented a budget to NASA HQ Education Office for 2001, and we received $141000. This money was needed for the high cost of testing and fabricating hardware for space. NASA has given us similar sums of money in the previous few years, but this is probably the last year that much money will be provided. NASA also is paying the salary for a schoolteacher-intern to assist Frank Bauer at Goddard Space Flight Center with ARISS projects this summer.
For hardware, ARISS must provide 10 units for any system we fly -- we are flying a VHF radio and a UHF radio. The Ericsson company donated 6 radios to us at the same time we purchased 6 others. (The 10 identical flight units are divided thus: 2 units for Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia -- 1 for their Hydrolab, 1 for their crew training building, 2 for Energia -- the Russian space company that builds portions of ISS, 1 for crew training at Johnson Space Center, 1 for Goddard engineering tests, 1 for use in actual space flight, 2 flight back-up units, and 1 for the Orlando fabrication lab.) Currently, we do not have the 70-centimeter units for US testing purposes, nor the required flight spares. In future years, after we get NASA approval for an SSTV system, we will purchase more hardware.
The Goddard Education Office thanked the ARISS team for "blazing an education trail" on the ISS. We prepared items for a talk on ARISS given in Germany by the JSC Education Office.
Equipment and Outside Antennas
The ARISS group plans to replace the current ISS packet module in the Functional Cargo Block because of several problems. A new module was shipped in late June to JSC for bench review prior to a summer shuttle launch. Expedition 3 astronaut Frank Culbertson, KD5OPQ, has been trained to do the installation shortly after arriving on the ISS.
The current packet module will stay in space as a power supply for the 70-centimeter radio to be installed in the Service Module later this year. Features of the new packet module include:
1) All parameters are embedded in the PROM, allowing the packet module to function fully even with a dead battery.
2) The new Russian call sign RS0ISS is installed in the module; the Personal Mailbox System (PMS) uses the call sign RS0ISS-1.
3) A 1-meg memory allows adequate PMS data storage.
4) 8-bit capability supports Russian Cyrillic typesets.
5) A one-minute-time-out disconnect from the PMS occurs if no pertinent packets are heard.
The SWG is negotiating delivery via the space shuttle of our outside ISS antennas. The four antenna systems (70 centimeters, 2 meters, L-band, S-band) will be installed on the Service Module. The Italians built the microwave antennas and diplexer; the US built the mounting plate and VHF/UHF antennas, plus took on full integration for all hardware. The Russians built the handrail clamp, interconnecting cables and required special travel bags.
Since January, Russia has given us four changes to make to the antennas and attachment plates. This re-work resulted in much higher costs for fabrication and testing. The US team re-drilled and re-painted the plates that hold antennas. NASA's Carolynn Conley, KD5JSO, secured two extensions for delivery. The earliest possible completion should allow for a scheduled spacewalk by the Expedition 4 crew for antenna installation in late November.
ARISS Crewmembers
Expedition 3 Commander Culbertson earned his ham ticket and call, KD5OPQ. This allows us to continue scheduling school QSOs after the Expedition 2 crew returns home this summer. The Expedition 4 crew received initial training with our radios. Astronaut Ellen Baker, KB5SIX, helped us handle a QSO from Johnson Space Center for Calgary (AB) International Space Day.
Our ARRL Web told about the 18 successful school QSOs. Even SWLing done by students has been beneficial. One ARRL-registered teacher wrote that his students listened to Susan Helms, KC7NHZ, as she cruised overhead making general QSOs. He said, "Students were thrilled to eavesdrop!" More interestingly, he said he became a ham so that his students could have space QSOs, and that "the power of space flight comes through really well with Amateur Radio."
The ARRL PR staff regularly reports the ARISS news stories benefiting ham radio that the non-ham general public receives via TV, newspaper, radio and Web sites. Some of the more unusual PR included: Worldcom webcasts highlighting schools, and MSNBC broadcasting most of the QSOs plus audio from the Dayton Hamvention, when astronauts answered hams' and students' questions at a forum moderated by Roy Neal. The audio was re-played at the Dayton banquet where Frank Bauer was feted with the Special Achievement Award. Dennis Tito, an invited guest to the ISS, garnered publicity on The Today Show and in other media venues about QSOs with his family. The SWG coordinated these -- some during our ARISS Meeting in Holland. KSPS-TV aired an ARISS story three times daily a few days prior to a school QSO. An hour-long tape of another school's QSO was shown daily for several days on local TV.
