ARISS News Release No. 24-62

Dave Jordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISS Contact is Scheduled with Students at

Greenville Jr High School, Greenville, Illinois, USA

October 9, 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 Greenville Jr HS located in Greenville, Illinois, USA. 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.

Greenville Junior High School (GJHS) and Greenville Elementary is within the rural Bond County Community Unit School District 2. GJHS is hosting this ARISS contact for both the high school students and the elementary students. Encouraged by their previous 2011, ARISS contact (with 48 4^th grade students having earned their Ham licenses at that time), ten students from GJHS STEM Club have earned their ham licenses in 2024. The school is again partnering with the Okaw Valley Amateur Radio Club (AD9OV) for this ARISS contact. Students are preparing for the contact, which involves earth/space mini-lessons, Ham Radio workshops, and STEM Nights that are ongoing in the months leading up to the contact.

This will be a direct contact via Amateur Radio allowing students to ask their questions of astronaut Don Pettit, amateur radio call sign KD5MDT. 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 Greenville, IL. Amateur radio operators using call sign AD9OV, will operate the ground station to establish and maintain the ISS connection.

The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for October 11, 2024 at 9:30 am CDT (Greenville, IL) (14:30 UTC, 10:30 am EDT, 8:30 am MDT, 7:30 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. Why should students today consider a role for themselves in the future of space exploration?

2. What was it like when your rocket left the launch pad?

3. What advice would you give a kid who wants to be an astronaut?

4. How did being in space the first time compare to learning about space and seeing pictures of it?

5. What happens to the trash on ISS?

6. What are some daily struggles that happen in space, but not on Earth?

7. What is one thing that you’ve always wanted to achieve as an astronaut?

8. What is the most challenging part of your job?

9. What do you do for fun on the station?

10. What is astronaut training like?

11. What is one food you have had in space that you wish you could take home?

12. Is it physically or emotionally painful getting to and from space?

13. What encouraged or inspired you to be an astronaut?

14. Was experiencing zero gravity the first time how you expected it?

15. Does it feel like the days are longer or time moves slower in space?

16. If you had to choose one word to describe space, what would it be?

17. What do you do if a member of the team gets sick or injured up there?

18. How long does it take for a radio signal to get down to Earth?

19. What is food like on the ISS?

20. Do you personally think humans will live on other planets someday?

21. Do stars look different in space?

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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