ARISS-SSTV images

Final Image?

2012-01-04T17:35:00.002Z

This SSTV image acquired by JJ0LTH on Jan 04 at 02:56 UTC may be one of the last captured from ARISSAT-1. The last telemetry data was received on Wed, 04 Jan 2012 06:02:14 UTC (see ARISSat-1 live telemetry page ). Seems the satellite has de-orbited as no new reports have been posted recently.

Time running out

2011-12-27T15:59:00.002Z

ARISSat-1 is starting to come closer to Earth more and more each day. It is currently orbiting between 258 and 246 kilometers. Rough predicts have it re-entering in about a month. Many great images are coming in with all the ground stations listening.
The satellite should be entering a period of a mostly illuminated orbit during early January so this will probably be the last chance for stations worldwide to hear it and try to capture data or monitor audio for the various contests associated with the satellite. Don't forget to update your element sets daily for best possible tracking results.

Creeping back into Northern Hemisphere

2011-12-12T20:29:00.000Z

ARISSat-1 is starting to reach the northern hemisphere just before entering eclipse. It should begin being much more available to stations in Europe, Asia and North America in the late afternoon and early evening in the next week. After that period, its orbit will slowly correlate to earlier times in the day. ARISSat is currently orbiting between 301 Km and 291 Km above the Earth.

Automatic capture site

2011-12-01T15:33:00.001Z

VK7OO has setup a blog site that automatically captures and posts images received from ARISSat-1. The antenna is minimal so the quality of the images is not supreme but it is an interesting concept. Check it out at http://vk7oo.tasme.com/sstvsat/index22.html and maybe a few more like this will pop up before the end of the mission.

First December image

2011-12-01T12:08:00.001Z

This image captured by VK6FH in Australia is our first for the month of December. ARISSat-1 is currently orbiting a little over 300 kilometers above the Earth and should continue to do so for most (if not all) of the month. It will be most interesting to see the images captured right before the satellite re-enters so keep monitoring as we don't yet know when the last image will be transmitted.

ARISSat exiting eclipse over N. Hemisphere

2011-11-29T14:34:00.001Z

The current orbit of ARISSat-1 has it exiting the eclipse over the northern hemisphere and thus does not become active until it reaches the lower latitudes. This means it should be fully active for the southern hemisphere during the day and part of the evening (until it enters the orbital eclipse). This image was recently captured by ZS6BMN.

Second SSTV image sent via transponder

2011-11-23T19:08:00.001Z

W8ZCF and KB8VCO were successful in transmitting a picture and receiving back an image via theARISSat-1 transponder. This image of a license plate was received on November 12, 2011 at 1908 UTC.

Separate MMSSTV software setups on 2 computers with modeRobot 36 were used to Tx 435.750 LSB up and Rx 145.930 MHz down. It was achallenge, over several days of trying, to find the satellite in a favorableposition with its (inadvertently) shortened antenna. Doppler along with Tx andRx antennas were manually controlled. [info from AMSAT-BB]

Is it Earth?

2011-11-18T16:40:00.001Z

This image received by EB3SA over Europe looks more like a scene from a science fiction show or painting. The image captures the sun as it is rising over Europe and welcoming a new day.
Some postings are beginning to speculate as to when ARISSat-1 will re-enter but the guesses are still pretty wide. They range from December 2011 to April 2012. Should be interesting to see if it transmits any images just prior to burning up.

Techically interesting image

2011-11-08T16:11:00.002Z

This image is not the highest quality one we have received but it is very interesting from a technical standpoint. This image was captured by PY4ZBZ and had a time stamp of 0926 UTC. It shows the edge of the Earth illuminated by the sun that has just risen over the horizon. Most of the Earth is still in darkness at this time. ARISSat-1 should have become illuminated about 0911 UTC. Given the time necessary for the system to activate and clear the safety timer (about 14 minutes) the earliest transmission would have been about 0925 UTC. That probably means this is one of the first images the on board cameras took shortly after entering sunlight. The image was then transmitted just after the transmitter went active and subsequently captured by a ground station (PY4ZBZ). Okay, a little luck played into all that technical execution but it is still fascinating knowing what went into capturing this image as ARISSat-1 transitioned across the terminator at an acute angle.

New month for new images

2011-11-01T13:02:00.001Z

We start over today for the collection of initial images to be displayed on the AMSAT Gallery. This very nice image of some clouds was our first for the month and received by JAøCAW. I hope we will have even more to choose from this month with the satellite entering a period of greater illumination.

Minimal eclipse period approaching

2011-10-20T13:01:00.000Z

ARISSat-1 recently lapped the International Space Station and will be in a period of minimal eclipse (greater period of being in sun) starting around Nov 9 through Nov 12. Ground operators with early evening passes will have a good chance of hearing and using ARISSat-1 around this time. Operating times should be good for stations worldwide during the mid day to early evening time periods. Give it a shot and show off to some school kids while you can.

Fewer images

2011-10-14T16:58:00.002Z

It appears that the current orbit of ARISSat-1 being mainly illuminated during Southern hemisphere passes has greatly reduced the number of captured images due to less participants in that part of the world . Ones that are being captured are of a lesser quality that received earlier. The orbit is slowly starting to favor afternoon and evening passes in the Northern hemisphere so we should start seeing an increase in images. This image was captured by ZS6BMN.

Southern Hemisphere

2011-09-29T14:06:00.002Z

Seems with the current orbital timing that folks in the Northern hemisphere are at a disadvantage due to the early morning passes being silent because the delay timer is not activating the transmitter until about 15 minutes after the satellite comes out of eclipse. For folks in the Southern hemisphere there are some excellent day and evening passes occurring for the next couple of weeks. Hope to see a few more images from Australia, South America, Africa and some of the equatorial regions during this time frame.

Couple of stunning images

2011-09-14T19:01:00.006Z

I really like the Earth with Sun light glinting off the surface. The next image of the coastline is very nice as well. Congratulations to KD8CAO and SP8CGR respectively for capturing and submitting these spectacular images from ARISSat-1 over the past couple of days.

Starting to see submissions from some new stations and hope to see even more over the next few months that ARISSat-1 is predicted to be in orbit.

Did you also know that you can get a certificate for receiveing an SSTV image from ARISSat-1? Go to the ARISSat website and look under the FAQ for "reception certificates" and follow the directions.

