Amateur Radio on the International Space Station Board Chairman
Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, announced that one of the four new ARISS
antennas will be installed soon. "I'm very excited about this event,"
said KA3HDO, "how many times in our lifetime will AMSAT be
involved in an EVA with the ISS Crew?"

It's anticipated that the VHF-UHF flexible tape antenna will be installed
on one end of the ISS Service Module during a scheduled EVA
beginning around 21:45 UTC on January 14th. The antenna system is
tentatively scheduled for deployment around 02:00-02:30 UTC (on
January 15th). KA3HDO notes that EVA schedules are very fluid, so
those interested in viewing the deployment on NASA TV will need to
stay attentive during the entire EVA activity.

Installation of the new antenna on the Service Module paves the way
for two separate ham stations aboard ISS. Plans call for a 2-meter
station to remain in the Functional Cargo Block and a second 70-cm
station to be set up in the Service Module.

Franks reported to ANS that he would not be surprised if some video
from the antenna installation was carried on NASA TV. There has
been some great video downlinked of the antenna preparation over
the past few days - and there was an ISS Press Conference where
the ham radio antennas were discussed.

A detailed breakdown of the antenna installation with some great
pictures and diagrams (depicting the entire ISS ham system including
antenna's) can be downloaded at:

http://ariss.gsfc.nasa.gov/EVAs/amsat01.pdf

The current ISS crewmembers may perform up to four spacewalks to
continue station assembly during their time in orbit, while continuing to
perform a host of scientific experiments.

The ARISS team is also working with the ISS Crew to get the packet
system working on a continuous basis.