The 31st annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting took place November 1-3 in Houston.

Just prior to the gathering the AMSAT Board of Directors met October 31 and elected senior officers for 2013-2014. Barry Baines, WD4ASW, will continue as AMSAT-NA president. Others elected included Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, vice president operations; Gould Smith, WA4SXM, vice president user services; Tony Monteiro, AA2TX ,vice president engineering, and Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, vice president of Human Spaceflight.

With attendees from all over the world, the 2013 symposium was an international event. The gathering celebrated the 30th anniversary of Amateur Radio involvement in human spaceflight and the evolution of Amateur Radio into a successful program aboard the International Space Station through the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program that supports educational outreach and provides opportunities for informal contacts between astronauts/cosmonauts and Amateur Radio operators and students.

Bauer’s ARISS presentation included in-depth discussions with retired NASA astronauts Owen Garriott, W5LFL, and Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, former AMSAT President Bill Tynan, W3XO; Lou McFadin, W5DID, and ARISS telebridge operator Tim Bosma, W6MU. Garriott was the first astronaut (on STS-9 in 1983) to use Amateur Radio to communicate with radio amateurs on Earth, leading to the past SAREX (Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment) and current ARISS programs.

Additional details about the symposium are on the AMSAT-NA website. — AMSAT News Service