Better quality images

2011-09-13T20:13:00.005Z

Now that the satellite is rotating less the images are getting much cleaner. Here is a nearly perfect copy one of the default images sent when no other images are in the queue. Congrats to JHøGEV and his station for being able to get such a clean SSTV copy from space.

Clouds that stand out

2011-09-08T12:30:00.003Z

This image captured by KD8CAO has some really nice lighting on the clouds and seems to give it some added depth. Uploads of captured images still coming in and the gallery has received over 1,500 images since ARISSat-1 was deployed. Keep them coming!

Earth or moon

2011-09-06T12:43:00.003Z

If this image were in black and white then I might have thought it was a shot of our moon. Thanks to JAøCAW for capturing this image on Sep 6.

New for September

2011-09-01T17:19:00.002Z

Since the number of wonderful images was getting a bit long, we started over for the month of September. The best images from August are still available by choosing "ARISSat-1_Aug_2011" under the display mission drop down menu on the main gallery page. You can always go to the archive to see everything but may need to select a higher page number for images that were published more than a few days ago. I expect September's page will be even bigger now that ARISSat-1 seems to have slowed its tumble rate and the fading is less of an impact to the images.

Amazing images still being received

2011-08-29T19:51:00.003Z

I can hardly wait until some schools start trying to capture images as some great ones are being received by folks all around the globe. This image shows land mass and ocean will a few clouds and was received by IW2AGJ. Can you tell where in the world this are is located?

Daytime imagery

2011-08-25T13:36:00.004Z

Images like this one are still being transmitted by ARISSat-1 during the day. Many midday to late afternoon passes will have several images being sent by the satellite. This image received by KD8CAO over North America has a nice sun glint effect.

2011-08-22T18:00:00.003Z

ARISSat-1 continues to operate as long as the solar panels are converting enough energy to provide operations. This image of clouds was received by VK2DAG on Aug 21.

At least one instance of a male telemetry voice was reported and this occurs when the SD card can no longer be read. The system appears to have reset after that as follow on reports indicated the system was back to the female voice.

ARISSat-1 views of the world

2011-08-19T16:21:00.003Z

I have taken a large number of the images that ARISSat-1 has captured and been received by numerous ground stations and compiled them into a "view of the world" plus a few of the other images that have been transmitted and received.

Battery fails; System still operates in sunlight

2011-08-16T19:26:00.004Z

The ARISSat-1 website posted that the battery has not failed in a shorted state. That is good news in that it means the system can continue to operate when voltage levels from the solar panels permit. Images are still coming in but at a slower rates since the satellite does not transmit during eclipse periods. An interesting lens flare image taken by the top looking camera and was received by VU2UKT on Aug 14.

ARISSat-1 battery voltage causing resets

2011-08-12T14:08:00.003Z

This very high quality image was received Aug 11 by ZL2BX.
The battery system on ARISSat-1 has degraded rapidly and is now dropping low enough to reset the internal control system. The system is still functional but will take longer to come up to the minimum voltage for high (or full) duty cycle operations. This will reduce your chances of hearing the satellite during the day as it may only have enough power for the low duty cycle transmission mode.

Image sumbissions decreasing

2011-08-11T17:22:00.003Z

Not sure if the novelty of images from space is wearing out or if the satellite being in low power mode a bit more often is the reason but the number of images being submitted to the http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/SSTV/ site is dropping off quite a bit. Images that are not selected for publishing on the main page are still available and posted to the archives at http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/SSTV/archive.php with the most recent ones on page 1 and older postings on subsequent pages.

Looking forward to seeing more images from ARISSat-1.

Aug 9 image of the day

2011-08-10T14:14:00.004Z

This image was received by JJøLTH while ARISSat-1 was over Asia. It appears to show some land features under and around the clouds.

SSTV via linear transponder

2011-08-09T13:24:00.003Z

Here is an SSTV image that was sent through the linear transponder by PA3GUO using 435.75 (LSB) for the uplink and 145.9 (LSB) on the downlink. Signals from the satellite appear to be improving as the spin rate begins to slow.

Images still coming down

2011-08-08T16:52:00.007Z

Several nice images were captured over the weekend. The first one (left) was received by JJøLTH and appears to show some land. The second one (below) was received by HA6KVC and shows another striking cloud view. The team now has a website that shows received telemetry from the satellite.

Spectacular

2011-08-06T13:35:00.002Z

This is one of the nicest images I have seen yet. A superb shot captured by ON4CCM over Europe on Aug 6.

Red callsign image

2011-08-05T15:08:00.004Z

Here is the best image I could find to date with a red callsign. I just happened to have posted the other 3 color examples previously. This image was captured by NøJY during a pass over North America on Aug 4.

Color of callsign

2011-08-05T14:20:00.003Z

The color of the callsign in the upper left of the image indicates which of the 4 cameras took the photo.
Red callsign [-Y pointing camera, mirror reverses image].
Green callsign is the top view [+Z pointing camera] and sometimes has the 2 meter antenna in view.
Blue callsign is the bottom view [-Z pointing camera].
Magenta callsign [+Y pointing camera, mirror reverses image].

Looking straight down

2011-08-04T18:29:00.003Z

This nice image was received over North America by KJ4ZFQ. A nearly full frame shot of the earth and lots of clouds.

Another Earth view

2011-08-04T17:08:00.003Z

This earth view was captured by KC7I during the 1527 UTC pass over North America. Keep posting images to the gallery at http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/SSTV/

Another great image

2011-08-04T12:46:00.002Z

This one appears to have been captured just prior to deployment by the cosmonaut and saved in memory for transmission later. Congrats to DK3WN for capturing this image.

Early images from ARISSat-1

2011-08-04T11:09:00.005Z

Some really interesting images are being sent by ARISSat-1 when it is not in eclipse. This one captured by G6HMS just after ø6øø UTC on Aug 4 show the curve of the earth. Many of the images have lines across them which is due to the satellite tumbling and causing some deep fading in the signal.

ARISSat-1 deployed (Aug 3)

2011-08-03T20:06:00.001Z

A bit delayed but ARISSat-1 was deployed at 1843 UTC by Sergey Volkov. An initial report of the satellite has been posted from Japan.

