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Amateur Radio aboard the International Space Station...

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NASA photo of U.S. astronaut Susan J. Helms, KC7NHZ, Expedition Two flight engineer, the first U.S. military woman in space, talking with Amateur Radio operators on Earth on July 16, 2001, from the Amateur Radio station in the Zarya module of the International Space Station (ISS). Click image for larger picture. Nine years later, in 2010, Lt. General Susan Helms was appointed Commander, 14th Air Force (Air Forces Strategic-Space), Air Force Space Command; and Commander, Joint Functional Component Command for Space, U.S. Strategic Command, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. More pictures >>

Astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have an Amateur Radio station at hand for recreation and educational activities.

As human spaceflight moves through the 21st century, an organization known as Amateur Radio aboard the International Space Station – ARISS – has been designing, building and operating Amateur Radio gear.

The agencies backing ISS and ARISS describe access to Amateur Radio as necessary for psychological crew support. It provides contacts with family and with the general public for men and women working in space for months at a time.

Astronauts and cosmonauts will require some 40 shuttle flights over several years to assemble the complete space station. As they work hard on construction in space, those men and women need recreation activities during rest periods. That's where the ham radio station comes into play.

Contacting schools. The ISS astronauts also use their ham radio gear for educational outreach to schools down on Earth. In fact, NASA's Division of Education is a major supporter of amateur radio activity aboard ISS.
school contacts >>

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SAREX heritage. Radio amateurs pioneered space radio experimentation including voice communication, television and text messaging. In fact, since the first hamsat went to space in 1961, more than 70 Amateur Radio satellites have been launched.

In the 1970s and 1980s, astronauts who also were Amateur Radio operators worked to convince NASA that taking their ham gear along on spaceflights could enhance the space agency's public education role.

• U.S. astronaut Owen K. Garriott, holder of Amateur Radio callsign W5LFL, wanted to fly Amateur Radio on America's first space station – Skylab – but was turned down by NASA. Garriott flew to Skylab in 1973 without his ham gear. However, ten years later, he convinced the space agency to let him take his equipment to space aboard shuttle Columbia flight STS-9 in 1983. He became the first radio amateur to chat with hams on Earth while orbiting the globe. In fact, he spoke with hundreds of his fellow operators.
  
  
• Anthony W. "Tony" England, amateur callsign WØORE (the number Ø is pronounced zero) was the second ham-astronaut in space. He flew aboard shuttle Challenger flight STS-51F in 1985. He not only had Amateur Radio voice capability, but also took along ham TV gear to transmit pictures down from the spacecraft. The TV signals beamed up to WØORE from the Johnson Space Center ham station, callsign W5RRR, were the first live TV pictures ever received aboard a shuttle. On the ground, more than 6,000 young people, taking part in his SAREX operation through school and scouting clubs, were thrilled to see the first-ever amateur pictures beamed down from space.
  
  
• Ronald A. Parise, callsign WA4SIR, made more contacts with hams on the ground when he flew in space aboard shuttle Columbia in 1990.
  
  
• Kenneth D. Cameron, callsign KB5AWP, used Amateur Radio from space when he flew on shuttle Atlantis flight STS-37 in 1991. In fact, that was the first time the entire shuttle crew was composed entirely of licensed Amateur Radio operators – Steven R. Nagel, N5RAW; Jerome "Jay" Apt, N5QWL; Linda M. Godwin N5RAX; and Jerry L. Ross, N5SCW; and Cameron.
  
  Cameron headed a different five-ham crew aboard shuttle Atlantis flight STS-74 in 1995 – James D. Halsell, KC5RNI; William S. McArthur, KC5ACR; Jerry L. Ross, N5SCW; Canadian Chris A. Hadfield, KC5RNJ/Canadian callsign VA3OOG; and Cameron. That crew was very active from seven hours after launch until seven hours before landing. During more than 125 orbits around Earth, they averaged about 100 contacts with hams on the ground each day.

