ARISS News Release No.24-40

Dave Jordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISS Contact is Scheduled with Students at

Arizona Science Center, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

July 24, 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 students at the Arizona Science Center, located in Phoenix, AZ. 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.

Arizona Science Center (ASC), located in downtown Phoenix, features more than 300 hands-on exhibits, a state-of-the-art planetarium, a five-story giant-screen theater, live demonstrations, traveling exhibitions, and exciting science programs. The ASC offers programs for all ages, including Science on Wheels, CAMP INNOVATION, Teen programs, Professional Development, and Adults’ Night Out: Science With A Twist.

The telebridge ARISS contact is supported by local ham radio operators and ham radio volunteers from the Harkins HAM Shack team. Located on Level 3 of ASC, the Harkins HAM Shack allows guests to explore past and present radio technologies and participate in an international community with other amateur radio stations and operators worldwide using amateur radio. Run fully by volunteers, the Harkins HAM Shack provides a unique amateur radio learning experience for ASC visitors.

This will be a telebridge contact via amateur radio allowing students to ask their questions of astronaut Matthew Dominick, amateur radio call sign KCØTOR. 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 telebridge station.

The ARISS amateur radio ground station (telebridge station) for this contact is in Hollis, New Hampshire, U.S. The amateur radio volunteer team at the ground station will use the callsign AB1OC, to establish and maintain the ISS connection.

The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for July 27, 2024 at 11:24 am MST (AZ) (18:24 UTC, 2:24 pm EDT, 1:24 pm CDT, 11:24 am PDT).

The public is invited to watch the live stream at: The Center is planning to host a live stream of the contact.

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As time allows, students will ask these questions:

1. What kind of music do you like to listen to in space?

2. What protocols do you have to do every day?

3. How do you communicate with your families while in space?

4. What is the hardest thing to do in space?

5. How are your dreams in space? Are they different from your dreams on Earth?

6. Have you seen any other living life forms on planets?

7. What are the names of some of the space crafts?

8. What do your computers do?

9. How do they figure out how many steps it takes to get to the moon?

10. What is your favorite restaurant you miss on earth?

11. How do astronauts not get sick when they are flying around in space?

12. Is it fun having no gravity, just floating around in space?

13. How do you take showers?

Questions from adults at ASC if time needs to be filled

1. What is your daily schedule?

2. What is something that is more fun to do on the ISS than it is to do at home?

3. What is the most interesting task you have been assigned on the ISS?

4. What was the hardest part of astronaut training?

5. What movie has the most realistic representation of space?

6. How do you deal with a medical emergency on the ISS?

7. What is the strangest physical sensation you have had in space?

8. Can your legs and arms still go numb in space?

9. Do you play Dungeons and Dragons in space?

10. What sport would be the most fun to play in space?

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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