ARISSat-1 pre EVA test successful

2011-08-02T14:49:00.004Z

A bit behind on status but ARISSat-1 had a successful checkout on July 30-31. Data, voice telemetry and SSTV images were received (some directly on VHF and others through the UHF relay on the ISS). The satellite is due to be deployed during the first part of Russian EVA #29. Hatch opening is scheduled for 1430 UTC so the satellite should be deployed and active some time after 1500 UTC. Use the ISS keps for the first day or so as ARISSat-1 will be in close proximity. Keps should be available after a short time so the predicts can be modeled post deployment. More info at

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition28/russian_eva29.html

Swing and a miss

2011-04-13T20:24:00.003Z

The ARISSat-1 satellite inside the ISS, was to be turned on and use an external antenna in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's first manned space flight. No ground stations reported hearing the signals. AMSAT is working with our Russian partners to determine any problems and assist in correcting them.

The ARISSat-1 signals can be experienced during the 2011 Dayton Hamvention (May 20-22) in the AMSAT booth and around the arena. AMSAT will have the operational prototype running and people there to discuss the satellite and its operation.

Roscosmos has announced that the satellite will be deployed into orbit during the next EVA in llate July of this year.

http://www.arissat1.org/

ARISSat-1 details

2011-04-08T18:27:00.002Z

AMSAT has sent a bulletin providing information about the activation test for the 50th anniversary of human space flight. See www.amsat.org for all the details.

ARISSat-1 test (part 2)

2011-04-04T18:55:00.004Z

The Russian team is planning to activate ARISSat-1 from inside the ISS again as part of the commemoration of the 5oth anniversary of the first human in space. The schedule currently lists preparation for activation starting at 1430 UTC on April 11. The system should be active several minutes later and will remain active until 1030 UTC on April 13.

The small satellite is now planned for deployment from the ISS during a Russian EVA in July.

ARISSat-1 test

2011-02-15T19:40:00.004Z

The Russian crew preformed a verification test on Feb 10 of the ARISSat-1 (aka RadioSkaf -B and KEDR) before it will be deployed on an EVA. JA0CAW was fortunate enough to capture one of the stored images that the satellite will be transmitting.

Sept 29 Activity

2010-09-29T11:31:00.002Z

More of the same images that were sent yesterday. The SSTV system seems to have developed a new issue with reports of "beeping" during the experiment. Unkown source of this but it is being passed through the radio system and is not from another source. The experiment is now concluded and the system has turned off. Packet should resume after Doug Wheelock uses the radio.

Sept. 28 activity

2010-09-28T14:05:00.013Z

These images were received today and were in Martin1 mode. The graphic photo (first image) was received by PDØRKC during the 0930 UTC pass over Europe and the image of the Russian spacecraft over the coast was received by F1TWT during the 0750 UTC pass over Europe. Seems a few images were transmitted beyond the Russia region as a report from Australia was also received.

Another opportunity is scheduled for tomorrow (Sept 29).

Sept 27

2010-09-27T18:29:00.006Z

No reports from ground stations but the activity was indicated as executed. I suspect they may have had hardware issues since packet was off during most of the planned time for today's experiment. Let's hope they have better luck tomorrow.

Sept activity - Take 2

2010-09-23T14:40:00.001Z

Looks like the Russians are scheduling another run of the MAI-75 experiment for Sep 27-29. The activity is planned for 2 runs a day over Western Russian roughly between 0700-1100 UTC. No additional details at this time but likely to be a repeat of the earlier September session.

Sep 15 Activity

2010-09-15T14:40:00.002Z

Reports that SSTV was again active today during the 11:15, 13:00 and 14:45 UTC passes over Europe. Seems that the imagery is only being downlinked over Russia and is the same file shots sent in previous sessions. The system is planned to be powered off and switched to packet about 1600 UTC.

Sep 14 activity

2010-09-14T14:43:00.003Z

Seems we had limited activity today following the school contact with Australia (via Argentina). First images were received around 1200 GMT over Europe and a second set received at 1400 GMT over Europe. The crew timeline indicates the experiment shall be powered off after the 1400 GMT pass today and info from the http://www.ariss.net/ site indicates the system has been restored to packet operations.
Initial reports also seem to indicate that the images being transmitted today were the same ones sent a few weeks ago so most of the images captured today are in the archive section of the ARISS gallery site http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/SSTV/archive.php

MAI activation delayed one day

2010-09-13T14:00:00.002Z

Russian experiment MAI-75 SSTV activity delayed to Sept. 14 and 15. Activity should still be around 12:00-16:00 UTC each day. The system being planned for use is the Space Cam SSTV system that sends stored images so folks in darkness will have a chance to caputure images. The expected mode will be Martin 1. Most of the activity is directed towards Moscow but the system is sometimes left on between passes over Russia.

SSTV planned for Sept 13-14

2010-09-09T12:15:00.003Z

Previews of the crew schedule indicate that SSTV will be activated by the Russian crew on Sept 13 and 14. The activity should begin about 1200 GMT and conclude about 1600 GMT on both days.
Additional details as they become available.

July 16 report

2010-07-16T15:44:00.002Z

Reports indicate that stock images similar to the ones sent yesterday were again received between 11:45 and 13:30 UTC. This session of the MAI-75 experiment has concluded with numerous images uploaded to the gallery. Take a look at the best of each image over the 2 day period at http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/SSTV/index.php or look at all the submissions starting with the most recent at http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/SSTV/archive.php. Thanks for all the captured images being uploaded.

July 15 orbit

2010-07-15T14:52:00.003Z

Here is a new Earth view image caputured by 9W6ZUL. Seems some old and new images are in the folder being transmitted. Images were received during the entire orbit today but some reports of constant carrier between images were also reported.

July 15 - first pass over Moscow

2010-07-15T13:09:00.004Z

First SSTV images received (on 145.800) just before 13:00 UTC today as the ISS passed over Europe. Images have been reported over Asia as well so it appears the system is in auto mode for the entire orbit. Images were the same as transmitted about 2 months ago. Unknown at this time if any new images have been added to the rotation.

