McArthur Calls it a Wrap; Brazil's Pontes Completes One QSO

Now back on Earth, ISS Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, was the most active radio amateur ever to serve aboard the ISS. In addition to contacts with 37 schools, he worked all continents--including Antarctica--on both VHF and UHF from NA1SS during is nearly 190 days in space. He also racked up QSOs with some 130 DXCC entities and worked all states. The last QSL he needed to confirm WAS--from Wyoming--arrived at ARRL Headquarters not long before the end of his duty tour. [NASA Photo]

This unusual-looking Quadix antenna was used to work the space station from McQueen High School in Reno, Nevada.

At McQueen High School (L-R) Tim Stoffel, NS9E; teacher Colleen Currie; an unidentified guest from Mali who learned about the ISS for the first time as a result of the ARISS contact; Jordan Anise, KD7OAT, and Darrell Upson, W6ADZ.

A student asks Brazil's Marcos Pontes, PY0AEB, a question during the ARISS contact with the American School in Rio de Janeiro.

Marcos Pontes, PY0AEB (right), works with Sergei Samburov, RV3DR, in Russia to learn how to operate the ARISS Phase 2 gear at NA1SS.

NEWINGTON, CT, Apr 11, 2006--Even as he was preparing to depart the International Space Station April 4, Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, took time out to talk one last time from NA1SS with some excited students on Earth. The following day, McArthur's traveling companion on his April 9 trip home--Brazil's first astronaut Marcos Pontes, PY0AEB--answered questions put to him in two languages by youngsters in Rio de Janeiro via ham radio. McArthur told students at Robert McQueen High School in Reno, Nevada, that ISS Expedition 12 would be his last space mission.

"This will be my last flight into space, and I hope to work to help folks with future missions," McArthur explained, "and I would very much like to be involved with supporting the first mission to go back to the moon and the first mission to Mars." The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact marked McArthur's 37th during Expedition 12, which began last October. That's more than any previous ISS occupant.

McArthur said his time aboard the ISS has been "awfully exciting" and he's never gotten bored. But, besides his family, he does miss some things.

"What I miss most are beverages with ice in them," McArthur said. "We have no ice up here, and so our beverages are never that cold--I miss that quite a bit." He said he also misses the smell of coffee, since the crew must drink beverages from a bag to keep the liquid from dispersing in the microgravity environment.

Darrell Upson, W6ADZ, served as the control operator for the Reno event. Upson said student Jordan Anise, KD7OAT, approached him more than 3 years ago about arranging a contact with the ISS. The event attracted some media coverage, including at least one TV news report.

Pontes Conducts Bi-Lingual Ham Radio Contact

Despite his busy research schedule, Brazil's Pontes--who arrived aboard the ISS April 1 with Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov, RV3BS, and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ--was able to talk with youngsters April 5 at The American School in Rio. The contact was conducted in English and Portuguese, and Pontes answered 17 questions as the ISS passed above the Aerospace Museum at the Afonsos Air Base where the students gathered.

CLICK HERE to listen to the ARISS QSO between NA1SS and W6ADZ at McQueen High School in Reno, Nevada. [8:22] CLICK HERE to listen to the ARISS QSO between PY0AEB and students at the American School in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. [7:14]

"We use our free time mostly to view the earth," Pontes told the students. "Very beautiful! It's really beautiful!"

Responding to another question, Pontes said he'd thought about becoming an astronaut since he was a child. "But my chance was when I was in Monterey studying for my PhD," he said. All of his mission was "very exciting," he said, especially getting to talk to students on Earth via ham radio.

Because of his hectic schedule of experiments, Pontes was unable to make a second scheduled contact with youngsters at a school in Portugal.

ARISS-Brazil Team coordinator Tadeu Fernandes, PY1KCF, served as the control operator for the contact with PY0AEB. The contact attracted media attention from five TV stations, two newspapers and one magazine. Fernandes also said a big audience was on hand for the event. "A multimedia projector was set up in the outside displaying live images from the contact room with audio from the radios," he reported. In addition, contact audio was retransmitted via ham radio on HF and VHF as well as via EchoLink.

New Crew Settling In

Vinogradov and Williams will spend this week getting better acquainted with their new home for the next six months. No ARISS school contacts are on the NA1SS schedule until the week of April 24. During their duty tour, Vinogradov and Williams will perform two spacewalks and--if all goes according to plan--greet two space shuttle crews.

ARISS is an international educational outreach, with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.

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