[Paham] ARISS COMMEMORATIVE EVENT STARTS NOVEMBER 29

[WORKSNTV@aol.com]

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) NA1SS special
event to commemorate Roy Neal, K6DUE (SK), gets under way Saturday,
November 29, with an ISS pass over the US West Coast. ARISS International
Chair Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, says ARISS has provided ISS Expedition 8
Commander Mike Foale, KB5UAC, with a list of potential passes for the
November 29-30 weekend. (See the ARRL Web site
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/11/26/3/> for frequencies and pass
times.)

"It is our expectation that Mike will probably concentrate on a couple of
passes over North America and/or Europe this weekend, but we cannot be
sure of this," Bauer said. "So our advice is to be listening wherever you
live in the world." ARISS requests that special event participants keep
all contacts short.

Bauer said Foale hopes to be on the air from NA1SS for the special event
for about two passes per weekend through December. "This, of course, is
completely contingent upon his schedule and other duties or issues that
might crop up on ISS," he cautioned. Those contacting the ISS by voice
(NA1SS) or packet (RS0ISS) through the end of December will be eligible
for a special anniversary event certificate.

Born Roy N. Hinkel, Neal--a former NBC News correspondent and
executive--chaired the Space Amateur Radio EXperiment (SAREX)/Amateur
Radio on the International Space Station Working Group and moderated many
of its meetings. Through his extensive NASA contacts, he was instrumental
in the 1980s to convince NASA management to fly Amateur Radio onboard the
space shuttle.

November 28 marks the 20th anniversary of the first Amateur Radio
operation from space by astronaut Owen Garriott, W5LFL, from the shuttle
Columbia. Amateur Radio communication from the ISS began three years ago
this month, when Expedition 1 crew members Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR, and
Bill Shepherd, KD5GSL, spoke with R3K, the Energia amateur station in
Russia, and with NN1SS, the ISS ground station at Goddard Space Flight
Center in Maryland.

Bauer advised those working NA1SS to not request a certificate until ARISS
releases QSL instructions. Additional information may be available on the
ARISS Web site <http://www.rac.ca/ariss/>.