ARISS News Release No. 24-68

Dave Jordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISS Contact is Scheduled with Students at

Ceip San Ignacio Del Viar, Alcalá Del Rio, Spain

October 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 students at the Ceip San Ignacio Del Viar located in Alcalá Del Rio, Spain. 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.

The San Ignacio del Viar Early Childhood and Primary Education School is a rural school with about 80 students and a staff of 11 teachers.

This will be a direct contact via Amateur Radio allowing students to ask their questions of astronaut Don Pettit, amateur radio call sign KD5MDT. 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 San Ignacio del Viar. Amateur radio operators using call sign EG7SIV, will operate the ground station to establish and maintain the ISS connection.

The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for October 21, 2024 at 1:33:54 pm CEST (Alcalá Del Rio) (11:33:54 UTC, 7:33 am EDT, 6:33 am CDT, 5:33 am MDT, 4:33 am PDT).

The public is invited to watch the live stream at: https://www.youtube.com/live/rLyPkJ0MAPE

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As time allows, students will ask these questions:

1. Is the Sun the only source of energy on the ISS?

2. How do you strengthen mental and physical health on the ISS?

3. Is Artificial Intelligence used on the ISS?

4. What is the most important thing to do on the ISS when you wake up?

5. We have a vegetable garden in our school. Do you usually grow plants on the ISS?

6. Will amateur radio still be in the future of the space age?

7. Are you doing any research for missions to the Moon and Mars?

8. Are animals usually brought to the ISS?

9. What advice would you give to children who want to be astronauts?

10. What have you learned from working in space with your international crew members?

11. How do you recycle on the ISS?

12. Is space debris being a problem space junk ISS?

13. How do you generate water and oxygen?

14. What kind of studies are being conducted on climate change?

15. What is the main challenge of a human colony on the Moon?

16. What is the most uncomfortable thing about living on the ISS?

17. What is the impact that the body experiences caused by lack of gravity?

18. What is teamwork like with the other astronauts?

19. What is it like to sleep in microgravity?

20. How are astronauts Butch and Suni, and what role do they currently play 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 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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