SuitSat lets students fly their artwork in space

In the fall of 2005, a discarded Russian Orlan spacesuit is expected to be deployed from the International Space Station , pending final approval by NASA and the Russian Space Agency. This deployment will occur during a spacewalk currently planned in mid-September. Once deployed, the spacesuit will orbit the Earth for several weeks until it burns up as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere.

The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) team has received permission to include a special compact disk on-board this spacesuit with school artwork included. As a result, participating schools will have an opportunity to “fly” their artwork as part of the spacewalk.

To participate, schools should develop a 1 page piece of artwork that uniquely represents the school. This could be an artist’s representation of the school, a list of student names, student signatures, a school science project summary or a school mission patch. This artwork should be primarily developed by the students. The goal is to engage the students in the development of the artwork.

The artwork should not exceed one A4 page. The page has to be scanned in jpg format and shall not exceed 2 megs in size. No other formats can be accepted.

All entries need to be received prior to June 15 2005 to be included on the compact disk. The disk will be delivered to Russia in late June, flown to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and launched on the 19P Progress vehicle currently planned for August 2005.

Jpg images, no greater than 2 megs, using the naming format “schoolname_location.jpg” can be e-mailed to: schoolspacewalk@comcast.net with cc to : gaston.bertels@skynet.be

The ARISS team looks forward to your input and is pleased to provide this opportunity to school students around the world!!

73

Gaston Bertels, ON4WF

ARISS-Europe chairman