ARISS News Release No.24-12
Dave Jordan, AA4KN
ARISS PR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ARISS Contact is Scheduled with Students at
Girl Scout Troop 1089, Sacramento, California, USA
February 19, 2024—Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has received schedule confirmation for an ARISS radio contact between an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and youth members in Girl Scout Troop 1089 located in Sacramento, CA. ARISS conducts 60-100 of these special amateur radio contacts each year between students around the globe and crew members with ham radio licenses aboard the ISS.
This Girl Scout Project with ARISS has been undertaken and implemented by Senior and Ambassador Scouts (high school) from various Troops within the greater Sacramento area. In preparation for this ARISS contact, Girl Scout Troop 1089 conducted an educational program (Space and Stem Educational Activities and Experience) of seven sessions designed for Senior and Ambassador Girl Scouts, representing ages 14-18, grades 9-12. By earning their “Space Science Master Badge” and “STEM Career Exploration Badge” and participating in this ARISS contact, the Girl Scout leaders hope this will inspire an interest in science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) fields among the attendees. Session activities allowed girls to build/tune a small radio, learn about web software defined radio, research the experiments occurring on the ISS, and learn about careers in the space sciences. They also learned to work a ham radio station that will download Slow Scan TV images. Girl Scout Troop 1089 is actively working with members of the River City Amateur Radio Communications Society (N6NA) who have provided lessons in radio communication, amateur radio, and STEM fields as part of the seven sessions.
This will be a direct contact via Amateur Radio allowing students to ask their questions of astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, amateur radio call sign KI5WSL. The downlink frequency for this contact is 145.800 MHz and may be heard by listeners that are within the ISS-footprint that also encompasses the relay ground station.
The amateur radio ground station for this contact is in Sacramento, CA. Amateur radio operators using call sign N6NA, will operate the ground station to establish and maintain the ISS connection.
The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for February 22, 2024 at 10:26 am PST (CA) (18:26 UTC, 1:26 pm EST, 12:26 pm CST, 11:26 am MST).
The public is invited to watch the live stream at: https://youtube.com/live/-pc-8FqHBTw - early entry 9:15 and https://fb.me/e/3xnJgypOa
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As time allows, students will ask these questions:
1. What is the strangest thing to happen to you on the ISS?
2. What are some of the experiments you are working on? What is your favorite?
3. What are you most looking forward to when you return to Earth?
4. What are some things you will miss about space once you are back on Earth?
5. What advice would you give someone who wants to be where you are?
6. The first time you took off from Earth were you scared? What was it like?
7. Do you think we will find evidence of life beyond Earth?
8. How do you get supplies from Earth?
9. Are your experiments mostly biological or technological?
10. How do solar flares affect you and the Space Station?
11. Do you listen to music or PodCasts in space? If so, what?
12. Do you have any free time? If so, what do you do during it?
13. Do you really eat astronaut ice cream? What is your favorite flavor?
14. What happens if there is an emergency with the Station itself?
15. What is your deepest worry while on the ISS?
16. What is the hardest part of being an astronaut?
17. What is the average day on the ISS like for you?
18. Would you live on Mars if you could?
19. What is your favorite part of being an astronaut?
20. Do all astronauts perform experiments or do some focus on science while others focus on the maintenance of the space station or something else?
About ARISS:
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the ISS. In the United States, sponsors are the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program (SCaN) and the ISS National Lab—Space Station Explorers. The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics topics. ARISS does this by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities take part in hands-on learning activities tied to space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see http://www.ariss.org
Media Contact:
Dave Jordan, AA4KN
ARISS PR
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