COLAIS inside Columbus

The global AIS ship tracking experiment is operating from a modest amount of hardware fitted onto the cone of ESA's Columbus module, linked to a previously-installed external antenna. The 'ERNObox' control computer is the long black box - about the size of a car radio - while a RF filter is fitted below it, and the NORAIS receiver is installed beneath that. Every three months this Norway-built NORAIS receiver will be swapped over with another Luxembourg-built LUXAIS receiver.