MAI-75 activation planned for July 15-16 (updated)

2010-07-08T12:32:00.006Z

An activity to support SSTV activation (MAI-75) has been schedule on July 15 and 16. Times fall between 12:00-15:00 UTC on the 15th and 10:00-12:00 UTC on the 16th . The system will be operating space cam in slide show mode and is expected to use the Martin 1 format. The times are just over 1 orbit each day (two passes over Moscow) so opportunities will be very limited.

Good Luck to all.

May 14 - Success with Martin 1

2010-05-14T18:55:00.006Z

This image from PS8RF and many other different views were received today from the ISS. The images were sent in the Martin1 format and using the SpaceCam computer based system. Each of the images transmitted today were preloaded into a library and sent in a slide show sequence.

May 13 - SSTV Problems

2010-05-13T17:28:00.003Z

Seems the DATA connector on the front of the D700 is not seating properly with the cable from the VC-H1. Crew heard talking to MCC-Moscow about the problem. Several reports of carrier with no modulation when ISS in range of Moscow but no successful reports of image transmissions.

Tomorrow the crew will switch to the SpaceCam computer based system and attempt to transmit Martin-1 images but the connector port on the radio could still present a problem even though that system uses a differnet cable.

MAI-75 May event

2010-05-04T13:14:00.003Z

Seems the team at MAI will be at it again on May 13-14. SSTV images will be transmitted while the ISS is in range of Moscow but may also be transmitted throughout a few orbits that pass over other parts of the world. Transmission times should be about 1300 UTC-1700 UTC each day. Transmission types will likely be Robot 36 for part of the time and Martin-1 for the remainder. Listen on 145.800 MHz and good luck.

Jan MAI-75 update

2010-01-27T01:31:00.002Z

A bit more info to share. The Wed (Jan 27) operations will be conducted using the VC-H1 in automatic mode which means Robot-36 mode images being transmitted once every 3 minutes on 145.80 MHz. This should occur worldwide during the time frame of 0900-1400 UTC.
The operations on Thursday and Friday (Jan 28-29) will be in mode PD-160 using MMSSTV and will occur when the ISS is in proximity of western Russia.

Jan MAI-75 experiments

2010-01-25T20:06:00.001Z

Looks like some more SSTV activity planned for Jan 27-29 around the hours of 0900-1300 GMT. Limited details at this time.

Dec 11 images sent

2009-12-11T13:50:00.004Z

This image taken while the shuttle and former expedition crew were still on the ISS was caputure by G8OQW in PD160 mode in MMSSTV while the ISS was over Europe about 0719 UTC. The best images are on the gallery but you can see the other submissions at http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/SSTV/archive.php

MMSSTV PD160 image Dec 10

2009-12-10T15:49:00.003Z

This image (above) of Maxim Suraev was sent in mode PD160 from the ISS using MMSSTV. PDØRKC captured the image about 0700 UTC on Dec 10 while the ISS was over Europe. More captured images are posted at http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/SSTV/.

Dec SSTV activity planned

2009-12-08T12:44:00.001Z

Another activation of the MAI-75 experiment using the SSTV system is scheduled from about 0700-1100 UTC on Dec 09-11. Various modes are expected with the downlink frequency being 145.80 MHz. Most activity will be in range of Moscow but some transmissions could occur beyond that region.

Sept 25 image

2009-09-25T17:25:00.005Z

SQ6NDM from Poland captured this image taken inside the Russian Service Module as the ISS passed over Europe at 13:35 UTC. According to the crew timeline, they were having their midday meal. The MAI-75 experiment has finished for today. See some of the other imagery caputred on the ARISS Gallery at http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/SSTV/

Sept 24 image

2009-09-24T14:08:00.005Z

As announced, some images have come down. G8OQW captured this view of the coast. ISS was passing over the Southern tip of Spain at the time (1301 UTC).

Sept MAI-75 activation

2009-09-24T11:47:00.004Z

Another activation of the MAI-75 experiment using the SSTV system is scheduled from about 1000-1500 UTC on Sept 24 and 25. Expected mode is Robot 36 and the downlink frequency announced is 145.80 MHz.

Aug 04 report

2009-08-04T13:01:00.007Z

Even less activity today. Seems the DATA connector on the Kenwood D700 is not getting a good connection to the VC-H1 system. That appears to be the cause of the unmodulated carrier and intermittent transmissions seen from the ISS. The experiment is scheduled to be turned off at 1410 GMT today.

A couple of images were caputure over Europe about 1330 UTC. This one is from G8OQW

AUG 03 report

2009-08-03T15:34:00.007Z

Seems that some initial images did come down for about the first hour after the system was first enabled but then the system was only keying down at the proper intervals (once every 3 minutes) and no audio was being relayed.
Later in the day, the carrier switched to 145.825 and then about 1555 UTC, a partial image was transmitted. Reports after that seem to indicate the crew powered the system down as scheduled.
Congrats to those that were fortunate enough to copy imagery and we will hope the operation will have better success tomorrow.

Thanks to CR7/PY5RX for this image.

SSTV to be active Aug 3 and 4

2009-07-30T23:47:00.001Z

The Russian team will be again activating the SSTV system on Aug 3 and 4 using the VC-H1 system. Images should be transmitted about once every 3 mintues for several hours each day (~0800-1600 UTC) on 145.800 MHz. Good luck and don't forget to post your images on the gallery at http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/SSTV/.

Russians activate SSTV

2009-05-26T16:43:00.005Z

It appears that the Russians will have SSTV active for parts of May 26 and 27 as part of an experiment ( http://www.energia.ru/eng/iss/researches/education-26.html) they are conducting at the Moscow Aviation Institute. Enjoy the images out the window while they last. See some of the captured images at http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/SSTV/index.php

Final days on ISS for Simonyi

2009-04-05T21:03:00.004Z

Space flight participant Charles Simonyi continues to transmit SSTV images and make random voice contacts. He will be leaving the International Space Station on April 8. Preparation for the return of the Expedition 18 crew of Mike Fincke and Yuri Lonchakov has already begun. The two will have spent nearly 6 months in space. Simonyi will return with them after his second trip of 13 days in orbit.
Images being sent by Simonyi are being sent manually. The images are taken earlier and then transmitted in rapid succession during passes mainly over N. America and Europe.

