SAREX TELEBRIDGE STATION - SANTA ROSA JR. COLLEGE

The Santa Rosa Junior College SAREX shuttle communications station is the fifth such station in the Northern Hemisphere and the only one with excellent access to flights in both "medium" and "high" inclination orbits from the 37th to the 57th latitude. This site was chosen because of its ability to communicate with the Shuttle in high inclination orbits, the college resources, the ability to draw students from Northern California K-12 School Districts, and the enthusiasm of students, faculty, and staff about the project.

The SAREX program is an educational program sponsored by NASA, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) and the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT).

Its purpose is to involve the largest number of people possible, particularly youngsters, in the US space program. From three to five NASA missions each year carry the SAREX radio equipment enabling astronauts to talk directly to students on the ground. They can participate by eavesdropping on the shuttle astronauts. ARRL provides all schools who are interested with detailed educational packets about the shuttle flight ranging from experiments the students can do themselves, to biographies of the astronauts.

This page is designed to give the "Net Surfer" an overview of the Station as well as provide links to other resources that are of interest regarding the Space Shuttle, NASA, and other astronomy resources.