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   ARLS004 Elementary School's SSTV CubeSat Now Set to Deploy from ISS on May 16   
      
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   Space Bulletin 004  ARLS004   
   > From ARRL Headquarters   
   Newington, CT  May 12, 2016   
   To all radio amateurs   
      
   SB SPACE ARL ARLS004   
   ARLS004 Elementary School's SSTV CubeSat Now Set to Deploy from ISS on May 16   
      
   After postponements earlier this year, the STMSat-1 CubeSat constructed by   
   pupils at St Thomas More (STM) Cathedral School in Arlington, Virginia, now is   
   set to deploy from the International Space Station on Monday, May 16, between   
   1400 and 1500 UTC. The spacecraft is equipped with a slow-scan TV (SSTV)   
   payload that will transmit on the 70 centimeter Amateur Radio band (437.800   
   MHz).   
      
   The school won a NASA competition for the launch. The satellite is the first   
   to be designed and built by grade schoolers, who have been supported by NASA   
   technical advisors and local radio amateurs. Transported to the ISS in   
   December by an Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft, the kit-built satellite first   
   had been scheduled for release in mid-February, but that event was postponed   
   until early March, before being put on hold again.   
      
   "The STM Sat-1 mission is to perform Earth observation and engage grade-school   
   students around the world as remote Mission Operation Centers," the STMSat-1   
   website explains. The satellite project is part of the school's STEM (Science,   
   Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education initiatives. St Thomas More   
   includes students from pre-kindergarten through grade 8. The project aims to   
   engage other schools around the world as "Remote Mission Operation Centers"   
   (http://www.stmsat-1.org/rmoc/).   
      
   NASA's Technology Demonstration Office provided the school with a mobile   
   "clean room" to ensure that the construction phase met with strict guidelines   
   and standards for launch and deployment from the ISS. The space agency also   
   provided the school with an antenna, so the school can receive the SSTV images   
   and temperature readings the satellite sends back. The students already have   
   tested their CubeSat by sending it aloft on a tethered balloon.   
      
   The SSTV camera onboard STMSat-1 will transmit a Martin-2 image every 30   
   seconds. It will not transmit a beacon signal, however. The youngsters are   
   hoping it will send back images of Earth as seen from space. The transmitter   
   runs 3 W, and there is no onboard data storage capability.   
      
   STMSat-1 has an estimated lifetime of at least 9 months.   
      
   NNNN   
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