Manual imagery

2009-03-31T16:32:00.008Z

Charles sent numerous images in rapid succession over Europe during the ~1550 UTC pass. These are manually transmitted so the interval between images will vary and can be extremely short. One of the images from that pass of Charles was captured by PD0RKC. Charles is expected to continue sending images and making random QSOs in addition to the school contacts that are planned during his visit.

Automatic mode

2009-03-31T01:35:00.003Z

It appears that the VC-H1 has been left on in the window in auto mode after the crew has gone to sleep. This means it should capture and send whatever it can see about once every 3 minutes until the batteries run down. The bad news is for folks where it is night time, only a black image with possible interior reflections will be seen. For the folks in daytime, the image might be of your part of the world as seen out one of the windows in the Russian service module. Once the batteries go low, a purple image with the callsign will get sent and then eventually that will stop.

A recently published image from today showing the faint outline of the Soyuz as the ISS moved into darkness. Image caputured by W2DNR

Simonyi transmitting SSTV during visit

2009-03-30T01:38:00.002Z

Some initial SSTV images were transmitted today (March 29) by Charles Simonyi using the VC-H1 unit on the ISS. Look for more images during his visit to the ISS.

Activity on Jan 26

2009-01-26T17:41:00.004Z

Seeing a few reports that the SSTV system using the VC-H1 is active today on the International Space Station on the 145.80 downlink frequency. Hope some are fortunate enough to catch an image or two.

This image was captured by PD0RKC over Europe around 1745 UTC. The ISS was still in sun but the earth was in shadow. The reflections shows the VC-H1 unit quite clearly in the window.

More inside shots

2008-12-20T18:18:00.005Z

Reports from S. Africa (ZS6TW) and Florida (W5DID) indicate that SSTV images of the inside are being transmitted today. A note is visible in some shots with other images showing the Expedition 18 Commander, Mike Fincke.
The following image is from WB9IIV.

Sunday SSTV

2008-12-07T23:19:00.002Z

The ISS was sending SSTV images using the VC-H1 today. Images included some shots of the Earth and of the crew. Expect more SSTV imagery occassionally over the next few weeks as the crew celebrates 25 years of ham radio operators being in orbit.

Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, Back on Terra Firma

2008-11-09T00:51:00.002Z

ARRL article on Richard's activities at http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/11/06/10437/?nc=1

Exp. 17 and Garriott land safely

2008-10-24T14:55:00.000Z

See the NASA release for details at http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/oct/HQ_08-269_Expedition_17_landing.html

Soyuz preparations and landing

2008-10-23T14:42:00.004Z

Late word that the powering down of the Ham Radio system has been delayed until some time around 1900 UTC today. A few of you will now have one more chance at some ISS activity from Richard.

Some additional information on preparations for undocking is available at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Coverage on NASA-TV will begin at 8 p.m. Eastern [0000 GMT]- Expedition 17/Spaceflight Participant Undocking from the International Space Station (undocking scheduled at 8:15 p.m.[0015 GMT]) - JSC (Public and Media Channels)
10:30 p.m. Eastern [ 0230 GMT]- Expedition 17/Spaceflight Participant Deorbit Burn and Landing Coverage (deorbit burn scheduled at 10:44 p.m.[0244 GMT], landing scheduled at 11:36 p.m.0336 GMT]) - JSC/Kazakhstan (Public and Media Channels).
To watch NASA-TV on the web, go to http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

Preparing to say goodbye

2008-10-22T18:05:00.008Z

Richard is scheduled to depart the ISS about 0012 GMT on Friday, Oct 24 when his Soyuz capsule will undock and prepare to return to Earth. This image received by G0TTV seems to be Richard saying farewell from the ISS.

ARISS SSTV server back at new host

2008-10-22T11:55:00.001Z

The ARISS SSTV web pages are back up at the http://ariss-sstv.ssl.berkeley.edu/SSTV/ site. We've been able to do some testing, but please let me know if you experience any difficulties. Once again, my apologies for the outage! It appears to be a tribute to the interest in Richard Garriott's ham radio activity on board the ISS.
73,
Will

ARISS Update October 21, 2008

2008-10-21T23:59:00.003Z

I think you all can agree that this has been a stellar and an historic week for Amateur Radio on the International Space Station!

Speaking on behalf of the ARISS international team of volunteers and the AMSAT community, we really appreciate the overwhelming flood of positive comments that we have received from the ham radio community and the general public regarding the ham radio operations on ISS this past week. Collectively, we have all made history….starting with Richard, W5KWQ and his father Owen, W5LFL and continuing with all of you that participated and/or volunteered in his ISS journey. And along the way, we have sparked the imaginations of thousands of students. Got more interest in satellite operations. And, I understand, excited some youths to the point where they are now licensed.

Richard Garriott, W5KWQ has been extremely prolific on the ARISS ham radio system, making hundreds of voice contacts, operating the packet system during the crew sleep times and transmitting hundreds of SSTV images throughout the day. He put the newest ARISS hardware, the Kenwood VC-H1 to good use, performing the vast majority of contacts with this hardware system coupled with the Kenwood D700 Transceiver. The remaining SSTV downlinks were performed with the software-based SSTV system---using either the SpaceCam software or MMSSTV software that are on-board ISS. Given the limited availability of ISS computer systems, the ARISS team will continue to utilize the VC-H1 well after Richard's flight. So don't be surprised if you see some VC-H1 SSTV operations from Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, during his stay as the commander of Expedition 18.

The team apologizes for the temporary shut-down of the ARISS SSTV server. We have been a victim of our own success in that the site has been overwhelmed by the popularity of Richard's SSTV images. We hope to get the system operational very soon. This may take a URL change, so please check the listservs and the ARISS SSTV blog http://www.ariss-sstv.blogspot.com/ for updated information. http://www.ariss.org will also carry updates.

ARISS Development and Operations
As a reminder to all, the ARISS team is an international volunteer working group that is sponsored by three major entities in each ISS region---the National Amateur Radio Society, the International AMSAT organization and the National Space Agency. The 5 regions that comprise the ISS development are Canada, Europe Japan, Russia, and the USA. In the USA, the two ham radio sponsors are the ARRL and AMSAT-NA. NASA is the USA space agency sponsor.

