ARISS News Release                                                                                                    No.21-11

Dave Jordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR

aa4kn@amsat.org

FORIMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISSContact is Scheduled with Students at

Bishop Guertin High School, Nashua, New Hampshire,USA

February15, 2021—Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has receivedschedule confirmation for an ARISS radio contact with astronauts. ARISS is thegroup that puts together special amateur radio contacts between students aroundthe globe and crew members with ham radio licenses on the International Space Station (ISS).

This will be a Multipoint Telebridge Contact via Amateur Radio between the ISS and students fromBishop Guertin High School. Students will take turnsasking their questions of ISS astronaut Shannon Walker, amateur radio call signKD5DXB, during the ARISS radio contact. The downlink frequency for this contact is 145.800 MHz.

ARISS team member Fred Kemmerer, using his callsign AB1OC in New Hampshire, will serve as the relay amateur radio station.Each student asking a question on the ARISS radio will be conferenced in fromhome. English is the language expected to be used during the contact.

TheARISS radio contact is scheduled for February 19, 2021 at 12:56 pm EST (Nashua,NH) (17:56 UTC, 11:56 am CST, 10:56 am MST, 9:56 am PST).

Viewthe live stream of the upcoming ARISS radio contact at: https://youtu.be/0-Dsel4_7gM

Bishop Guertin High School (about 800 students)is a private college preparatory Catholic high school that educates studentsfrom over 40 communities in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The school’s corecurriculum includes a variety of STEM topics for all grades (9-12). The schoolalso supports STEM-related extracurricular activities as student-organizedclubs (Astronomy, STEM, Robotics, 3-D Printing). In preparation for the ARISScontact, their science core classes (and the STEM clubs) also included topics/activitiesthat helped students learn about space exploration, life in space, and theimportance of the ISS-related research and radio communications. Over the past four years, Bishop Guertinstudents collaborated with members of Nashua Area Radio Society (NARS, holding clubcall N1FD) and participated in a variety of the student STEM activities. Theseactivities included: learning about radio communication, building Morse-codekits for Morse code practice and message sending, and launching/tracking twohigh-altitude balloons. Students later formally presented the collected balloondata to NARS. These activities, along with mentoring from NARS members, inspireda number of the students to eventually earn their ham radio licenses. NARS willalso assist the school with the ARISS contact.

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Astime allows, students will ask these questions:

1.What landmark on Earth looks the most amazing from space?

2.What day to day task is most challenging in space?

3.What inspired you to become an astronaut?

4.What experiments are you currently working on?

5.Can you share with us what you like best about being in space?

6.What does a typical day look like for you?

7.What is something new you learned in space?

8.What did you bring from Earth to remind you of home?

9.What part of space travel is most exciting for you?

10.Does being in zero gravity feel like floating in water?

11.What are some recent discoveries the ISS has made from the experimentsconducted in space?

12.Upon returning to Earth, how do you plan to re-adjust to gravity?

13.What are your thoughts as you prepare for lift off?

14.As an experienced astronaut, what advice would you give to a new astronautheading to the ISS?

15.How do you treat injuries or illnesses in space?

16.Do you have a favorite space food?

17.What is the most unusual thing you have seen in space?

18.What part of your training was most challenging?

19.What happens to your tears in space?

20.How do the sun and stars look different in space than on Earth?

ARISS – Celebrating 20Years of Amateur Radio Continuous Operations on the ISS

About ARISS:

Amateur Radio on the InternationalSpace Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radiosocieties and the space agencies that support the International Space Station(ISS).  In the United States, sponsorsare the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio RelayLeague (ARRL), the ISS National Lab-Space Station Explorers, and NASA’s SpaceCommunications and Navigation program. The primary goal of ARISS is to promoteexploration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematicstopics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew membersaboard the ISS and students. Before and during these radio contacts, students,educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, andamateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org

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MediaContact:

DaveJordan, AA4KN

ARISSPR

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