From http://www.space.com/astronotes/astronotes.html Old Spacesuit, New Satellite In a space-saving move on the International Space Station (ISS), surplus Russian spacesuits may be turned into satellites. Plans are being drawn up to shove off from the ISS an old Russian Orlan spacesuit. Tagged as a “SuitSat”, this Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) project might be the most unusual Amateur Radio satellite ever orbited. SuitSat is to be tossed overboard during a spacewalk and would carry a multi-language Amateur Radio transmitter, as well as a compact disk containing images of school artwork. A School Spacewalk effort is being promoted by the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) of Silver Spring, Maryland to gather art for the disk from around the globe. The disk would be sent to Russia in late June. It would be sent to the ISS via a Progress supply vehicle being readied for liftoff this August. With stowage space aboard the ISS at a premium, several Russian Orlan spacesuits used for spacewalks have been declared ready for an out-the-airlock launch. A second Orlan space suit is expected to become available for possible deployment as a temporary satellite in 2007. A SuitSat would orbit for weeks before reentering the Earth’s atmosphere. Alas, another space collectible gone for good. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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