ARISS Meetings
The first ARISS Meeting for 2001 was held in May at the European Space Agency facility in Holland. In 2000, ARISS delegates worldwide voted that it was imperative to hold two meetings per year because of miscommunications that occurred during the elapsed 12-months. Those voted in as ARISS officers at the previous meeting were reconfirmed as follows: Chairman Frank Bauer, Vice Chairman Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, and Secretary-Treasurer Rosalie White. Meeting agenda items included status of: crew training, school group committee, Web page development, operations (school group and general QSOs, packet, personal crew QSOs), QSL cards, space agency agreements, hardware development, future systems, call signs, frequencies, and solicitation for future hardware proposals.
Delegates besides Bauer, Bertels, and White included Thomas Kieselbach, DL2MDE; Jörg Hahn, DL3LUM; Ken Pulfer, VE3PU; Keigo Komuro, JA1KAB; Masanobu Tsuji, JH2PRZ; and Sergej Samburov, RV3DR. Moderating was Roy Neal. Participants included NASA's Carolynn Conley, KD5JSO; Ron Parise, WA4SIR; Lou McFadin, W5DID; Will Marchant, KC6ROL; plus observers from England (G3PJT), Italy (IK2OVV), France (F1HDD, F6AGR), Poland (SP2DX), Portugal (CT1GQU, CT2GPW), Germany (DL5FAB) and Holland (PE1KEH).
Delegates discussed the four changes Russia required us to make on the antenna systems -- slots in the frames, tilt to the antennas, re-painting and silk screening. We agreed that we had to freeze changes, perform a mini-review, and complete the fabrication, integration, and tests. The types of problems we've had show that it is very important to hold ARISS meeting every six months -- misunderstandings have developed because some delegates didn't receive important details.
The meeting covered a major review of the known and unknown needs for interfaces, volume and mass restrictions, etc. These must be known before anyone begins fabrication of any proposed or approved project. We formalized (not re-defined) the requirements before going any further considering hardware proposals. We need to determine available space in the ISS, and power requirements, inside and outside. For future hardware in the Service Module, we have one panel, which is 12 centimeters high. We can put very small equipment in front of the panel, and can Velcro something to it. The problem of available space has worsened as we no longer have a Hab module for locating hardware. (The Hab module continues to be questionable as a location for our hardware; it has been manifested and de-manifested several times from the ISS program.)
ARISS Chairman Bauer asked the question, "Who are our customers?" Delegates answered: Amateur Radio operators, the ISS crew, educators/students and space agencies. We defined the objectives of ARISS as follows: ARISS will serve as an educational tool, be an outreach to the Amateur Radio community, allow a method for crews to maintain contact with family/friends while on orbit (crew psychological factors are important to NASA), provide an experimental communications test bed, offer a back-up communications link for emergencies, and provide information to the grass-roots public.
Based on these objectives, requirements were developed as follows:
1. Eight-minute contact with well-equipped ground station
2.Computer-to-computer radio links
3.Thirty-second contact with a minimal ground station
4.Autonomous beaconing of status in digital form
5.Still picture transmit and amp; receive
6.Video transmit and amp; receive
7.Support continuous contacts (for at least thirty minutes)
8. Support multiple concurrent operations
9. Space-to-space as well as space-to-ground operations
The team next defined requirements for future hardware; we learned that what one delegate assumes, is not the same as another delegate thinks. This is why the team formally defined the requirements as a team before new hardware development gets off track. We agreed all unapproved proposals must go to the Hardware Committee to review.
Certification for NASA on our projects cannot begin until the ARISS group learns all requirements can be met. The US took responsibility for certification of US projects and the German Digitalker. Energia covers Russian projects. We will all work together to complete certification of other regions' projects.
Delegates heard Rosalie's talk on education needs of our professional space agencies (NASA wants learning experiences, rather than students just involved in a stand-alone, 10-minute QSO). Faculty of the first ARISS school reported a "major impact on students, teachers and the community, with every student involved, doing things such as creating a timeline for a school day to compare to the crew's timeline, and designing a space station for the year 2030.
Rosalie also reported ways to further organize the ARISS School Committee and rules to prioritize selection of schools from around the world. (We agreed last December to first schedule old US schools from 1996-99. It will take two years to complete schedules for school applications now held by all of our partner countries. The group also finalized the QSL card art.
Rosalie was asked to complete the meeting minutes for Web posting as soon as possible so delegates who could not attend would be updated quickly. These have been posted to the ARISS Web site. The next meeting will be in October; the Canadian Space Agency extended an invitation. Space agencies can more easily accommodate our needs for interpreters, audio-teleconferencing for absent delegates, ease problems for visas, etc.
Summary
ARISS has bounded forward in a great leap for schools and the general ham. The SAREX Working Group is proud of the successes we've seen in the first six months of 2001.