Over 12 years ago, the formulation of the ARISS working group was a specific request from NASA. They wanted the amateur radio community to internationally consolidate into one team all the development and operations of the ISS Ham radio system. This specific request from NASA, and ultimately the other space agencies, was to provide a single focus of ham radio on ISS within the amateur radio community and within the space agencies. As a result, the 5 international delegations that make up ARISS tightly coordinate the day-to-day mission operations as well as the strategic hardware development planning and implementation. The success of this past week would not have been realized without this tight coordination, particularly between our Russian colleagues, led by Sergey Samburov, RV3DR and our international operations team, led by Will Marchant, KC6ROL.

Individuals are always welcome to volunteer their support to ARISS through their regional delegation. Please see the ARISS web site http://www.ariss.org for more information on your regional delegates.

Voice QSOs
We have received some reports of individuals providing advice to the ISS on-orbit crew or making specifc requests to the ISS crew to change or modify the ARISS hardware, on-board software or ham radio operations. The ARISS team would like to remind the amateur community that we all have a duty to the international space agencies to coordinate ISS ham radio operations through ARISS. Our advice to you is that if you have a specific request or idea, that you forward it to one of the ARISS international delegates or ARISS team leaders. These individuals are identified on the ARISS web site http://www.ariss.org. Also, please remember that there are a *lot* of hams that would like to get their QSO with the ISS (including me!) So please use courtesy and keep your contact short. And once you have made a contact, please do not go for a repeat…despite the intense temptation to do so. I think you all know that this is an "open" hobby. So all are listening in, observing and remembering your operating habits.

On behalf of the ARISS team, I thank you all for your interest in Ham Radio on ISS. Enjoy the contacts! And remember the ARISS teams and organizations that have made the ham radio system on ISS such a tremendous success. This includes the national amateur radio societies and international AMSAT organizations. As well as the international space agencies and the ISS on-board crew members.

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

Final scheduled amateur radio events completed

2008-10-21T13:20:00.007Z

Richard has now completed all of his scheduled amateur radio events and most of his other planned experiments. He should have much more free time Tuesday (GMT) afternoon and Wednesday morning so it is possible that he could choose to do more voice contacts during those periods.
The crew is scheduled for 4 hours of nap time from 1300-1700 GMT on Wednesday to begin the sleep shift necessary for them to begin preparations of their Soyuz vehicle. A request to have the SSTV system active during the Tuesday night sleep period and during the nap has been submitted. Hopefully, that will permit persons in other parts of the world the opportunity to capture some SSTV images (though many will be at night).
The ISS crew will be awake until midnight GMT on Wednesday and then awake at noon GMT on Thursday to begin a long day of preparations for their return trip home. One of those preparations will be to shutdown the ham radio system about 1430 GMT. The hatch between the Soyuz and ISS is planned to be closed at 2105 GMT Thursday, undocking at 0012 GMT on Friday and landing in Kazakhstan at 0336 GMT on Friday.

Richard sets new participant record

2008-10-20T18:12:00.009Z

Richard completed the sixth of the seven school contacts planned during his tour on the ISS. This is already the most every completed by a space flight participant. He continues to downlink SSTV imagery and make general contacts as his time permits. One of the downlinked images received by 7Z1AQ shows Richard inside the Service Module of the ISS.

A really clear image taken over the Middle East was received by HZ1AM.

Richard is scheduled to return to Earth on Oct 24 with the Soyuz undocking scheduled for 0012 GMT.

Additional submissions now visible in the archives

2008-10-19T22:39:00.006Z

The ARISS SSTV Gallery continues to display some of the most current and best images submitted but an archive of other duplicates or good imagery submitted is now available at http://www.amsat.com/ARISS_SSTV/archive.php

Over the weekend

2008-10-19T22:03:00.005Z

Richard continues to have success with his school contacts and has been making general contacts including some reports that he made a few JOTA contacts this weekend. Richard also began sending images from within the interior of the Service Module on the International Space Station. Some of the clearer images are posted below.
Image received by KA2CQQ

Image received by WY1U

Additionally, Richard has sent some other interesting photos and images he prepared prior to launch. Check the ARISS SSTV Gallery for continuous updates.

ARRL follow-up article

2008-10-17T17:19:00.004Z

ARRL has posted a follow up article on Richard's flight at http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/10/17/10392/?nc=1

An interesting bit of history at the end of the article states:
Bauer explained that Richard Garriott's flight on the ISS is "a part of history. Some of you have asked why Richard is using his call sign for some QSOs and SSTV contacts, instead of the ISS station call signs. There is a long and proud history that is attached to the Garriotts. This includes ham radio in space and their personal call signs. Twenty-five years ago, Richard's father, Owen Garriott, W5LFL, initiated the first ham radio contacts from space on the STS-9 SAREX mission. Richard, W5KWQ, is following in his father's footsteps, using the ARISS ham radio system extensively on his first flight. Richard's call sign is actually his grandfather's original call sign. So you can see that this mission touches three generations of ham radio and two generations of ham radio in space!"

Best images from Oct 16

2008-10-16T02:23:00.008Z

Below are some of the most interesting images received Oct 16. Note the Soyuz spacecraft at the top of the images.
ISS over N. America received by WK4R

ISS over Carribean region recieved by YV6EVC

ISS over Middle East. Recieved by HZ1AM

ISS over N. America received by KD8CAO

ISS over Baja California coast received by KD7TOG

ARISS Flight Update October 15, 2008

2008-10-15T22:39:00.004Z

All,
It was quite an exciting day for ARISS yesterday with the Expedition 18 crew docking and the start up of Richard Garriott's ham radio activities. Here are some updates and plans for ARISS during Richard's flight.

Richard, W5KWQ, fired up the radio and started SSTV operations just a couple of hours after docking. Prior to flight, Richard planned to support a slide show mode using the SpaceCam software and the SSTV interface box at the beginning of his flight. This is what you saw yesterday. Richard downlinked a number of SSTV images using Martin 1, a higher quality but longer transmit SSTV mode. The Russian team, led by Sergey Samburov, RV3DR, had requested testing several high quality image modes during Richard's flight, so don't be surprised if you see Martin 1 or other high resolution SSTV modes during Richard's flight. We asked Richard to move to the default Robot 36 mode for the time being and to space out the images once every 3 minutes to reduce the radio transmit duty cycle. Richard confirmed that he will support this. He also has transitioned to the VC-H1 as this will allow Richard to use the computer to support his Earth ops and still support SSTV.

