Shuttle Loss Fallout Affecting Amateur Radio in Space

The Expedition 6 crewmembers in the Zvezda Service Module--the crew's living quarters on the ISS. (L-R) Nikolai Budarin, RV3FB; Ken Bowersox, KD5JBP; and Don Pettit, KD5MDT. The trio could now be in space until June--possibly longer. [NASA Photo]

NEWINGTON, CT, Feb 6, 2003--The future of Amateur Radio in space--at least in the near term--could depend on how fast NASA pins down the cause of the February 1 shuttle Columbia disaster and fixes the problem. With the shuttle fleet grounded until it does--and further International Space Station construction on hold as a result--attention is turning to the well-being of the all-ham ISS Expedition 6 crew of Commander Ken Bowersox, KD5JBP, Don Pettit, KD5MDT, and Nikolai Budarin, RV3FB. Three of the Columbia astronauts also were Amateur Radio operators.

NASA Director of Flight Operations Bob Cabana told a news conference earlier this week that Bowersox, Pettit and Budarin were grieving the loss of their colleagues but were "proud to be where they are" and contributing to the human spaceflight program.

Under normal circumstances, a shuttle mission next month would have brought a fresh crew to the ISS and returned Bowersox and his crewmates to Earth. With a Progress 10 cargo rocket delivery February 4, the Expedition 6 team now has sufficient supplies to sustain the crew until late June or early July if necessary, NASA said this week.

What happens beyond that remains up in the air, although NASA has said it would not mothball the ISS and leave the spacecraft without a crew. The extended stay could have an unintended consequence for Amateur Radio, however, since the temporarily stranded crew would be likely to have more spare time on its hands.

NA1SS onboard the ISS represents the first permanent Amateur Radio station in space. The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) International Team recently announced plans to expand NA1SS to include, among other things, separate stations for 2 meters and 70 cm and SSTV capabilities. ARISS is an international program with participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.

An ARISS contact set for today with students at a high school in Germany was postponed, although the contact schedule is expected to resume later this month. "The German school QSO was postponed because of the Columbia accident and the re-planning taking place for ISS," said ARISS International Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, "and because of the crew unloading a ton of equipment from the Progress rocket." Bauer said he was expecting further clarification from NASA regarding future ARISS school QSOs.

Former President George H.W. Bush and Mrs Bush talk with the three-member crew aboard the International Space Station during a February 3 visit to the Johnson Space Center's station flight control room. [NASA Photo]

NASA reports that Bowersox, Budarin and Pettit paid a private tribute February 4 to Columbia's astronauts, Commander Rick Husband, Pilot Willie McCool, Mission Specialists Kalpana "KC" Chawla, KD5ESI; David Brown, KC5ZTC; Laurel Clark, KC5ZSU, and Michael Anderson, and Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut. A. R. "Pop" Kumar, VU2POP, has announced that a geostationary weather satellite launched by India last September will be named Kalpana-1 in memory of Chawla.

NASA ISS flight controllers radioed the crew an audio feed from the memorial ceremony at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Earlier this week, former President George H.W. Bush and Mrs Bush spoke with the three-member crew during a visit to the Johnson Space Center.

Additional information on the crew's activities aboard the ISS is available on NASA's Human Spaceflight Web site.

Progress, Soyuz are ISS Crew's Lifelines

In the wake of the Columbia catastrophe, the safe arrival at the ISS of the latest Russian Progress 10 resupply rocket became cause for celebration and was carried on NASA TV. A crowd gathered in the Russian control room broke into applause when Bowersox announced the successful docking. In the past, such routine events got scant media attention.

The crippling of the US shuttle fleet has shifted formerly unanticipated demands on Russia and its meagerly funded space program, since Russian supplies the Soyuz capsules that now serve as emergency escape vehicles for the ISS crew.

"If we have the money, we can build new [Soyuz] capsules," Russian space official and former cosmonaut Valery Ryumin assured this week. But, more money or no, Soyuz vehicles cannot carry cargo or experiments. The Russians also have temporarily scrapped their "space tourist" program, which they had been promoting to raise much-needed additional funds. Businessmen Dennis Tito, KG6FZX, and Mark Shuttleworth each paid an estimated $20 million to fill the third Soyuz seat and spend a week aboard the ISS. Those "fares" represent more than 10 percent of Russia's annual space budget, estimated at around $300 million. 'N Sync pop singer Lance Bass, KG4UYY, had been considered a possible candidate for an April Soyuz taxi flight.

