[amsat-bb] ARISS Major Milestone Completed

[KA3HDO]

All,

 

You all were asking about the ARISS new hardware status.  I sent the missive
below to the ARISS team this morning, so here you go.

 

We greatly appreciate the substantial donation from JVC Kenwood of hardware
and engineering to realize the next ARISS station.  As Dan Cussen noted in
an earlier post, the costs and effort to develop and certify equipment for
human spaceflight missions is very high.  The bulk of this cost is for
safety certification testing and hazard reporting expertise.  We are
estimating that from beginning to end (3 year development cycle), the costs
for the new hardware system will be in the $200k range.  Note that we are
aggressively pursuing real dollar and in-kind donations to address this.
But, as you know, every bit of funding helps.  That is why we started the
ARISS Challenge Coin Donation Campaign this year at the Dayton Hamvention.

 

If anyone has ideas on garnering funds to support the ARISS hardware
initiative, please contact me directly at my ka3hdo at amsat.org
<mailto:ka3hdo at amsat.org>  address. 

 

Thanks for all your interest and support to ARISS.

 

73,  Frank H. Bauer, KA3HDO

AMSAT V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs

ARISS International Chair

 

*****

Yesterday, October 21, 2016, the ARISS hardware team accomplished a very
major milestone-the successful completion of the Technical Interchange
Meeting (TIM) for the Interoperable Hardware System, which includes the JVC
Kenwood D710 Radio and the Multi Voltage Power Supply.

 

The TIM was conducted as an ARISS hardware milestone from the Technical
Evaluation and Support (TES) Committee (TES) and our international members
from TES were present.  The TIM also had subject matter experts from NASA
attending and providing advice as well as a former (retired) chief engineer
from the NASA Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) organization.  All
in all, ARISS received great advice and suggestions on how to move forward
with the hardware development.  I am most proud that we have completed this
first major milestone in the development of the next ARISS hardware upgrade
to fly on ISS.

 

On behalf of the ARISS International team, I would like to thank TES
co-leads Mark Steiner and Lou McFadin for their leadership in getting the
important milestone accomplished.  I would also like to thank Kerry Banke,
the Multi Voltage Power Supply developer, Bob Davis who is developing the
mechanical enclosure for the system, and Bob Bruninga and Dave Taylor for
their help on the D710  programming modes.  And, of course, special thanks
goes to JVC Kenwood and Aota Shin and Phil Parton for their support,
equipment and engineering that will serve ARISS and the ham community for
years to come.

 

With this milestone completed, we will move forward with the design process
and finalize the design with a TIM in the next few months.  Our next hurdle
will be the Phase 0 safety review which we hope to complete before the end
of this year.  While aggressive, we are still working with NASA towards an
October 2017 launch of the hardware system.

 

As you communicate this important milestone to your friends, please remind
them that we cannot complete this effort without funding.  Human spaceflight
hardware developments are always expensive.  They are most welcome to donate
towards the hardware development by pushing the "ARISS Donate" button at
www.amsat.org <http://www.amsat.org> .  Those that donate $100 or more will
receive a special ARISS Commemorative Coin.  

 

I thank all of you for all your sustained support and efforts to our ARISS
cause over the years. It is hard to believe that we are nearing 20 years of
being a team.

 

73,  Frank Bauer, KA3HDO