Last week's RF Report described the "SuitSat" experiment in which a low-powered spacesuit transmitter would be released from the International Space Station (ISS). Initial results were disappointing, with only very faint or no signals being reported. However, since the original deployment, the situation has improved. The Web site www.suitsat.org is now listing more than 150 reception reports. While some reports did indicate weak signals, others are reporting reception of solid packet bursts, voice transmissions and even some apparently good slow-scan TV frames.
This is in contrast to an earlier statement from NASA International Space Station Status Report for Feb. 4, 2006 saying, "Space station crewmembers released a spacesuit-turned-satellite during the second spacewalk of their mission last night. Called SuitSat, it faintly transmitted recorded voices of school children to amateur radio operators worldwide for a brief period before it ceased sending signals." That report said that transmissions ended after about two orbits, "perhaps due to its batteries failing in the cold environment of space." The suit was launched from ISS when it was about 225 miles above the south central Pacific Ocean.
For more information and additional links, see last week's RF Report.
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