Discarded spacesuit-turned-broadcaster gets last word

Thank goodness he’s nothing but an empty suit, but as the stuffed dummy known as SuitSat drifted off into the ether late Friday complete with power pack and helmet, it looked like the climax of a science fiction movie – the tether broke, the power pack won’t work and the astronaut inside is condemned to eternity in space.

The astronauts in the International Space Station were not impressed: “Goodbye, Mr. Smith,” said one of them, giving SuitSat a gentle push. The Russian Orlan spacesuit, stuffed with rags and other trash, twisted gently in nothingness 220 miles above the central Pacific Ocean, beginning a gentle downward spiral that will end in four to seven months when it incinerates in Earth’s atmosphere.

But for the first two to four days, SuitSat will serve as an educational tool and diversion for amateur radio enthusiasts worldwide. Outfitted with three batteries, transmitter and sensors, SuitSat will broadcast for as long as the power holds out. Tune in to 145.990 MHz FM with a hand-talkie ham radio or a police scanner.

Be warned that the lineup is limited. First comes an announcement via voice synthesizer that, “This is SuitSat-1, RSORS,” followed by greetings in English, French, Japanese, Russian, German and Spanish with “special words” for students to decode. Then SuitSat relays its vital signs in English – temperature, available battery power, the elapsed time of the mission. The whole thing takes 30 seconds, after which SuitSat rests 30 seconds and broadcasts again.

SuitSat arose in late 2004 as the brainchild of the Russian space station team and the Space Radio Amateur Satellite Corp., a nonprofit that promotes education and amateur radio satellites.

Unlike the United States, which recycles its spacesuits, the Russians use Orlans for about two years and then discard them. The Russians suggested a variation on this theme: Why not hook up radio gear to an old suit, toss it into space and make a satellite out of it?

International Space Station Commander William McArthur Jr. and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev began the second spacewalk of their six-month stay aboard the space station at 2:44 p.m. PST. Its primary purpose was to secure a cable cutter on the mobile transporter that moves the station’s robot crane.

But first they had to get rid of SuitSat. The old spacesuit, weighing several hundred pounds, had last been used by NASA astronaut C. Michael Foale during an August 2004 spacewalk. On Friday, a radio antenna poked off the top of the backpack.

The idea of a quick departure was apparently a good one, for SuitSat first got in the way of closing the airlock door, then balked at being wrestled into position. Finally, with video cameras recording the event, it was gone.

“Wonderful picture, Valery,” mission control said. “Thank you very much.”