SuitSat On Schedule Feb 3, 2006
By Miles Mann WF1F
Three will leave the airlock, but only two will come back
in
Valery Tokarev and Bill McArthur are scheduled to step into space from
the Pirs airlock at about 5:20 p.m. EST Feb. 3. With them will be a third
Russian Orlan spacesuit, empty except for electronic equipment that should
attract considerable attention from students and others around the world.
The spacewalk is expected to last about six hours. Tokarev, Expedition
12 flight engineer, is the lead spacewalker, EV-1. Both he and E12 Commander
McArthur will wear red-striped spacesuits.
The third spacesuit, near the end of its useful life, will be jettisoned
by Tokarev early in the spacewalk. That suit, called SuitSat-1, will remain
in its own orbit for as much as six weeks before re-entering the Earth's
atmosphere and burning. Click here
for the full story
Latest pictures of SuitSat being assembled on ISS
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-12/ndxpage17.html
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-12/ndxpage16.html
ALL NOTE !!
Since we have just determined that the batteries in SuitSast may last
only a few days, suggest prepare now to receive the 1st transmissions
so as not to miss out on this Historical event !!!
What is SuitSat:
In short, the crew will toss an Old spacesuit out the airlock and let
fly away as its own satellite. The Space Station crew have attached an
Amateur Radio beacon transmitter to the spacesuit. The SuitSat project
as it is called will broadcast telemetry and voice messages to earth for
as long as the batteries last. Anyone with a simple FM receiver or police
scanner should be able to hear the signals from SuitSat as it orbits around
the earth 15 times a day.
SuitSat Details:
For more specific details on the SuitSat project, please review the AMSAT
and related links below.
If you would like to help ARISS track the performance of suit sat, then
you can go to the special suitsat web page and log your signal reports.
http://www.suitsat.org/
Additional information on SuitSat at the AMSAT web pages.
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/articles/SuitSat/
ARISS SuitSat Details
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/articles/BauerSuitsat/index.php
ARISS video on SuitSat September 2005
mms://media.wmfd.com/amsat/SuitSat.wmv
http://www.rac.ca/ariss/Suitsat%20Rev%20D.pdf
Kep tracking Data
ISS
1 25544U 98067A 06025.48155427 .00009929 00000-0
71711-4 0 2161
2 25544 051.6441 201.3171 0009794 193.1268 262.2975
15.74216841410677
SuitSat project Duration:
The Reason it is important for people to get ready to Monitor the SuitSat
project is because this is a short duration experiment. This is the first
version of this type of project, and it will be running on Batteries only.
The current expected life of the SuitSat project is approximately 2 to
6 days. If you delay in setting up your station you may miss out on this
educational Experiment.
Voice Telemetry:
The SuitSat project will be transmitting on 145.990 MHz FM and will consist
of:
Voice Telemetry, giving Mission Time, Suit Temperature and Battery Voltage
Voice Greeting messages in multiple languages
One SSTV image
The whole process will repeat every 9 minutes until the batteries discharge.
It is recommended that you have an audio recorder handy to record the
telemetry information. The ARISS team may be collecting some of the data
from individuals to help monitor the status of the project.
Schools and Science:
School systems with existing outside VHF antennas or the ability to set
up a temporary out side receive antenna are welcome to listen in and collect
telemetry data. The students will enjoy listening to the voice telemetry
and tracking the position of the unique satellite. They may even hear
one of the ISS crew talking to amateur radio stations on 145.800 MHz FM.
SuitSat Transmitter:
The SuitSat transmitter is a small hand held radio, similar to a WalkiTalki.
The Kenwood TH-K2 will transmit a 500 milli-watts FM signal from SuitSat.
The current frequency for SuitSat is 145.990 FM Downlink only (There is
no uplink for this satellite). With a simple out side antenna and a simple
VHF receiver or police scanner, you should be able to hear SuitSat when
the satellite passes over your state.
ARISS is also planning on using the Kenwood D700 Transceiver on ISS to
Rebroadcast the SuitSat signal on 437.800 MHz FM. This will allow you
to hear SuitSat while ISS is in range of your station.
If you have already have been successful in working the Packet station
or talked to the ISS crew on 2-meter voice, than you already have most
of what you need.
SSTV (Slow Scan TV ):
SSTV is a way Amateur Radio stations send JPG still images around the
world. We use an audio format we call SSTV. The SuitSat project will transmit
Telemetry, Pre-Recorded Voice messages and one SSTV image. The whole process
will repeat approximately every 9 minutes. (Robot 36 format).
What's left is to connect your computer to the speaker of your radio
and some SSTV decoding software, such as ChromaPix http://www.barberdsp.com/
or similar software. Here are just two of the many Share-Ware SSTV applications
on the market. There may be many more.
W95SSTV by Silicon Pixels
http://www.barberdsp.com/w95sstv/w95dload.htm
MMSSTV
http://mmhamsoft.ham-radio.ch/
There are also many High quality pay software applications that offer
many more features, such as multiple windows that allow you to simultaneously
receive an image while preparing your next image that you want to transmit.
CPIX
http://www.barberdsp.com/
What is Slow Scan TV?
On this web page you will find many links to help you learn more about
Slow Scan TV
http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/sstvlinkpage.html
Tips on how to use ISS, SSTV, Packet and Voice
http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/howtouseiss.html
Location of Hardware on ISS
This link will show you images of some of the amateur radio hardware already
installed on ISS
http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/radiohardware.html
Marexmg Web page
http://www.marexmg.org
73 Miles WF1F
MAREX-MG
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