QST DE W1AW
HR ARRL BULLETIN NR 14  ARLB014
FROM ARRL HEADQUARTERS
NEWINGTON CT  MARCH 30, 1989
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
 
AN AMATEUR RADIO STATION IS SCHEDULED TO FLY ABOARD THE SPACE SHUTTLE
IN MARCH 1990.  APPROVAL FOR THE INCLUSION OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE
AMATEUR RADIO EXPERIMENT CALLED SAREX ON THE SECONDARY PAYLOAD LIST
OF FLIGHT STS 35 HAS BEEN RECEIVED FROM NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND
SPACE ADMINISTRATION HEADQUARTERS. RON PARISE, WA4SIR, A PAYLOAD
SPECIALIST FOR THE ASTRO 1 PAYLOAD TO BE CARRIED ON THAT FLIGHT WILL
OPERATE THE STATION IN THE ORBITING SHUTTLE.  REPRESENTATIVES OF ARRL
AND SAREX, COSPONSORS, THE RADIO AMATEUR SATELLITE CORPORATION,
AMSAT, STATED THAT THEY LEARNED OF THE APPROVAL AT A MEETING WITH
NASA OFFICIALS HELD ON MARCH 14 AT THE LYNDON B JOHNSON SPACE
CENTER IN HOUSTON.

WA4SIR WILL COMMUNICATE WITH AMATEUR OPERATORS WORLDWIDE USING VOICE
AND VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS AS WELL AS PACKET RADIO. THE ORBIT OF THE
SHUTTLE WILL ALLOW AMATEURS LOCATED BETWEEN APPROXIMATELY 46 DEGREES
NORTH AND 46 DEGREES SOUTH LATITUDES TO COMMUNICATE DIRECTLY WITH THE
SHUTTLE. THE SAREX TRANSMISSIONS FROM THE SPACE SHUTTLE WILL BE SUCH
THAT A STANDARD SCANNER RADIO CAN RECEIVE THEM.
 
THE APPROVAL FOR SAREX OPERATION IS CONTINGENT ON FINAL APPROVAL BY
JOHNSON SPACE CENTER OF THE SAREX HARDWARE AND OPERATIONS PLAN AND ON
PRIORITIZATION OF SECONDARY PAYLOADS FOR THE STS 35 FLIGHT  AR