ARISS News Release No.23-42
Dave Jordan, AA4KN
ARISS PR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ARISS Contact is Scheduled with Students at
Bowman Middle School, Bakersville, North Carolina USA
August 25, 2023—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 Bowman Middle School located in Bakersville, NC. ARISS conducts 60-80 of these special amateur radio contacts each year between students around the globe and crew members with ham radio licenses aboard the ISS.
Bowman Middle School (BMS) is a rural, public school in Bakersville in northwestern North Carolina near the border with Tennessee and in the heart of the Blue Ridge mountains within the southern Appalachian Mountain chain. BMS has approximately 200 students in grades 5 through 8. In preparation for this ARISS contact, BMS STEM faculty have implemented ISS/Space travel/Satellite related lesson plans. Students studied topics such as wave propagation, doppler effect, gravity, speed of light, speed of sound, and participated in building a scaled lunar module. Throughout the year, students have set up an HF/VHF ham station in the classroom, built wire and directional antennas, and participated in satellite QSOs using an Arrow 2m/432 MHz antenna. Experienced local amateur radio operators are supporting the school during this contact.
This will be a direct contact via Amateur Radio allowing students to ask their questions of Astronaut Warren Hoburg, amateur radio call sign KB3HTZ. 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 Bakersville, NC. Amateur radio operators using call sign W4GUZ, will operate the ground station to establish and maintain the ISS connection.
The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for August 28, 2023 at 10:38 am EDT (NC) (14:38:46 UTC, 9:38 am CDT, 8:38 am MDT, 7:38 am PDT).
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As time allows, students will ask these questions:
1. Are you or anyone else up there doing research on any diseases that affect humans? Are you aware of any research in space that has helped to understand, treat, or cure a disease?
2. How are you trained to respond to a fire on the ISS? How do you get rid of the residual chemicals, materials, and smoke?
3. What is your favorite space-themed movie or show?
4. How long have you been an astronaut and how long have you been on the ISS?
5. Are there ever any climate or weather-related research carried out on the ISS? If so, what was the focus of the research?
6. How many ham radio operators are currently on board the ISS? How long have you been a ham radio operator and what do you enjoy about it?
7. Can minor or major surgery ever be performed, if necessary, on the ISS? What are the procedures medical-related issues among the crew?
8. What is your educational background and field of study? How do you use this on the mission?
9. What is the typical mission length in months of an ISS astronaut? How long is the pre-training before this mission and how would you describe the pre-training experience?
10. Being an ISS astronaut has to be the highlight of your career, what do you want to do in the future as far as space research or travel?
11. Who inspired you the most to be where you are today and why?
12. Were there any specific events that you saw that led you to become an astronaut on the ISS?
13. What specific advice would you give to young people today?
14. What activities and food do you miss the most while on this mission?
15. Who was your favorite teacher and what made them special to you?
16. What is the size of the current ISS crew and what nations are represented currently? Did you have to learn any of the languages of the other astronauts?
17. Can you describe the training you went through in preparing for the return trip to Earth and splashdown?
18. How do you maintain your health and fitness while on the ISS?
19. What advice would you give to a future astronaut about something they should know that the training did not prepare you for, if any?
20. How are the crew and mission of the ISS an instrument of peace and hope in a world full of conflict today?
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 International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the ISS National Lab-Space Station Explorers, Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) and NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program (SCaN). 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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