[amsat-bb] Congratulations!!

[Frank H. Bauer]

All,

I would like to extend my congratulations to the ARISS-Europe team on
today's successful launch of our newest on-orbit hardware
delivery---additional ARISS antennas!!  The antennas are mounted on the
European Columbus module which flew inside the payload bay of the Space
Shuttle Atlantis.  

The ARISS-Europe team have been working hard and diligently for over 5 years
to realize this outstanding milestone.  The team faced numerous challenges,
including some very severe environmental testing to get approval to fly
these antenna systems.  

I would like to thank Gaston Bertels, ON4WF for his outstanding leadership
on this project and Dr. Pawel Kabacik at the Wroclaw University of
Technology in Poland for his efforts in the antenna design and testing.  And
I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all those who contributed to
this project through their volunteer efforts, financial contributions and/or
in-kind contributions.  YOU helped us develop, test and fly these antennas. 

For more information on the ARISS antennas, see:

http://www.ariss-eu.org/

73,  Frank Bauer, KA3HDO
ARISS International Chairman
AMSAT-NA V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs