ARISS News Release No.24-05
Dave Jordan, AA4KN
ARISS PR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ARISS Contact is Scheduled with Students at
Bandırma Şehit Güvenç Anatolian High School, Balikesir, Bandırma, Türkiye
January 30, 2024—Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has received schedule confirmation for an ARISS radio contact between an Axiom Mission (Ax-3) astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and students at the Bandırma Şehit Güvenç Anatolian High School, Balikesir, Bandırma, Türkiye. 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.
This will be a telebridge Contact via Amateur Radio allowing students to ask their questions of astronaut Alper Gezeravci, amateur radio call sign KJ5DIY/TA5TRU. As a fighter pilot with the Turkish Air Force, Gezeravcı has 15 years of flying experience on multiple aircrafts including the T-41, SF-260, T-37, T-38, F-5, KC-135 and F-16. In addition, he served as a captain with the Turkish Airlines for seven years. Gezeravcı has also served as a flight leader, flight safety officer, and commercial airlines captain. He is now serving as a mission specialist for Axiom Space’s Ax-3 mission to the ISS on the SpaceX Dragon.
Born in Silifke, Türkiye, Gezeravci is honored to be a part of the Ax-3 mission as the first Turkish astronaut to go to space. Through the Ax-3 mission, Gezeravcı hopes to inspire the next generation of explorers and ignite a passion for STEM education in teachers and students worldwide to each pursue their ambitions. 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 telebridge station.
The ARISS amateur radio ground station (telebridge station) for this contact is in Casale Monferrato, Italy. The amateur radio volunteer team at the ground station will use the call sign, IK1SLD to establish and maintain the ISS connection.
The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for January 31, 2024 at 15:12:57 pm EEST (Turkey) (12:12:57 UTC, 7:12 am EST, 6:12 am CST, 5:12 am MST, 4:12 PST).
The public is invited to watch the live stream at: http://www.ariotti.com/
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As time allows, students will ask these questions:
1. How does it feel to be in space?
2. Could you provide us with some information about the International Space Station? What kind of place is it?
3. Where will you land after the mission?
4. What kind of experiments are you conducting on the International Space Station?
5. What contributions have or will the experiments you conduct on the International Space Station make to us?
6. Will you share some photos with us from space? Were you able to record some videos there?
7. How does being Türkiye's first astronaut make you feel? Do you feel privileged?
8. As an astronaut with a background with fighter pilot, what were the most challenging and comfortable aspects of being an astronaut in the microgravity when compared to being a fighter pilot?
9. What is it like to watch the Earth from space?
10. What is the first thing you want to do after returning to Earth?
11. What did you feel from the moment you were strapped into the seat during the launch process?
12. How much G-force did you experience during launch? How did it affect you?
13. Can you tell us a bit about the experiments you are conducting on the International Space Station? What are the results of these experiments, and where and how will they be used?
14. What kind of infrastructure do you use when conducting experiments?
15. During experiments, do you have the opportunity to establish contact with Earth and receive support?
16. What is it like to sleep in microgravity? Do you have a private room on the International Space Station?
17. What is the most important characteristic in an astronaut that has caught your attention? Can anyone become an astronaut?
18. What kind of foods do you eat in International Space Station?
19. Do you have any activity with other astronauts to have some fun?
20. Would you like to stay in International Space Station more than 14 days?
About Axiom Mission 3:
As the first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the ISS, Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) redefines the pathway to low-Earth orbit for nations around the globe. This mission marks a new era of opportunity for countries to join the international space community and access low-Earth orbit to advance exploration and research in microgravity.
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 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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