Communicating with the International Space Station

1. Flagler County Schools and Flagler-Palm Coast Amateur Radio Club Communicating with the International Space Station

2. W4FPC and the Community • W4FPC - oldest Amateur Radio Club in Flagler • Mostly Retired Technical Professionals • Focusing on Education for Students, Scouts • Strong Emphasis on Emergency Services • National Amateur Radio Emergency Services program • Flagler Emergency Management (EOC – Troy Harper) • The EMCOMM-1 Vehicle belongs to a club member • Well documented in the Media

3. W4FPC and the Community

4. W4FPC and the Community

5. International Space Station (ISS) • Continuously inhabited for over 11 years • Amateur Radio is the last, backup comms as on Earth, “when all else fails” • Orbits between 205-225 miles altitude • Inclination of 51.6 degrees • Speed of 17,227 mph with 15.5+ orbits/day • Length of pass is about 9-10 minutes

6. International Space Station (ISS)

7. International Space Station (ISS)

8. International Space Station (ISS)

9. International Space Station (ISS)

10. International Space Station (ISS)

11. International Space Station (ISS)

12. Amateur Radio on the ISS (ARISS)

13. Ground Station Requirements • Two Full Stations – Complete Redundancy • Primary must have computer controlled antennas • Receiver Pre-Amp and Transmit power of 75W • Equipment requires approval from NASA • Complex requirement for 2-way contact • Will Require testing 2-3 weeks prior • Final Set-up 1-week prior

14. Ground Station Requirements

15. Ground Station Requirements

16. Planning Items (NASA Req’s) • Photographs • 1.2MB per picture, showing diversity • Audio Recording • MP3 file of the contact • Video • Before, during and after event • Highest quality (HD preferred)

17. Planning Items (NASA) • Publicity (Press) • Number of students, teachers, and parents who were present • Names and titles of any dignitaries who attended • Names of the media that covered the event (newspapers, magazines, television and radio stations). • If articles are available online, provide the URLs. • If you have the capability to scan articles which are not available online, please forward these to ARISS. • If any mentors, radio operators, teachers or students were interviewed by the media, please see if these can be made available to ARISS.

18. Planning Items (NASA) • List of Questions for the Astronauts • Student Questions • Teacher Questions • Sister Schools..?? • Release Forms (for pictures / kids)

19. Planning Items (NASA)

20. Project Planning • Appoint Committees (and Leaders) for : • Date Negotiation – identify GOOD and Bad timeframes • Venue – space, access antenna routing, off hours access • Audio/Visual – Projector, Sound, Internet Streaming • Student Question Pool creation • Event Documentation – Photo, Video, Audio recordings • Radio Station Equipment and Operators • Press / Publicity – coordinate all local/regional media • VIP Handling – invitations, access, security

21. Project Planning • Project Plan Creation • Tasks by Committee • Durations, Dependencies, Critical Paths • Review, Refine and Update Project Plan • Bi-Weekly Meeting to review progress by Committees • T-Minus 6-weeks - Weekly meetings to review status • Test Radio set-up 3-weeks prior (training) • Final Antenna set-up 1-week prior • Final Radio set-up and testing 1-day prior