We have over 300 image uploads on the Gallery site by hams all around the world! The ARISS team appreciates your volunteer support through all the SSTV images that have been uploaded. A volunteer ARISS team is working 24/7 during Richard's flight to review these images, to understand how the SSTV operations is progressing, and to include some of these images on the Gallery pages. ALL the images you have uploaded have been archived and are being reviewed. Please continue to upload these images as they help the ARISS team analyze and redirect the SSTV operations. You are welcome to upload these through the gallery page:
http://www.amsat.com/ARISS_SSTV/

We also have a blog available that provides the latest ARISS information for this expedition. That blog is located at:
http://www.ariss-sstv.blogspot.com/

You can also reach these sites through the ARISS website:
http://www.ariss.org/

Some other information:
SSTV uplink/downlink: Richard is really not supporting SSTV uplinks during his short duration mission. The downlink is on the normal ARISS VHF downlink, 145.80.
General Voice Contacts: Use the regular general voice frequencies. 145.80 downlink. Uplinks are 144.49 in Region 2 (Americas) and 145.20 for Region 1 (Europe, Africa, Middle East) and Region 3 (Australia, Asia). Richard and Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, have been on the air on voice since shortly after docking yesterday.
Sleep Period Activity: We have asked the crew to turn packet on during sleep periods. Our intent is to keep SSTV active during their work day. The rationale for this is that we are having some issues with the software based (SpaceCam) SSTV system occasionally keeping the radio keyed down after an image transmission. And we have a limited set of Russian batteries available during Richard's flight for the VC-H1.
Additional SSTV Information: The computer-based SSTV can also support SSTV picture taking using a USB camera. We don't anticipate Richard using this as his primary SSTV operations for his mission will be with the VC-H1. The USB camera was checked out over the weekend by the Expedition 17 crew, where they took photos of themselves and downlinked these to the ham community.

You are witnessing and are a part of history: Some of you have asked why Richard is using his callsign for some QSOs and SSTV contacts instead of the ISS station callsigns. There is a long and proud history that is attached to the Garriotts. This includes ham radio in space and their personal callsigns. 25 years ago, Richard's father, Owen Garriott, W5LFL, initiated the first ham radio contacts from space on the STS-9 SAREX mission. Richard, W5KWQ, is following in his father's footsteps, using the ARISS ham radio system extensively on his first flight. And Richard's callsign is actually his grandfather's original callsign. So you can see that this mission touches 3 generations of ham radio and 2 generations of ham radio in space!

JOTA: Remember that Jamboree on the Air is this Weekend! Scout groups are welcome to call Richard or Mike Fincke over the weekend using the General Voice Contact frequencies (see above).
School Contacts: School contacts from this day forward are tentatively scheduled as follows:
Challenger Learning Center Combined Contact #1, telebridge via W6SRJ; on Thu 2008-10-16 16:39 UTC
Howard B. Owens Science Center's Challenger Center (Lanham, MD) Challenger Learning Center of Columbia (Columbia, SC) Verizon Challenger Learning Center at MOSI (Tampa, FL) Brownsburg Challenger Learning Center (Brownsburg, IN)
Budbrooke Primary School, Warwick, England, direct via GB4OBS Fri 2008-10-17 11:05 UTC
Challenger Learning Center Combined Contact #2, telebridge via W6SRJ; on Fri 2008-10-17 15:30 UTC
Indianapolis Challenger Learning Center (Indianapolis, IN) Challenger Learning Center at Paducah (Paducah, KY) Challenger Learning Center St. Louis (St. Louis, MO)
Austin Liberal Arts and Sciences Academy, Austin, TX, direct via K5LBJ Sun 2008-10-19 13:14 UTC
Pinehurst School, Ashland, Oregon, telebridge via W6SRJ Mon 2008-10-20 15:13 UTC
National Planetarium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, direct via 9M2RPN Tues 2008-10-21 08:30 UTC

Enjoy the ARISS operations!! And my thanks to the international ARISS team for their outstanding volunteer support.
73, Frank Bauer, KA3HDO
AMSAT-NA V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs
ARISS International Chairman

First full day on ISS

2008-10-15T15:31:00.007Z

Today (Oct 15), Richard is scheduled to speak with his father in Moscow and the Mayor in Austin, Texas. He has installed the VC-H1 in the window and some very nice Earth views are being sent down on 145.800 in Robot-36. He has been heard making general contacts (when time permits) on the same downlink but using the standard 145.20 uplink over ITU region 1 (Europe, Africa and Russia) or 144.49 uplink over ITU regions 2&3 (everwhere else) . During the crew sleep cycle, the radio should be switched to packet operations on 145.825.

This image was image taken over western North America and received by KD7TOG.

Below is an another image taken over western North America and received by KD8CAO.

Initial images from Garriott reported

2008-10-14T14:53:00.006Z

Some initial imagery has been received during the 1430 UTC pass over Europe. Be ready as imagery should continue to be transmitted during the crew awake periods (roughly 0600-2030 UTC). In addition, Voice contacts are possible during the same time period. Below is an example of the many images received (these by radio operator 9H1FF).

Expedition 18 Crew Docks with Space Station

2008-10-14T12:04:00.003Z

Commander Edward Michael "Mike" Fincke and Flight Engineer Yury Valentinovich Lonchakov of the 18th International Space Station crew docked their Soyuz TMA-13 to the Earth-facing port of the Zarya module at 00:26 a.m. UTC Tuesday.
Hatches between the two spacecraft were opened at 01:55 UTC. A welcome ceremony and a safety briefing for the new arrivals followed.
The new crew launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 23:01 UTC Saturday to begin a six-month stay in space.
With Fincke, an Air Force colonel, and Lonchakov, a colonel in the Russian Air Force, is spaceflight participant Richard Garriott, flying under contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency.
Garriott will return to Earth with Expedition 17 crew members, Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko, in their Soyuz TMA-12 on Oct. 23. Expedition 17 launched to the station April 8.
Additional info from NASA at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

SSTV test images received today

2008-10-12T19:31:00.006Z

Several operators are reporting that ISS is transmitting test images today (Oct 12) beginning about 1700 UTC. Two formats have been reported. Robot-36 (which is anticipated for most of Garriott's flight) and Martin-1. Several operators have uploaded these test images to the ARISS SSTV gallery. These test images will likely be removed to make way for the Garriott images when they begin coming down.

