ARISS News Release No.24-11
Dave Jordan, AA4KN
ARISS PR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ARISS Contact is Scheduled with Students at
B. Russell High School, Rome, Italy
February 13, 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 B. Russell High School located in Rome, Italy. 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 B. Russell High School curriculum is organized into Classical, Linguistic, and Scientific courses with the current school year having 59 classes with a total of 1395 students. Students study mechanics, thermodynamics, optics, algebra, Cartesian and Euclidean geometry, and probability. In higher grade levels they study classical electromagnetism, modern physics, and mathematical analysis. Throughout their course of study, students have opportunities to take advanced courses, sometimes in collaboration with universities, including cryptography, astronomy, meteorology and climatology, and electromagnetism. To prepare for this ARISS contact, students have built circuits and antennas to study electromagnetic fields (propagation and reception), and collected and analyzed data from weather sensors. Students are also learning about astronomy that include practical observational
activities using telescopes. The course in astronomy covers the main topics of modern astronomy and astrophysics, from the formation of the Solar System, to theories of stellar evolution. Prior to the ARISS contact, students have also been learning about the ISS and space exploration. Members of the Italian Amateur Radio Association (ARI) section of Rome, are also providing technical training to the students, and are responsible for this direct ARISS contact event.
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 Rome, Italy. Amateur radio operators using call sign IKØUSO, will operate the ground station to establish and maintain the ISS connection.
The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for February 15, 2024 at 12:32 pm CET (Italy) (11:32 UTC, 6:32 am EST, 5:32 am CST, 4:32 am MST, 3:32 am PST).
The public is invited to watch the live stream at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0YEgMvzbn8
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As time allows, students will ask these questions:
1. What progress has been made in research on plants in space and what impact could it have on future extraterrestrial cultivation?
2. In your experiments, are you doing any research which has to do with new solutions to climate change?
3. How will artificial intelligence influence the life and research of astronauts?
4. In simple terms, can you explain what the PROMETEO II project is about?
5. What technological challenges do you think are crucial to overcome in order to make presence in space more sustainable and comfortable in the long term?
6. You are carrying out studies on the cardiovascular system. Could the results obtained be applied, for example, in the development of new aeronautical technologies?
7. If a person gets sick while being in a closed space, what can be done to avoid the passage of viruses and apply the consequent treatment?
8. How does the perception of time and space change during a prolonged space mission?
9. How do you deal whit long-term physical changes, such as loss of bone density while in space?
10. What are the physical tests that an astronaut must pass?
11. What is standard procedure in the case of fire?
12. In the event of a breakdown in the carbon dioxide disposal machinery what should the astronauts do? (Hoping it never happens)
13. How important is the collaboration between all astronauts to achieve the required objectives?
14. What is the impact experienced by the body caused by the absence of gravity?
15. Do you follow a specific diet before going into space?
16. How does physical activity play a vital role for astronauts inside the space station?
17. What is the purpose of future space exploration?
18. What kind of biological experiments do you have to carry out on board?
19. How can we keep up a hypothetical supply chain for future colonies and bases on Mars and on the moon? (Is it possible, perhaps, to develop a system for a complete self-sufficiency)
20. What studies must one complete to become an astronaut?
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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