ARISS News Release No. 24-53

Dave Jordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISS Contact is Scheduled with Students at

Khazar University, Dunya School, Baku, Azerbaijan

September 26, 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 Khazar University, Dunya School located in Baku, Azerbaijan. 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.

Professor Hamlet Isakhanli and his wife Naila Isayeva founded Khazar University, the first private higher education institution in Azerbaijan. The Space Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan is the main sponsor of this ARISS contact. Prior to this ARISS contact, Baku Dunya School students have been participating in many regional competitions in technical sciences. Local members of the Azerbaijan Radio Amateur Society are supporting this ARISS radio contact.

This will be a direct contact via Amateur Radio allowing students to ask their questions of astronaut Sunita Williams, amateur radio call sign KD5PLB. 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 Baku, Azerbaijan. Amateur radio operators using call sign 4K6EH, will operate the ground station to establish and maintain the ISS connection.

The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for September 28, 2024 at 1:13:29 pm AZT (Baku, Azerbaijan) (9:13:29 UTC, 5:13 am EDT, 4:13 am CDT, 3:13 am MDT, 2:13 am PDT).

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As time allows, students will ask these questions:

1. What studies have you done to become an astronaut?

2. What are the advantages of space exploration?

3. How do you interact with your family members while being in space?

4. Do you use a watch in space for getting the notion of time there?

5. Is it difficult to walk when you come back to Earth?

6. Are there any disadvantages in space exploration that may negatively affect the planet?

7. What skills are required to become an astronaut?

8. Which is the more difficult - to leave or to come back to Earth?

9. At what age can we travel out the space?

10. How long can we stay in space?

11. What are the consequences of space in human body?

12. What were your feelings during your first trip to space?

13. When you were a child, did you ever think that you would become an astronaut one day?

14. What sort of food do you eat in the ISS?

15. If you had a second chance, would you choose the same profession?

16: When was your last space mission and what was it?

17. What do astronauts usually eat to keep their body healthy?

18. What do you enjoy most about space?

19. Which memorable or surprising experiences did you have in space?

20. What is the biggest challenge 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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