ARISS News Release                                                                                                    No.   21-13  

Dave Jordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR

aa4kn@amsat.org

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

 

ARISS Contact is Scheduled for

Students at Estes Park Elementary School, Estes Park, Colorado, USA

 

 

February 23, 2021—Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has received schedule confirmation for an ARISS radio contact with astronauts. ARISS is the group that puts together special amateur radio contacts between students around the globe and crew members with ham radio licenses on the International Space Station (ISS).

 

This will be a multipoint telebridge contact via amateur radio between students from the Estes Park Elementary School following Covid guidelines and Astronaut Shannon Walker, amateur radio call sign KD5DXB. Students will take turns asking their questions.  The downlink frequency for this contact is 145.800 MHz.

 

Amateur radio operators, using the call sign N0FH in Estes Park, CO, will serve as the relay amateur radio station. English is the language expected to be used during the contact.

 

The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for February 26, 2021 at 10:09 am MST (Estes Park, CO), 17:09 UTC, 12:09 pm EST, 11:09 am CST and 9:09 am PST).

 

The public is invited to watch the livestream at: https://youtu.be/AnPkH2eJM-A

 

Estes Park Elementary School (EPES) (about 480 students, grades pre-K – 5) is a rural, public school located at the base of the Rocky Mountain National Park. In preparation for the ARISS contact, the school’s 5th grade students (about 80 students) have participated in a year-long Space Exploration unit of study. However, the opportunity to view the ARISS contact will be a district-wide and community event, including all 1,140 students in the public school district. The school partners with the Estes Park Memorial Observatory (EPMO), which is also part of the school’s campus. EPMO provides facilities for their volunteers to conduct lectures regarding the basics of astronomy and features of planets, nebula and galaxies that the students or visitors will be observing online and when they can move to the dome for hands-on viewing. EPES implemented a variety of STEM-based cross-curricular topics/activities that included Introduction to Amateur Radio. Members of the Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club (N0FH) and retired Astronaut Loren Shriver have been an integral part of these activities; allowing the students to follow SpaceX Expedition 64, the ISS crew members, as well as the mission progress of the Mars Rover, Perseverance. The amateur radio club members will partner with the observatory and the elementary school to assist with the ARISS contact.

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As time allows, students will ask these questions:

 

1. What happens when it's your birthday in Space?

2. After using VR goggles to explore the ISS here in school, we wonder if you have VR goggles up there to "visit" Earth, for example if you were homesick?

3. Why don't they let kids in space?

4. How do capsules, satellites, or cargo "attach" to the ISS so people and supplies can come aboard and leave?

5. What kind of data is the ISS collecting on the sun?

6. How has COVID-19 affected you/your trip to space?

7. Have you ever had any unexplained sightings or communication while on the ISS?

8. What are your personal goals for your time in space?

9. What made you want to go to space?

10. What is your favorite research experiment that is currently being conducted on the ISS, and what data are you hoping to obtain from it?

11. What information have you gathered from studying animals (such as ants or bees) on the ISS? Have they ever gotten out?

12. Have you made up any new game to play that only works in space?

13. How do you drive/control the ISS?

14. Can you tell us about a time that you were scared or worried while in space?

15. What happens if you get seriously sick or injured on the ISS?

16. What's the farthest away someone has gone on a spacewalk?

17. Do you have designated people to perform experiments on the ISS, or does everyone take part of that?

18. What is the most awesome sight that you have seen on Earth, or in space, from the ISS?

 

ARISS – Celebrating 20 Years of Continuous Amateur Radio Operations on the ISS

 

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 International Space Station (ISS).  In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the ISS National Lab-Space Station Explorers, and NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program. The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics topics 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 learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org




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Media Contact:

Dave Jordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR

                                                                              

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