ARISS News Release No. 22-06
Dave Jordan, AA4KN
ARISS PR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ARISS Contact is Scheduled for
Students at Gewerbliche Schulen Donaueschingen, Donaueschingen, Germany
February 7, 2022—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 direct contact via amateur radio between students at the Gewerbliche Schulen Donaueschingen, in Donaueschingen, Germany and Astronaut Matthias Maurer, amateur radio call sign KI5KFH. Students will take turns asking their questions. Local Covid-19 protocols are adhered to as applicable for each ARISS contact. 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 radio relay ground station.
Amateur radio operators, using the DN2FIS call sign, will operate the ham radio ground station for this contact.
The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for February 10, 2022, at 11:00:59 am CET (Donaueschingen, DE), (10:00:59 UTC, 5:00 am EST, 4:00 am CST, 3:00 am MST and 2:00 am PST).
Gewerbliche Schulen Donaueschingen provides a two-year vocational training program (about 1,200 students) in science and technology and also a Secondary school curriculum in the natural sciences and technology. In addition to the broad general education common to all vocational high schools, students receive an introduction to working in the engineering sciences of mechanical and electrical engineering. The school focuses on courses in physics, mathematics, and electrical engineering. Students may also continue into their Technical College for mechanical engineering to become a technician in technical specialists’ fields of employment. The graduating 12th-grade class took on the ARISS contact as their final graduating project and have received support from local amateur radio club (DARC A18) members, and school staff. Many of the students involved in this project are licensed hams and members of the DARC A18. In preparation for the ARISS contact, students in the 12th-grade curriculum studied specific topics in physics (motion of bodies in space), mathematics, radio wave properties (Doppler effect), and electrical engineering of radio components (frequency filtering and modulation). Amateur radio club activities also engaged students in antenna construction projects.
The public is invited to watch the live stream at: https://www.kmz-sbk.de/livestream/
_____________________________
As time allows, students will ask these questions:
For translations of these questions in German, please contact Rita DeHart, Director of Public Engagement at [email protected]
1. How far do you think humanity has gone into space in 100 years?
2. What is your opinion of the Fermi-Paradoxon? Do you think that extraterrestrial life exists, if so, where?
3. Can you see the other planets better from the ISS than from Earth? Do you have a better view from there in general?
4. What actions will be taken if there is a rupture or leak in one of the space capsules? How is the safety of the astronauts and crew ensured?
5. Could you please bring us a small souvenir of you or the ISS? For example, a photo or something small that we can hang or display at school.
6. Have you been able to try out your special oven and enjoy cookies?
7. Was it always your dream to become an astronaut? What drove you to do it?
8. You are permanently exposed to electronic devices that you operate. What opportunities do you have to relax, or how do you switch off?
9. Do you also organize certain festivities up there, if this is possible? Did you have a nice Christmas?
10. Do you know the idea of the so called "skyhook" and if you know it what do you think about it?
11. Now that the construction of the Chinese space station is up, would orbital mechanics allow to recreate the stunt from the movie Gravity? As an emergency option to get out.
12. What qualifications (medical knowledge) do you need to have as an astronaut? Did you find the training difficult?
13. In the event of an emergency, how quickly can you exit the ISS if necessary? What procedure do you follow?
14. If the safety line or the connection to the robot arm suddenly breaks during an outside walk, how can it be ensured that the astronaut does not disappear into space?
15. Have you ever been afraid that you would never return to Earth?
16. What solutions do you see to the problem of space debris?
17. What training program do you perform after returning to earth to counteract muscle atrophy
18. How long will it take you to get used to earthly conditions again?
_____________________________
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. 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 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.
Check out ARISS on Youtube.com.