Since Garriott, England, Parise and Cameron convinced NASA of the educational benefits from Amateur Radio in human spaceflight, ham operators have flown on more than two-dozen space shuttle missions. Dozens of men and women have used the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment – SAREX – to talk from orbit with thousands of school kids and their families down on Earth.

Mir. Russia had a similar program for the cosmonauts aboard its former space station Mir. When U.S. astronauts were aboard Mir, preparing for the future long duration missions of the International Space Station, they used ham radio for personal communication and even for emergency messaging when Mir was in distress.

Now that human spaceflight activities are focused on the International Space Station, the focus of Amateur Radio in human spaceflight has shifted to ARISS.


ARISS founders. National radio organizations from eight countries and from AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, formed ARISS in 1996.

NASA, AMSAT and the Russian space firm Energia signed agreements placing Amateur Radio on the space station. The technical team ISS Ham supports hardware development, crew training and operations on orbit.

• In the United States, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) and AMSAT provide leadership and consultation. They donate and build hardware as well as making sure safety and qualification tests are successfully completed so the equipment can fly.
  
  
• United States and Russian teams train astronauts and cosmonauts to operate the ham gear. Training on the American-supplied gear takes place at Russia's Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre.
  
  
• Russia provided ports so Amateur Radio antennas could be mounted on the outside of the space station's Zvezda living quarters for astronauts and cosmonauts.
  
  
• An Italian team designed and built the antennas.
  
  
• A German team built a repeater station that will allow crews to record reports of their daily activities and make more contacts with hams on Earth. Amateur Radio Slow Scan Television will be available.

First contact. William M. "Shep" Shepherd, callsign KD5GSL, worked hard to make sure that an amateur radio station was on board the International Space Station. After three shuttle flights in 1988, 1990 and 1992, Shepherd commanded the first expeditionary crew aboard the ISS in 2000-2001.

Using the callsign assigned to the ISS – NA1SS – Shepherd completed the first-ever ARISS contact on December 21, 2000. During a ten-minute pass overhead, he talked with 14 students in grades 1-8 plus science and math teacher Rita Wright at Luther Burbank Elementary School near Chicago.


Training and testing. The operator-training program was devised by an Amateur Radio operator employed at NASA, Matt Bordelon, callsign KC5BTL. Astronauts who already are licensed radio amateurs become familiar with the use of various types of equipment, the general principles of amateur operation, operating modes, and packet radio modules, theory and software. For hands-on training, they have a hardware mockup to simulate a real ham radio station. Other astronauts and cosmonauts have been shown how to be tested and receive a U.S. amateur radio license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).     HOW TO GET A HAM LICENSE >>

The first ARISS station equipment was tested, then delivered by shuttle Atlantis flight STS-106 to the ISS. The shuttle crew placed the ham gear in the station for future use by the Expedition 1 crew.     MORE ASTRONAUT HAMS >>

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Modes and frequencies. The initial space station communications were FM voice and packet. Packet radio is a text messaging mode of communication. Ham television and other modes are being added.

The first ARISS gear operated on the two-meter ham band. The initial operating frequencies were:

• Worldwide space-to-ground downlink for voice and packet, 145.80 MHz
• Worldwide packet ground-to-space uplink, 145.99 MHz
• Global communications region 1 (Europe) voice ground-to-space uplink: 145.20 MHz
• Global communications regions 2 and 3 voice ground-to-space uplink, 144.49 MHz

Region 1 is Africa, Europe, Russia, Middle East except Iran, and Mongolia.
Region 2 is the Americas, including Hawaii, Johnston, and Midway islands.
Region 3 is the rest of Asia and Oceania.

    INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR RADIO UNION >>
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Space Station Crews and Amateur Radio Callsigns
For voice contacts with Amateur Radio stations on Earth, crew members may use their personal callsigns or one of the "club station" callsigns issued to the ISS by various nations.

Those club station callsigns are NA1SS (U.S.), RSØISS and RZ3DZR (Russia), or DLØISS (Germany). The Ø in RSØISS and DLØISS is pronounced zero.

