*ARISS News Release No. 24-44*

*Dave Jordan, AA4KN *

*ARISS PR *

*aa4kn@amsat.org aa4kn@amsat.org*

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*

*ARISS Contact is Scheduled with Students at the*

*International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly 2024, Cape Town, South Africa*

August 6, 2024—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 IAU General Assembly 2024 located in Cape Town, South Africa. 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.

The 2024 International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly (GA) is for the first time being held on the African continent, in Cape Town from August 6 – 15. During this conference, the IAU is hosting this ARISS contact to enhance the experience of the expected 2000 astronomer-attendees, and over 1000 students from local schools. The GA 2024 scientific program includes symposia, invited discourses and meetings covering a wide array of cutting-edge science and technology topics, all completely open to the public to follow online for free. Over 1000 students from under-served schools in Cape Town will participate in the conference venue for talks and hand-on activities. On August 9th, the GA will also commemorate National Women’s Day by holding a special outreach event for families of all ages to celebrate women in astronomy and space science. NASA and ESA will also be contributing and participating in the GA 2024.

This will be a telebridge Contact via Amateur Radio allowing students to ask their questions of astronaut Sunita Williams, amateur radio call sign KD5PLB. 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 Meadow Spring, Australia. The amateur radio volunteer team at the ground station will use the call sign VK6MJ, to establish and maintain the ISS connection.

The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for August 9, 2024 at 1:55 pm SAST (Cape Town, SA) (11:55 UTC, 7:55 am EDT, 6:55 am CDT, 5:55 am MDT, 4:55 am PDT).

The public is invited to watch the live stream at: *https://astronomy2024.org/ https://astronomy2024.org/*

*_______________________________*

As time allows, students will ask these questions:

1. What inspired you to become an astronaut?

2. Do you grow your own food on the ISS?

3. How do you know what is up and what is down in space?

4. Can you see Table Mountain from space?

5. How do you cope with the physical challenges of long-duration space flights?

6. What happens if an astronaut gets sick?

7. How has the view of Earth from space influenced your sense of responsibility towards our planet?

8. Do you get anxious being up in space?

9. How does space travel affect your perception of time?

10. What signature move would you bust out in a space dance-off with a rival alien crew?

11. What is a typical day like for you in space?

12. What do musical instruments sound like on the ISS?

13. What is your favourite space food?

14. Do you get jet lagged from space travel?

15. What is the most breathtaking moment you've experienced in space

16. What does space smell like?

17. What unexpected emotional challenges have you faced during your time in space?

18. Do you like being an Astronaut?

19. Do you do spectroscopic analysis experiments on the ISS?

20. What would your superhero name and special powers be based on your experience in 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 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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