May 02, 2006
ARISS
ANTENNAS ON COLUMBUS
As announced previously, the ARISS
L/S-band antennas have been developed at the Wroclaw University of Technology
under the direction of Dr Pawel Kabacik, assistant professor at the Institute
of Telecommunications and Acoustics.
Several units have been manufactured by
specialized workshops and have been delivered to EADS, Bremen and ESA/ESTEC for
preliminary testing.
The antennas are presently undergoing
mechanical vibration tests. These tests are needed to comply with severe
conditions during transportation of Columbus in the Shuttle bay.
Moreover, the antennas will be protected
against atomic oxygen, a very aggressive agent present at the orbiting altitude
of the International Space Station. A silicon oxide coating will be deposited
on the antennas, most probably at the Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland.
Before Columbus leaves EADS, Bremen for a
Beluga flight to Kennedy Space Center , two coaxial cables will be fixed
outside the hull of the module, running from the feedthrough on the port cone
to the nadir where the ARISS antennas will be fixed to the Meteorite Debris
Panels.
Further work is still needed on the
antennas and the installation on the MDPs will be done at KSC.
Meanwhile the Columbus working group has
prepared a document describing the onboard equipment to be used with the
L/S-band antennas. The basic idea is twofold: a linear transponder, L-band up,
S-band down and a downlink DATV system. This project will be submitted to the
ARISS Project and Use Committee for approval.
Let us wish Columbus a safe flight to
Cape Canaveral.
73
Gaston Bertels, ON4WF
ARISS-Europe chairman