For voice contacts with hams on the ground, American astronauts aboard the ISS have used the callsign NA1SS.

The packet station mailbox callsign is RSØISS-1. The packet station keyboard callsign is RSØISS.

The ARISS operating on-the-air schedule depends on the crews' work schedules. Below are the space station crews and their personal amateur radio callsigns:


Expedition One. The first ISS crew launched October 31, 2000, and landed March 21, 2001:

• Commander, U.S. astronaut, U.S. Navy Capt. William M. ("Bill" and "Shep") Shepherd, amateur radio callsign KD5GSL
• Soyuz vehicle commander, Rosaviakosmos cosmonaut, Russian Air Force Col. Yuri P. Gidzenko
• Flight engineer, Rosaviakosmos cosmonaut, Sergei K. Krikalev, callsign U5MIR
        EXPEDITION 1 DETAILS AND CREW PHOTO »

Expedition Two. The second ISS crew launched March 8, 2001, and landed August 22, 2001:

• Commander, Rosaviakosmos cosmonaut, Yury V. Usachev, callsigns RW3FU, R3MIR and UA9AD
• Flight engineer, U.S. astronaut, retired U.S. Army Col. James S. Voss
• Flight engineer, U.S. astronaut, U.S. Air Force Col. Susan J. Helms, callsign KC7NHZ
        EXPEDITION 2 DETAILS AND CREW PHOTO »

Expedition Three. The third ISS crew launched August 10, 2001, and landed December 17, 2001:

• Commander, U.S. astronaut, retired U.S. Navy Capt. Frank L. Culbertson Jr., callsign KD5OPQ
• Flight engineer, Rosaviakosmos cosmonaut, Russian Air Force Col. Vladimir N. Dezhurov
• Flight engineer, Rosaviakosmos cosmonaut, Mikhail Tyurin
        EXPEDITION 3 DETAILS AND CREW PHOTO »

Expedition Four. The fourth ISS crew, launched December 5, 2001, and landed June 19, 2002:

• Commander, Rosaviakosmos cosmonaut, Russian Air Force Col. Yuri I. Onufrienko
• Flight engineer, U.S. astronaut, U.S. Air Force Col. Carl E. Walz, callsign KC5TIE
• Flight engineer, U.S. astronaut, U.S. Navy Capt. Daniel W. Bursch
        EXPEDITION 4 DETAILS AND CREW PHOTO »

Expedition Five. The fifth ISS crew, launched June 5, 2002, and landed December 2, 2002:

• Commander, Rosaviakosmos cosmonaut, Russian Air Force Col. Valeri G. Korzun, callsign RØMIR
• Flight engineer, U.S. astronaut, Peggy A. Whitson, callsign KC5ZTD
• Flight engineer, RSC ENERGIA cosmonaut, Sergei Y. Teschev, callsign RZ3FU
        EXPEDITION 5 DETAILS AND CREW PHOTO »

Expedition Six. The sixth ISS crew launched November 23, 2002, and landed May 3, 2002:

• Commander, U.S. astronaut, U.S. Navy Capt. Kenneth D. Bowersox, callsign KD5JBP
• Flight engineer, U.S. astronaut, Donald R. Pettit, callsign KD5MDT
• Flight engineer, Rosaviakosmos cosmonaut, Nikolai M. Budarin, callsign RV3FB
        EXPEDITION 6 DETAILS AND CREW PHOTO »

Expedition Seven. The seventh ISS crew launched April 25, 2003, with landing planned for October 2003:

• Commander, Rosaviakosmos cosmonaut, Yuri A. Malenchenko, callsign RK3DUP
• Flight engineer, U.S. astronaut, Edward T. Lu, callsign KC5WKJ
        EXPEDITION 7 DETAILS AND CREW PHOTO »

Expedition Eight. The eighth ISS crew, to be launched October 18, 2003, with landing planned for 2004:

