Contact limited with crew, station

By Steven Siceloff

FLORIDA TODAY

SPACE CENTER, Houston - Communicating with people in space has never been easy. 



In the 1960s, NASA had to build small outposts with big dish antennas around 

the globe to keep track of its spacecraft. It also outfitted ships with 

similar equipment to provide more voice access to the orbiting crews. 



NASA has since changed its ways and now relies on a constellation of large 

communications satellites to relay voices, pictures and crucial information 

from shuttles to ground controllers in Houston. 



So when American Bill Shepherd and Russians Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev 

moved into Space Station Alpha last week, it was dj vu for the American space 

agency. Ground controllers again had to wait for the spacecraft to pass over 

ground stations before they could talk to their crew. Complicating the 

matter, the brief time to talk, usually 10 minutes, but sometimes 20, had to 

be split with Russian controllers outside Moscow who also want to know how 

their guys are doing. 



Communications gear on two Russian station modules can work only with Russian 

equipment on the ground, meaning the crew was limited to a few communications 

sessions a day with ground controllers. 



But that pressure has been alleviated somewhat by a computer system and small 

camera the station astronauts have activated, a kind of digital tin can and 

string from space. 



The system, called Orbital Communications Adapter, is a laptop computer with 

a tiny camera built into it. The computer is mounted on a special base that 

allows the images and voices to be sent down to Earth through antennas on the 

American Unity space station module to the same satellites the shuttle uses 

and then down to Mission Control in Houston. 



The signal also works the other way, allowing the station crew to see the 

astronauts they are talking to on the ground. 



The system is far from clear and resembles the movies Internet users watch. 



The biggest advantage is that it allows ground controllers and astronauts to 

talk almost anytime. That would come in handy particularly in an emergency, 

but it also is critical in permitting the crew to talk to family members, for 

instance. 



The Russian space station Mir had no such ability, and when a fire broke out 

on the station in 1997, controllers in Moscow did not find out about it until 

Mir passed over Russia long after the fire was extinguished. 



But while the ability is there now to talk to the crew often, station flight 

director Jeff Hanley said NASA will use the equipment sparingly. 



"The down side is that we give up command and telemetry (information from the 

station) when we switch to the system," he said. We also need to leave (the 

crew) alone to do their work." 



The Orbital Communications Adapter is a stop-gap method for the station until 

the U.S. Destiny Laboratory Module and its host of computers is carried to 

the station in January. The computers are needed to control American antennas 

and electronics already on the station to allow communications virtually 

anytime, including clear television images. 



The current crew will not get to enjoy the advanced system long. They are to 

return to Earth in February.