ARISS News Release                                                                                                   No.   20-26   

Dave Jordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR

aa4kn@amsat.org

 

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

 

ARISS Contact is Scheduled for Students at

Oregon Charter Academy, Mill City, Oregon - USA

 

December 11, 2020—Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has received schedule confirmation for an ARISS radio contact with astronauts. ARISS is the group that puts together special amateur radio contacts between students around the globe and crew members with ham radio licenses on the International Space Station (ISS).

 

This will be a Multipoint Telebridge Contact via Amateur Radio between the ISS and students from Oregon Charter Academy (ORCA), in Mill City, OR. During the ARISS radio contact, students will take turns asking their questions of astronaut Shannon Walker, whose amateur radio call sign is KD5DXB. The downlink frequency for this contact is 145.800 MHz.  

 

ARISS team member Shane Lynd, using call sign VK4KHZ from an amateur radio club station in Glenden, Queensland, Australia will serve as the relay amateur radio station. Each student asking a question of Shannon Walker will be teleconferenced from home or social-distanced at school.

 

The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for December 15, 2020 at 11:00 am PST (Mill City), (19:00 UTC, 2:00 pm EST, 1:00 pm CST, 12:00 noon MST, 11:00 am PST).

 

A public virtual charter school, ORCA (with about 4,800 students ages 5 to18) provides online programs via video teleconferencing, and virtual classroom courses (Zoom). ORCA opened in 2005, can reach students statewide (including remote areas), and employs over 200 teachers and staff.

 

ORCA is in the second year of a partnership with the James P. Loftus Mobile Museum to provide monthly assemblies on a variety of STEM topics (astronomy, space science and engineering related) via the Remote and Distant Interactive Online Sessions (RADIOS) program. These RADIOS are interactive assemblies that highlight educational programming provided in real time by NASA and live-streamed from Space Center Houston. Additionally, student activities related to this ARISS contact have been used to supplement existing STEM course study materials.

 

 

The upcoming ARISS contact will provide students with a significant, relevant and timely showcase event that is being utilized to increase student’s awareness of and interest in STEM-related careers. ORCA provides high school students with special opportunities through a program all about career and technical education.

 

_______________________________

 

As time allows, students will ask these questions:

 

1. How do you sleep?

2. Do compasses work in space?

3. Can you listen to the radio on the spaceship that is the same on earth?

4. How many satellites are in space?

5. Do you see storms in outer space and what do they look like?

6. What do you have to do for training to go on the ISS, and what is your favorite activity you had to do during training?

7. Are you currently growing any plants on the ISS?

8. Does it take a while to get used to this new way of living, and is adjusting to being back on earth equally hard?

9. How is your Circadian Rhythm affected while in space?

10. What is your favorite thing to research?

11. Are you allowed to have pets in space and if so what kinds?

12. Did you ever accidentally activate/deactivate something by bumping into it?

13. Do you watch TV in space?

14. How do you use electronics phones, computers, and tablets, and touchscreens?

15. How do you communicate with people on Earth?

16. How do satellite communications work?

17. How long does it take to get to the international space station?

18. What was the most dangerous situation you ever faced in space?

19. What happens if your technology goes out? What is the back up?

20. How long is the delay for a video call like this compared to something like texting or normally calling someone on a phone?

 

 

ARISS – Celebrating 20 Years of Amateur Radio Continuous Operations 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 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, and NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program. The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics topics 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 learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org

.

 

Media Contact:

Dave Jordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR

                                                                              

Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Search on Amateur Radio on the ISS and @ARISS_status.