ARISS News Release                                                                                                        No.23-03

Dave Jordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR

aa4kn@amsat.org

                                     

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

ARISS Contact is Scheduled with Students at

Norwich Free Academy, Norwich, Connecticut, USA

 

January 27, 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 Norwich Free Academy located in Norwich, CT.  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.

 

Founded in 1854, Norwich Free Academy (NFA) is a secondary school in eastern Connecticut, with a student population of more than 2,100, and serving local communities as well as international students from China, Canada, and Finland.

 

Leading up to this ARISS contact, NFA integrated an array of topics into the science curriculums for all grades. Students investigated Newtonian gravitational laws and Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion using a hands-on lab, a PhET interactive simulation, and video lessons. Students learned about the systems in place to help keep astronauts alive while living and working on the ISS; one student used NASA resources for a research project to discover how basic human needs (air, water, sleep, exercise, etc.) are met on the ISS. The NFA Amateur Radio & Engineering Club (ham radio call sign W1HLO) members and advisors installed an amateur radio satellite ground station on campus last year, thanks to a generous ARDC grant. Students in the club now get hands-on learning at the ham station for how to communicate using amateur radio satellites and how to receive weather satellite images.

 

Students will ask their questions of Astronaut Josh Cassada, amateur radio call sign KI5CRH, who will use ARISS’s ISS call sign NA1SS. The downlink frequency for this contact is 145.800 MHZ and audio may be heard by listeners within the ISS footprint that also encompasses the ground radio station at NFA. NFA club advisors and members, using the call sign W1HLO, will establish and maintain the amateur radio operations for this ARISS connection.

 

The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for January 30, 2023 at 1:55 pm EST (CT) (18:55:20 UTC, 12:55 pm CST, 11:55 am MST, 10:55 am PST).

 

The public is invited to watch the live stream at: https://youtu.be/pTkaCtam8m0

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As time allows, students will ask these questions:

1. What was the journey like for you to become an astronaut and is there anything you would recommend to someone aspiring to become one?

2. Can you tell us about how the ISS is resupplied and what kinds of things get delivered to you?

3. What experiments are going on in the ISS?

4. Are you concerned about disuse osteoporosis and what do you do in space prevent it?

5.  If you get sick in space, what would you do?

6. How do you use the bathroom in space?

7. What does your routine look like on the space station from when you wake up to when you go to sleep?

8. What does the food you eat taste like?

9. How do you keep in contact with friends and family?

10.  What were the hardest things to get used to while in space?

11. How do you stay clean in space?

12. What was the most dangerous thing you’ve experienced in space?

13. Have you gotten taller in space and if so, has it caused any pain?

14. Is it possible for things to collide with the ISS and what would you do if that happened?

15. What do you do on your free time?

16. What does it feel like entering and leaving space?

17. Has being an astronaut changed your views about society and our planet?

18. How do you sleep?

19. What is your favorite and least favorite part about being on board the ISS?

20. Why did you decide to be an astronaut after hearing all the dangers that come with it?

21. What is the grossest thing in space?

22. What is it like to go on a spacewalk?

23. Will you bring back any souvenirs from 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 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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