[BARC-List] Ham astronaut / ARISS at Museum of Science

[KA1MOM@aol.com]

A quick comment on the Wednesday MOS session:

KD5EJZ (Brig. Gen. Michel Tognini of the French AF) gave an excellent talk on 
space science, the Chandra X-ray telescope, and the everyday details of life 
in space.  With the help of a deliberate leading question (Tania Ruiz had 
given him warning and made sure I was in the front row), Brig. Tognini gave a 
rundown on his experiences with ham radio in space (14 days on Mir in 1992, 
the last SAREX mission with the Chandra telescope in 1999), stressing several 
points:

1.  Ham radio is a major link to the astronauts' familiies and friends, 
preferred over
    NASA phone patches, since it isn't dependent on official scheduling and 
traffic.
2.  Hams in space have their own community with the help of ground stations: 
    during the shuttle mission, the crew kept in touch with the crew of Mir 
with the 
    help of a ham-built relay network among ground stations, allowing them to 
chat 
    without the difficulties of tracking each other.
3.  On missions longer than a couple of days, ham radio is an important 
    psychological support for the crew members.  It alleviates boredom, and 
it helps 
    keep Earth real.
4.  One of the reason such a high percentage of astronauts are licensed hams 
is 
    that they are eager to use the ARISS equipment on their tour on the ISS.
5.  Hams in space have the same range of interest in different parts of the 
hobby as 
    the rest of us. (Does this mean a new category for DXCC from orbit?)

A minor note, in keeping with the opinion of many XYLs that their husbands 
are just big kids with fancy toys:  the sessions both Tuesday and Wednesday 
started a couple of minutes late.  Tuesday it was because Michel was at the 
Lightning demo, which ran a little late, and Wednesday it was because he had 
to be fetched from the Thrill Rides exhibit.

NOTE:  I passed along the ARRL and BARC web addresses to about a half dozen 
people after the talk; again, Tania Ruiz helped by pointing anyone who asked 
her about ham radio in my direction.
=========================================================
ARISS and the Museum of Science:

Tania and other members of the Museum staff are now eager to set up an ARISS 
contact, preferably ASAP.  She is currently interested in having some help in 
planning from experienced space communicators to determine where antennas 
should be set up and what resources would be needed.  Anyone who wants to 
help out, please let me know, and I will pass the word along.

-= Bill, KA1MOM =-