ARRL Space Bulletin 005

QST de W1AW 
Space Bulletin 005  ARLS005
From ARRL Headquarters 
Newington, CT  July 12, 2000
To all radio amateurs

SB SPACE ARL ARLS005
ARLS005 Zvezda module eventually to house ham radio

The just-launched International Space Station Zvezda Service Module
eventually will become home to the first permanent Amateur Radio
station in space. Until the Amateur Radio on the International Space
Station--or ARISS--antennas can be installed on the Service Module,
however, the initial ham station gear will be installed aboard the
Zarya Functional Cargo Block, already in space.

The first ISS crew, headed by US astronaut Bill Shepherd, KD5GSL, is
scheduled to be launched in October from Kazakhstan. Accompanying
Shepherd will be Russian cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR, and Yuri
Gaidzenko.

If all goes as planned, the initial amateur station hardware will be
sent up to the ISS aboard shuttle mission STS-106 in August, and
Shepherd and his crewmates will be on the air on 2 meters (FM voice
and packet) from the Functional Cargo Block this fall. The initial
station will use an existing Functional Cargo Block antenna that's
being adapted to support operation on 2 meters but not on 70 cm.

Current plans call for amateur antennas 2-meter and 70-cm antennas
to be installed on the Service Module during a space walk next year.
The initial station gear will be reinstalled in the Service Module
once the antennas have been fitted.

A Russian Proton-K rocket carried the long-delayed Service Module
into orbit July 12 at 0458 UTC from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan. Zvezda (''star'') will contain flight controls,
waste-disposal facilities, and crew sleeping quarters. Once in
orbit, the unmanned Zvezda will be docked July 26 by computer with
Zarya (''dawn'') and the US Unity modules launched in 1998.

A Russian call sign, RZ3DZR, has been issued for the ISS ham radio
station. A German call sign, DL0ISS, also has been issued, and a US
call sign has been applied for. An international call sign may
eventually be assigned if a call sign block is established for
international space stations.

A primary goal of ARISS is to establish and maintain a schedule of
Amateur Radio contacts with schools. ARISS will inherit the long
legacy of the successful Space Amateur Radio EXperiment. SAREX, a
cooperative education effort involving NASA and the ARRL, has
allowed students to speak directly to shuttle astronauts and US
astronauts aboard the Russian Mir space station via Amateur Radio.

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