In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first manned space flight by Yuri Gagarin, the crew of the International Space Station will activate the ARISSat-1 satellite aboard the station on 11 April 2011 at 1430 UTC (10:30 AM EDT). The satellite will continue to operate until 1030 UTC (6:30 AM) on 13 April 2011. The satellite will be connected to an antenna on the exterior of the space station and operate in a low power mode with transmissions of 40-60 seconds and then a quiet period of two minutes.
If you have an FM receiver or scanner that covers the amateur radio 2 meter band (144-148 MHz), you can try to hear the transmissions from ARISSat-1 and receive a commemorative certificate if you are successful. FM transmissions consisting of voice IDs, audio greetings in various languages, still frame television signals (Slow-Scan Television or SSTV), and recordings from Gagarin's original flight will be transmitted on 145.950 MHz. The International Space Station will be in range for up to 10 minutes during a pass, so you might hear as many as four transmissions during a pass which is directly overhead, although a maximum of one or two transmissions is much more likely with a scanner with a built-in antenna. ISS pass information for your specific location can be generated online or with downloadable software (see below).
Information concerning the ARISSat-1 satellite and this event is available from these sites:
http://www.arissat1.org/
http://www.arrl.org/news/arissat-1-on-the-air-for-gagarin-anniversary
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/index.php
Online pass information for the International Space Station is available from these sites:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/predict/
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/
If you want to download tracking software to generate ISS pass data on your own computer, a number of programs are available such as Sebastian Stoff's Orbitron:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/software.php
http://www.stoff.pl/
Note that the satellite was supposed to already be deployed from the International Space Station several months ago, but scheduling issues have delayed the launch until next July. The satellite is being activated specifically for this anniversary event.
If you have an FM receiver or scanner that covers the amateur radio 2 meter band (144-148 MHz), you can try to hear the transmissions from ARISSat-1 and receive a commemorative certificate if you are successful. FM transmissions consisting of voice IDs, audio greetings in various languages, still frame television signals (Slow-Scan Television or SSTV), and recordings from Gagarin's original flight will be transmitted on 145.950 MHz. The International Space Station will be in range for up to 10 minutes during a pass, so you might hear as many as four transmissions during a pass which is directly overhead, although a maximum of one or two transmissions is much more likely with a scanner with a built-in antenna. ISS pass information for your specific location can be generated online or with downloadable software (see below).
Information concerning the ARISSat-1 satellite and this event is available from these sites:
http://www.arissat1.org/
http://www.arrl.org/news/arissat-1-on-the-air-for-gagarin-anniversary
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/index.php
Online pass information for the International Space Station is available from these sites:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/predict/
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/
If you want to download tracking software to generate ISS pass data on your own computer, a number of programs are available such as Sebastian Stoff's Orbitron:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/software.php
http://www.stoff.pl/
Note that the satellite was supposed to already be deployed from the International Space Station several months ago, but scheduling issues have delayed the launch until next July. The satellite is being activated specifically for this anniversary event.