The following are examples of images received from the ISS (of Exp. 17 Commander, Sergei Volkov) by CT1EAT and N1JEZ.

Expedition 18 Crew Launches from Baikonur

2008-10-12T13:31:00.002Z

Commander Edward Michael "Mike" Fincke and Flight Engineer Yury Valentinovich Lonchakov of the 18th International Space Station crew launched in their Soyuz TMA-13 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:01 a.m. EDT Sunday to begin a six-month stay in space.

Less than 10 minutes after launch their spacecraft reached orbit, and its antennas and solar arrays were deployed shortly afterward.

With Fincke, an Air Force colonel, and Lonchakov, a colonel in the Russian Air Force, is spaceflight participant Richard Garriott, flying under contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency.

Garriott will return to Earth with Expedition 17 crew members, Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko, in their Soyuz TMA-12 on Oct. 23. Expedition 17 launched to the station April 8.

For more info see http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition18/exp18_launch_adv_feature.html

Richard Garriott Update Oct 9, 2008

2008-10-09T23:42:00.009Z

All,
The ARISS team has a lot of exciting activities planned for the next few weeks, including the flight of Soyuz 17S to space station with Richard Garriott, W5KWQ and Mike Fincke, KE5AIT on-board. The following represents some new information and capabilities that we are rolling out to the community to prepare for Richard's and Mike's flight. Please go to www.ariss.org/, www.amsat.org/, www.arrl.org/ and www.issfanclub.com/ for real-time information updates.
73,

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

The ARISS SSTV team announces the new ARISS SSTV Web Gallery and Blog.
A website has been established to enable amateur radio operators to share their pictures received from the International Space Station's SSTV system. People wishing to view photos captured from the ISS or upload their own captured pictures can go to www.amsat.com/ARISS_SSTV/ . There is also a blog in which the ARISS SSTV Team will post announcements and additional information about the project. The blog can be viewed at http://www.ariss-sstv.blogspot.com/.

To prepare for the upcoming SSTV operations, you are welcome to "try out" the new Web Gallery by posting past SSTV images (on-orbit and terrestrial). These will be deleted prior to the ARISS SSTV events that are planned for this weekend and during ISS Expedition 17 and Richard Garriott's flight (see below).

ISS SSTV Operations Planned for October 12
The ARISS team received word from ARISS Russia delegate Sergey Samburov, RV3DR, that the current ISS crew expect to transmit SSTV on October 12 from 18:00-21:00 UTC. This is your opportunity to test out your SSTV reception capability and to post images on the ARISS SSTV Gallery. The planned downlink for this operation will be 145.80 MHz with Robot 36 as the expected SSTV mode of operation.

AO-51 Special SSTV Mode
Thanks to Drew, KO4MA, AMSAT-NA VP for Operations, this weekend AO-51 will operate in a special mode in anticipation of Richard Garriott's visit to the ISS. Richard's launch is currently scheduled for October 12th, with docking at the ISS on the 14th. Richard plans on being very active from the ISS ham station, including extensive operation with Slow Scan Television (SSTV).
In preparation for this event, AO-51 will be configured with dual repeaters for the weekend of October 11th and 12th. The primary repeater on AO-51 will be configured with an uplink on 1268.700 FM and downlink of 435.300 FM, and will be designated for this period as an SSTV repeater. Users are encouraged to exchange SSTV images in ROBOT 36 mode, as an opportunity for others to practice receiving SSTV images from space before the ISS activity. Please keep the images transmitted to space-related themes, and to the ROBOT 36 mode. Polite and courteous operation among those sharing the uplink is crucial to the success of this mode.
Concurrently, there will be a QRP voice repeater running on 145.880 FM uplink and 435.150 FM downlink. Users are asked to use 10 watts or less, and omnidirectional or handheld antennas only.
Good luck receiving SSTV images this weekend, and from the ISS during Richard Garriott's flight.

Richard Garriott Operations
As stated previously, Richard plans to perform several school contacts and downlink SSTV images during his flight. He also plans to contact the general ham community in his free time and perform random scout contacts during Jamboree on the Air. SSTV downlinks are planned on 145.80. SSTV uplinks are not currently planned. The standard general contact frequencies will be used to support the Jamboree on the Air and general QSO passes.
So that you are not calling CQ for naught, Richard's school contacts, thanks to Will Marchant, KC6ROL, Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, and Sergey Samburov, RV3DR, are tentatively scheduled as follows:

Challenger Learning Center Combined Contact #1, telebridge via W6SRJ; on Thu 2008-10-16 16:39 UTC
Howard B. Owens Science Center's Challenger Center (Lanham, MD) Challenger Learning Center of Columbia (Columbia, SC) Verizon Challenger Learning Center at MOSI (Tampa, FL) Brownsburg Challenger Learning Center (Brownsburg, IN)
Budbrooke Primary School, Warwick, England, direct via GB4OBS Fri 2008-10-17 11:05 UTC
Challenger Learning Center Combined Contact #2, telebridge via W6SRJ; on Fri 2008-10-17 15:30 UTC
Indianapolis Challenger Learning Center (Indianapolis, IN) Challenger Learning Center at Paducah (Paducah, KY) Challenger Learning Center St. Louis (St. Louis, MO)
Austin Liberal Arts and Sciences Academy, Austin, TX, direct via K5LBJ Sun 2008-10-19 13:14 UTC
Pinehurst School, Ashland, Oregon, telebridge via W6SRJ Mon 2008-10-20 15:13 UTC
National Planetarium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, direct via 9M2RPN Tues 2008-10-21 08:30 UTC

Sample audio and image

2008-09-30T19:44:00.011Z

If you wonder what SSTV sounds like, here is the audio file that was transmitted from SuitSat-1.
Here is what the image looks like (Valery Korzun installing an amaterur radio antenna on the ISS during Exp 5) if you decode the transmission (MMSSTV was used in this example).

ARRL Article

2008-09-29T20:43:00.000Z

The ARRL has a nice article on the upcoming flight posted at http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/09/25/10350/?nc=1