ARISS-International Meeting Held in Tokyo, Japan
An ARISS International delegates meeting was held at the Big Sight convention facility located in Tokyo, Japan from Thursday August 20 until Sunday August 23. This year’s ARISS face-to-face meeting was held in conjunction with the Japan Amateur Radio League’s 90th anniversary celebration and international Ham Fair exposition.
ARISS-International face-to-face meetings are periodic gatherings of ARISS Delegates and representatives from the five regions that support the development and operations of the amateur radio systems on board the International Space Station: Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia and the United States.
The meeting covered various facets of the ARISS program, including international teamwork, technical systems development and amateur radio operations on ISS. Included in the meeting agenda were committee reports, technical project updates, upcoming contact events, reports on ARISS activities within the five represented regions and special award recognitions to the JARL, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and JVC Kenwood.
The meeting kicked off with a presentation by Hideshi Kagawa from JAXA on their initiatives to launch and deploy small satellites and technology payloads using their low-cost Epsilon launcher.
Much discussion during the weekend centered around fundraising and the formation of the ARISS-International Sustainability and Funding Committee. Funding projects and recommended yearly budgets were discussed. ARISS Chairman Frank Bauer encouraged all ARISS Regions to begin supporting the development of an international plan and strategy for funding and resources. This will be accomplished through the Sustainability and Funding Committee.
A discussion on a revision of the organization’s current Terms of Reference (TOR) was conducted. This new TOR will better formalize and document team roles, responsibilities and processes and will address other more recent changes within the ARISS program. Delegates voted to study the feasibility of creating an interoperable radio system based on the Kenwood D710 radio that would be interchangeable between the Columbus and Russian ISS modules. It was also agreed to continue studying the implementation of an Astro Pi Slide Show and Slide Show module for use in conjunction with the development and operation of the Ham TV system on board the ISS.
During their stay, the group also engaged in other activities such as a ribbon cutting event kicking off the beginning of the JARL Ham Fair and celebrating the 90th Anniversary of the JARL, attending JARL 90th anniversary events, including a Welcome Reception, conducting a very productive Technical Meeting with JVC Kenwood Engineers on the D710/interoperable radio system proposal, and touring JAXA’s Tsukuba Space Center and their ISS/Kibo control center.
During the visit, the ARISS-International team took time out to recognize three organizations that have provided sustained support and service to the ARISS program–JARL, for nearly 20 years of ARISS delegation support, JAXA for their sustained support as an ISS space agency, and JVC Kenwood for their leadership in modifying the D700 and D710 radio systems to support ARISS current and future operations. All three organizations received a beautiful, autographed photo montage of the astronauts using ARISS on-board ISS and an ARISS pin and sticker that flew on the last Space Shuttle mission, STS-135.
Before concluding the meeting, ARISS delegates voted to hold its next annual meeting in Houston, Texas in November 2016. This date coincides with the 20th anniversary of the inaugural ARISS working group meeting, held November 1996 at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
ABOUT ARISS
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States and other international space agencies and international amateur radio organizations around the world. The primary purpose of ARISS is to organize scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and classrooms or informal education venues. With the help of experienced amateur radio volunteers from amateur radio clubs and coordination from the ARISS team, the ISS crew members speak directly with large group audiences in a variety of public forums such as school assemblies, science centers and museums, Scout camporees, jamborees and space camps, where students, teachers, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies and Amateur Radio.
For more information on ARISS, please go to our web site: www.ariss.org
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ARISS-I Face to Face Meeting, August 20 – 23, 2015
Front (L-R): Emanuele D’Andria, Mikio Mouri, Satoshi Yasuda, Francesco De Paolis, Hozumi Ueda, Keigo Komuro
Rear (L-R): Lou McFadin, Ciaran Morgan, Keith Pugh, Mark Steiner, Frank Bauer, Tatiana Kolmykova, Oliver Amend, Sergey Samburov,Ian MacFarquhar, Kenneth Ransom, Rosalie White, Peter Kofler, Stefan Wagener
Frank Bauer/KA3HDO of ARISS/AMSAT-NA and Rick Roderick/K5UR of the ARRL help cut the ribbon opening the Japan Ham fair celebrating the 90th Anniversary of the JARL.
Front (L-R): Emanuele D’Andria, Mikio Mouri, Satoshi Yasuda,
ARISS Chair, Frank Bauer presenting award to JARL President — in Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Frank Bauer, Rosalie White, and Rick Roderick observe JARL President Toshihiko Yamanouchi /JA7AIW make the first QSO from the Japan Ham fair special event station.