An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Kopernik Observatory & Science Center, Vestal NY on 18 Aug. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 16:24 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between NA1SS and K2ZRO The contact should be audible over the eastern U.S. and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English.

The Kopernik Observatory & Science Center is a non-profit informal educational institution that promotes interdisciplinary education in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Through its classes, events and programs, Kopernik's multigenerational approach emphasizes experiential, engaged and active learning as a model of STEM education in our region. Founded in 1973, Kopernik has offered hundreds of thousands of students of all ages the opportunity to learn about their world and the universe surrounding them. Kopernik's resources include three permanent telescopes, a heliostat, weather station, three classrooms, computer lab, and amateur radio station. It also offers a robust outreach program in which its educators bring programs directly into the classroom.

Kopernik offers a strong, STEM-based, summer camp experience for students between 1st and 12th grades. This summer one of its summer camps had 8th and 9th grade students design and build a weather balloon payload with 3 high-definition cameras and temperature monitoring instrumentation along with an Amateur Radio APRS tracking system. The balloon and payload was launched and reached an altitude of over 105,000 feet before the balloon burst and returned the payload to Earth. The payload was successfully recovered and allowing the students to examine the video, temperature data and tracking history.

Kopernik has had three previous ARISS contacts (2010, 2013 and 2015). This year, Kopernik is offering 4th and 5th grade students attending its summer engineering camp the opportunity to participate in the 2016 ARISS contact. In preparation for the contact, the camp curriculum will include satellite orbits, satellite tracking, and radio communications. Students will ask the astronaut a wide range of questions about life on the ISS and the engineering involved in building and operating the ISS.

Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:

1. We are building robots here at camp, what sort of robots do you use and

how do they help you?

2. Has anything broken on the Space Station and how did you fix it?

3. What interest or activities did you have when you were young that helped

you in qualifying for your current position?

4. How long have you been at the space station?

5. How long did it take you to get used to being in microgravity and what

are some effects from microgravity you have noticed?

6. Do you have Internet up in the space?

7. What's the weather like in space?

8. How do you sleep without floating all over?

9. What did you have to study in school to become an astronaut?

10. Do you have children? If so how do you communicate with them when you

are away?

11. Are you working on any research or science projects on the Space

Station?

12. I heard training to be an astronaut can be very difficult. What was the

toughest aspect of training in your opinion?

13. Have you ever seen a UFO?

14. What do you eat when you are in space? How do you pack food to take into

space? Does it all need to be freeze dried like astronaut ice cream?

15. What do you and the other astronauts do for fun during your downtime?

16. At what age did you first become interested in space?

17. What languages do you speak?

18. What is your day like in space?

PLEASE CHECK THE FOLLOWING FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ARISS UPDATES:

Visit ARISS on Facebook. We can be found at Amateur Radio on the

International Space Station (ARISS).

To receive our Twitter updates, follow @ARISS_status

Next planned event(s):

1. Daisen Elementary School, Saihaku-gun, Japan, direct via 8J4DISS

The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS

The scheduled astronaut is Takuya Onishi KF5LKS

Contact is a go for: Sat 2016-08-20 08:50:19 UTC

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 Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or informal education venues. With the help of experienced amateur radio volunteers, ISS crews speak directly with large audiences in a variety of public forums. Before and during these radio contacts, students, teachers, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org, www.amsat.org, and www.arrl.org.

Thank you & 73,

David - AA4KN

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