ARISS News Release No. 25-06

Dave Jordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISS Contact is Scheduled with Students at

Kyoto Municipal Shimogamo Junior High School, Kyoto-city, Japan

January 27, 2025—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 Kyoto Municipal Shimogamo J.H. School located in Kyoto-city, Japan. 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.

Shimogamo Junior High School, established in 1949, has about 450 students and about 50 teachers/ staff. Their Science and Technology Club has an amateur radio station with the call sign JL3ZPU. Students learn about science and technology through the year by making solar cars and using their astronomical telescope to observe the stars. All club members are encouraged to obtain an Amateur Radio license.

This will be a direct contact via Amateur Radio allowing students to ask their questions of astronaut Nick Hague, amateur radio call sign KG5TMV. 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 Kyoto-city, Japan. Amateur radio operators using call sign JL3ZPU, will operate the ground station to establish and maintain the ISS connection.

The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for January 29, 2025 at 7:47:52 pm JST (Japan) (10:47:52 UTC, 5:47 am EST, 4:47 am CST, 3:47 am MST, 2:47 am PST).

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As time allows, students will ask these questions:

1. How long have you been in the ISS? And how long have you trained as an astronaut?

2. Can you see the Great Wall of China from the ISS?

3. Can plankton that live in water reproduce the same way in space?

4. How do you sleep in the ISS?

5. What is your favorite food on space?

6. Since you became an astronaut, how have you changed yourself?

7. How much money did it cost to build the Space Station?

8. What was your first impression when you arrived at the space station?

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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