rfc@briar.philips.com (Robert Casey;6282;3.57;$0201) (03/14/89)
copied from amateur radio packet: Msg# TSP Size Read To @ BBS From Date/Time 25878 BN 1113 2 ALL N4HAP 8903/0240 Subject: Packet proposed for shuttle From: N4HAP@N4HAP Subject: Packet proposed for shuttle Heath Company recently donated three HK-21 pocket packet TNC's to the NASA Johnson Space Center Amateur Radio Club in Houston. As part of the Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment (SAREX), it is proposed that an HK-21 be used on a March 1990 shuttle flight. In this experiment, amateur radio frequencies will be used to transmit packetized data to and from the shuttle. If the project is approved, one of the TNC's will be specially adapted for space travel. Nasa will mount it into a protective SAREX casing and modifications will be made for use in zero gravity. From Radio Electronics Magazine - April 1989 For those of you not familiar with Amateur Radio packet, this is a computer based communications mode. It's a little like a LAN over radio waves instead of Ethernet cable. Amateurs on the ground can, when the shuttle is overhead, contact the shuttle packet station. This shuttle station can be automated, thus not occupying an astronaut. WA2ISE