ARISS News Release No.24-48

Dave Jordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISS Contact is Scheduled with Students at

Bayou Academy, Cleveland, Mississippi, USA

August 20, 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 Bayou Academy located in Cleveland, MS. 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.

Bayou Academy is a rural, private school in the Mississippi Delta region, with about 600 students in grades K-12. Founded in 1964, the school is historically agricultural with many of their students from agricultural backgrounds and who are interested in the different types of agricultural-based research being conducted aboard the ISS. In preparation for this ARISS contact, the school will incorporate additional Space Education into their existing STEM lessons. Additionally, students currently attend STEM-related specials that have already incorporated several different space-related activities and projects. Members of the Mississippi State University Amateur Radio Club (W5YD) are supporting the school staff and students during 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 Cleveland, MS. Amateur radio operators using call sign W5YD, will operate the ground station to establish and maintain the ISS connection.

The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for August 22, 2024 at 11:43 am CDT (Cleveland, MS) (16:43 UTC, 12:43 pm EDT, 10:43 am MDT, 9:43 am PDT).

The public is invited to watch the live stream at: https://live.ariss.org/

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As time allows, students will ask these questions:

1. Thank you for joining us, how are you doing today?

2. How long did you train to become an astronaut?

3. What is your favorite thing about being in the ISS?

4. What was your favorite subject in school?

5. Do you have any fun hobbies on the ISS?

6. What is your favorite way to exercise in space?

7. What is your favorite memory from your time as an astronaut?

8. How do you celebrate holidays in space?

9. After you leave the ISS will you miss it?

10. Is it hard to get used to sleeping in the ISS?

11. What plants are growing on the ISS right now?

12. Is there anything that surprised you about space?

13. How do you manage communication barriers with people from other countries?

14. How long did it take you to get used to micro-gravity?

15. What was your training like for becoming an astronaut and preparing to live on the ISS?

16. How do you cope with or handle the stress of leaving your friends and family behind on Earth?

17. What has been your scariest experience on the ISS?

19. Did you play any sports or musical instruments while you were in school?

20. What is your favorite food to eat in space?

21. Have you made any friends while on the ISS?

22. How did it feel like leaving Earth’s atmosphere?

23. What were you most excited about when you were chosen to be 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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