We are starting to get some direction on what will happen on ISS over the next few months and how this will affect the ARISS program. What I describe to you is very tentative. Things continue to be very dynamic as the Columbia accident investigation unfolds.

All,

We are starting to get some direction on what will happen on ISS over the

next few months and how this will affect the ARISS program. What I

describe to you is very tentative. Things continue to be very dynamic as

the Columbia accident investigation unfolds.

As you have probably seen in the press, the current crew of three is

scheduled to return to Earth using the Soyuz return vehicle that is

currently docked on ISS. This is expected to occur around May

3. Expedition 7 will consist of a crew of two. They will be launched on

the Soyuz rescue vehicle that will stay at ISS for the next 6 months. It

is my understanding that they are launching a crew of two to save

consumables (food and water) but to keep the ISS operational. It is not

clear who will be part of the ISS Expedition 7 crew. What we do know is

that we expect there to be one US astronaut and one Russian cosmonaut

on-board. One option is to fly Ed Lu and Yuri Malenchenko on Expedition

7. This is the highest probable scenario, in my opinion. But is not

definite yet.

Pedro Duque, who planned to use the ARISS equipment on the upcoming Soyuz

flight, will probably fly in the fall.

Despite the reduction in crew size, the ARISS team has been told that we

will continue to perform 1-2 ARISS school group contacts a week. Since

most of the science investigations are uploaded to ISS using the Shuttle,

there will be less science operations while the shuttle program is

grounded. This allows the opportunities for school contacts to remain the

same.

As one would expect with the Shuttle grounded, consumables (food and water)

are the highest priority items to be launched on Progress. This means that

the ARISS hardware that was planned to be flown this year will probably be

delayed. This includes the SSTV equipment, the Phase 2 hardware (Kenwood

D700 and Yeasu FT-100 radios) and the Naval Academy PCSat2. We are

continuing in earnest to have this equipment ready for any upcoming flights.

Despite the significant operations changes on ISS, ARISS operations have

fared quite well. I strongly believe that we have fared well because we

have continually conveyed a very conservative, realistic operations

expectations throughout the very difficult and extensive ISS replan process.

I hope this helps explain where we are at this time. As we get more

information, we will share it with you.

73,

Frank Bauer, KA3HDO

ARISS Chairman