• Commander, U.S. astronaut, Michael Foale, callsign KB5UAC
• Flight engineer, Rosaviakosmos cosmonaut, Alexander Kaleri, callsign U8MIR
• Taxi crewmember, Spanish astronaut, Pedro Duque, callsign KC5RGG
  ESA astronaut Duque will launch with Expedition 8, but return with Expedition 7
        EXPEDITION 7 DETAILS AND CREW PHOTO »

  MORE ASTRONAUT HAMS
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Space Station Radio Contacts With Schools
From time to time, astronauts aboard the space station make direct contact with groups of students in schools around the world. Those contacts energize students, teachers, parents and their communities about science, technology, and learning, as well as ham radio.

Amateur radio clubs and individual ham radio operators on the ground help the high-flying ham astronauts complete their contacts with the schools.

Today, the contacts are part of Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS). Previously, before the era of permanent occupation of the ISS, the contacts were made from American space shuttles. That program was known as the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX).

ARISS is sponsored, as SAREX was, by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ARISS milestone. The ARISS school contact program reached a milestone on June 12, 2003, when ISS flight engineer Ed Lu, KC5WKJ, completed the program's 100th school contact from space. Using the ISS ham radio station and the callsign NA1SS, Lu answered a dozen questions from students at Lively District Secondary School in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.

On the ground at Lively, amateur radio operator Stephen Gorecki, VE3CWJ, and members of the Sudbury Amateur Radio Club, had installed antennas on the roof of the school's gymnasium and placed radio equipment inside. Students in grades 7 through 12 from several schools in the area participated in the ARISS contact.

The students asked Lu what space mission he would pick if he had the choice. He said he would like to travel to Mars. When asked whom he would like to have accompany him into space if he could pick one person, Lu said that would be his fiancee.

Two days later, on June 14, some 500 students, teachers, parents and other visitors at École primaire de l'Apprenti-Sage in Québec, made contact with the help of Gaëtan Trépanier, VE2GHO, of Beauport, Quebec. A dozen primary school pupils asked Lu questions about how he controls the station, his favorite activities in space, whether blastoff hurts.

Four days later, on June 18, students at Kuise Elementary School in Amagasaki, Japan, asked Lu such questions as what country's time the crew followed and if zero gravity changed odors.

Locations of some of the schools contacted recently by the ISS:

Hammond, Indiana Webster, New York Stanford, California Tallahassee, Forida

Boulder, Colorado Houston, Texas Cornell, New York Palo Alto, California

Honolulu, Hawaii Rouen, France Transinne, Belgium Turkey

Amagasaki, Japan Lively, Canada Quebec, Canada Russia

  Current ARISS School Contact Schedule »
  RTF file list of successful school contacts »

Examples of questions that students have asked the astronauts:

How do astronauts bathe? How does it feel to be launched? How do you do laundry? Is it hard to breathe during launch? How do you go to sleep while floating? Do people age faster up in space? What influenced you to become an astronaut? Are you scared to re-enter the atmosphere? How does your body feel without gravity? What is it like to do a spacewalk? Do you still drink Tang? What experiments are you doing? How long did it take to fly to the ISS? Can you go outside the ISS? How long does it take to circle Earth? Have you noticed a meteorite? Can you see cyclones or pollution? Do you have free time? How long are you going to stay? Is the ISS like a house? Can you talk with your family? How do you eat or wash? What do you do for fun? When do you sleep? Do astronauts always get along?

Do you get homesick? Do you get to watch TV? Is space scary? What happens if you drop something? Is it always black in space? How can you read if things float? What is the weather like? What noises do you hear? Why do things float? What time is it in space? How do you weigh stuff? What do you eat? Have you kept a souvenir? Can you tell where you're going? Can you see the sun rise? Do you have any funny stories? Are you scared? How old are you? What do you miss from Earth? How fast do you travel? How do you breathe? How do you go to the bathroom? Can you see the rings of Saturn? Is there any sound? How hot is it?

  Current Lists of Questions To Be Asked »

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