By Danielle Jesser
The Fram2 mission will be the first to orbit the Earth’s polar regions.(Supplied: SpaceX)
Amateur radio operators in Australia will play a small but important part in receiving pictures from the first space flight in polar orbit.
The history-making Fram2 mission, the first crewed space flight aiming to orbit Earth over the north and south poles, launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Tuesday.
Among the four astronauts is Australian polar adventurer Eric Philips, making him the fourth Australian in space and the first Space X astronaut.
Amateur, or "ham", radio operators are now waiting for the Dragon capsule to make the first of several passes over Australia so they can download slow-scan television (SSTV) pictures.
The images will be used in a worldwide competition to encourage the next generation of space and radio enthusiasts.
Rabea Rogge, Eric Philips, Jannicke Mikkelsen and Chun Wang inside a Dragon capsule. (Supplied: SpaceX/Fram2)
Connecting to SpaceX capsule at his home
In central Queensland, Shane Lynd has an impressive array of antennas, amplifiers, transmitters and radio receivers.
He is part of the worldwide Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) network that will download images for the competition.
Once computer software indicates his base station in Mackay has acquired a signal from Fram2, Mr Lynd will listen for the tell-tale sounds the capsule is transmitting an image
Amateur radio operator Shane Lynd at his Mackay base station.(Danielle Jesser)
"They will be transmitting what's basically a single frame video picture as the capsule passes over Australia and the idea is to try and decode that," he said.
"They're basically like photographs but when you listen to the data with the raw ear it sounds a bit like musical tones.
"We have some smart software which decodes the compressed data and transforms it into an image like a photo."
SSTV was used to transmit the first images of the moon to earth during the first lunar landing.
A test slow scan television image.(Supplied: Shane Lynd)
Ham radio operators are hoping to download up to three images during each pass, which could last up to 10 minutes from horizon to horizon.
Each image will take about 26 seconds to decode.
Voice contact may also be possible with two of the astronauts who are licensed ham radio operators.
If Mr Lynd is successful, it won't be the first time he's spoken to an astronaut.
He is one of three radio operators in the Australian ARISS community, which facilitates contact between ISS astronauts and school groups.
He has had about 80 contacts with the ISS over the past 20 years.
"No two contacts are ever the same and I get an enormous buzz out of each of them," he said.
"In the build up to each of those contacts, I'll often walk around, pacing the hallway right up until acquisition of signal.
"You'll have your 10-minute contact and then just huge relief after it."
Shane Lynd's radio set-up.(Danielle Jesser)
The Fram2 mission
The north and south poles are invisible to astronauts on the ISS and have only been seen from a long distance by the Apollo lunar missions.
Flying at an altitude of 430km, the crew can travel between poles in just over 46 minutes.
The first polar space mission Fram2 has launched from Cape Canaveral.(Supplied: SpaceX)
The crew will conduct 22 experiments, including the first human X-ray images in space, and grow mushrooms in microgravity as a potential space crop.
Fram to ham
There are about 17,500 licensed amateur radio operators in Australia and many will be downloading images from the mission,
The Fram2 crew will send pictures of three locations that are historically significant in polar exploration.
The images will be cut up like a jigsaw, loaded to a website and competition entrants challenged to identify the Earth location.
Frank Bauer, an executive director of ARISS in the United States who previously worked for NASA for 40 years in robotic and human spacecraft, said partnering a commercial space crew was a first and was vital if ARISS was to continue linking students with astronauts.
"The space station is ultimately going to retire in a few years and so we're looking at how we can get involved in the commercial world," he said.
"This is a great mission because they want to focus on inspiring students to learn about polar history."