Now, the Soyuz could become the principal crew transport vehicle for the ISS, although no decision has been made on whether the April taxi flight now will be used to carry out the crew change.

Hams Help as Debris Search Continues

Jeff Clark, K5NAC, serving as a net control station for the debris recovery operation, consults his map of Nacogdoches County, Texas, where some shuttle debris has turned up. [AE5P Photo]

Amateurs have been assisting students and staffers from the Humanities Undergraduate Environmental Sciences (HUES) Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Forestry Resources Institute labs at Stephen F. Austin State University. Robert Judy, KD5FEE, shown here, is serving as the ARES liaison at the lab, helping to coordinate the movements and assignments of the ARES/GIS teams. (The HUES/GIS lab has a Web cam.) [KD5ING Photo]

The command van at the John L. Lightfoot Center--the emergency command center--in Nacogdoches. Liaison Henry Middlebrook, N5SHL, is working with federal, state and local authorities to coordinate the work of Amateur Radio volunteers. [AE5P Photo]

What's believed to be a charred tile from the shuttle Columbia was found in East Texas. [KD5HJF Photo]

In Texas, Amateur Radio Emergency Service and SKYWARN volunteers this week have continued to assist federal, state and local officials and relief organizations in their search for shuttle Columbia debris and remains of the crew members.

"Ham radio has proven to be the only reliable communications options during the recovery effort," said Public Information Officer Tim Lewallen, KD5ING, of the Nacogdoches Amateur Radio Club in ARRL's North Texas Section. "The communications systems used by other federal and state organizations cannot penetrate 'The Pine Curtain' as we know it in East Texas," he said. "The dense forests and hilly terrain just swallow up most radio traffic, and even county sheriff and county fire department radio systems have serious blind spots."

Lewallen says federal authorities have requested that every survey team have at least one Amateur Radio operator along to help keep the recovery efforts coordinated and organized. Hams are using the Nacogdoches ARC VHF SKYWARN repeater.

"Coverage has been excellent," Lewallen said. Coordinating the effort in East Texas was Kevin Anderson, KD5CCH, of Nacogdoches SKYWARN and Jim Lawyer, AA5QX, and Johnny Davis, K5JD, of Dallas County Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES). He also cited the reliability of EchoLink connections among the various groups as key to getting the operation up and running and keeping it running smoothly. Lewallen suggests that prospective volunteers visit the North Texas Section Web site for additional information.

Lewallen said the amateurs are working with a variety of agencies, including NASA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency under supervision of the Nacogdoches Emergency Management Coordinator Robert Hurst, who's serving as incident commander.

In the ARRL South Texas Section, Alan Hayes, NE5AH, today reported that hams still were needed to assist in the search effort there. "We have an urgent need for operators in the San Augustine County area east of Lufkin, Texas, to assist in the recovery effort," he said. Hayes says a substantial amount of the debris recovery yet to be done--he estimates 50 percent--is in San Augustine County, which has few active hams. Hayes says hams from his county, Angelina, have picked up the slack. Debris from the Columbia has been recovered in more than three dozen Texas counties, and the search now has moved into parts of Arizona and California.

"We currently have the infrastructure and portable repeaters in place, thanks to all of the volunteer efforts from outside of our area," Hayes said. Volunteers have been making use of a portable repeater donated by the Garland Amateur Radio Club and set up at in San Augustine.

Hayes says that two dozen or more operators are needed each day, and he expects that need to continue for the next three weeks. Prospective volunteers may get in touch with Hayes or with South Texas Section Emergency Coordinator Bob Ehrhardt, W5ZX.

"To date, Amateur Radio has proven to be the only reliable communications in this area of operations, and approximately 25 operators per day have been needed," Hayes concluded. "Thus far, alternative communications from sources other than Amateur Radio have not been successful."

Other agencies involved in the effort include the Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Department of Transportation, the FBI, local law enforcement and fire departments and National Guard units from Texas and elsewhere. Relief organizations include the American Red Cross, The Salvation Army and the Texas Baptist Men's Kitchen. The Salvation Army also has been using Amateur Radio for its communication needs.

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