Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka, RN3DT, poses aboard the ISS with an Orlan spacesuit of the type to be deployed as "SuitSat" this fall. [NASA]
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Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka, RN3DT, poses aboard the ISS with an Orlan spacesuit of the type to be deployed as "SuitSat" this fall. [NASA] |
NEWINGTON, CT, Jun 3, 2005--Plans are on the fast track to deploy a surplus Russian Orlan spacesuit this fall as a non-traditional satellite. Dubbed "SuitSat," the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) project could become the most unusual Amateur Radio satellite ever orbited. Now, an ARISS-US proposal will provide an opportunity for schools to participate in the SuitSat enterprise. To be launched during a spacewalk, SuitSat will carry an Amateur Radio transmitter that will send voice greetings to commemorate the 175th anniversary of Russia's Bauman Moscow State Technical University. Other message possibilities remain under discussion. ARISS got permission from the ISS Program Office in May to go forward with delivery of the SuitSat project, and schools now will have the chance to take part through what's being called "School Spacewalk." ARISS International Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, says the idea is to have schools around the globe provide a page of artwork that will fly inside SuitSat.
"The ARISS team has received permission to include a special compact disk onboard this spacesuit with school artwork included," Bauer said. As a result, participating schools will have an opportunity to 'fly' their artwork as part of the spacewalk."
Schools that want to get onboard must act fast, however. ARISS wants a single 8-1/2 by 11-inch page of artwork that "uniquely represents your school" by June 15--so time is tight. Schools may deliver their artistic contributions electronically in JPEG format, with the file size not to exceed 2 MB. No other file formats can be accepted.
"This could be an artist's representation of the school, a list of student names, student signatures, a school science project summary or a school mission patch," Bauer explained. "This artwork should be primarily developed by the students. The goal is for you to use your imaginations."
Hard-copy artwork can be mailed to School Spacewalk, c/o AMSAT, 850 Sligo Ave, Suite 600, Silver Spring, MD 20910-4703. JPEG images using the naming format <schoolname_location.jpg> may be e-mailed to schoolspacewalk@comcast.net.
Artistic contributions to fly aboard SuitSat will be put onto a compact disk that will be delivered to Russia later this month. It will go into space as part of the cargo on a Progress supply rocket flight now set for August.
"The ARISS team looks forward to your artwork and is pleased to provide this opportunity to school students around the world," Bauer said. "On behalf of the ARISS team, we look forward to some real excitement as SuitSat gets ready for deployment this fall." Bauer says ARISS will be releasing additional details about SuitSat in the near future.
ARISS-Russia's Sergei Samburov, RV3DR, proposed the SuitSat concept at last fall's ARISS International Team meeting, quickly sparking a wide-ranging brainstorming session among the delegates. With diminishing stowage space aboard the ISS, several Russian Orlan spacesuits used for spacewalks have been declared surplus. Samburov's notion was to have an ISS crew equip one of them as an Amateur Radio satellite--possibly including a camera in the helmet area--and launch it during a space walk.
A second Orlan space suit is expected to become available for possible deployment as a temporary satellite in 2007.
ARISS says plans call for launching SuitSat during a spacewalk currently planned for mid-September. Once deployed, SuitSat is expected to orbit the planet for several weeks before burning up when it enters Earth's atmosphere.
A summary of the "School Spacewalk" project is available on the AMSAT Web site.
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