[img]http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/160328main_iss018e033767.jpg[/img] Image above: Astronaut Michael Fincke (right), Expedition 18 commander; astronaut Sandra Magnus and cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov, both flight engineers, pose for a crew photo between a Russian Orlan spacesuit and an Extravehicular Mobility Unit spacesuit in the Harmony node of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA The Expedition 18 crew of the International Space Station focused its attention Tuesday on science experiments and preparations for the arrival of the next crew. Commander Mike Fincke worked with the Smoke Point in Co-flow Experiment, or SPICE, which determines the point at which gas-jet flames begin to emit soot in microgravity. Studying a soot-emitting flame will help scientists understand how fires spread in space and aid in the control of soot for future combustion systems. Fincke set up new parameters for the SPICE hardware and videotaped payload operations.

I doubt this article will be of use to anyone. It offers no solutions, no suggestions, and hopefully no offensive criticism. This is just my melancholic approach and dealing with the loss of packet on the ISS.

I obtained my amateur radio license in 1995. I've always believed the most intriguing aspect of amateur radio is satellite communications. In March 1996 I used the RS-10/11 for voice satellite contacts. I still remember the drug like rush of hearing my voice from space, especially with the echo, and the excitement of running two radios and a beam rotator, a computer, and a mic manually all at the same time. But my enthusiasm was to be short lived; The RS-10/11 became non-operational on May 1997, one month before its 10th birthday. There were other amateur satellites available for voice contact, but they were significantly more difficult to use (Read "expensive"), and I was only a tech, so I was limited. The home made J-pole antenna mounted horizontally one wavelength above an aluminum pained roof running 15 watts just wasn't going to cut it anymore.