An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Palmetto Scholars Academy, North Charleston, SC on 10 Feb. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 17:59 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between NA1SS and K4PSA The contact should be audible over the east coast of the 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.

Palmetto Scholars Academy is a public charter school, providing a gifted curriculum to students in grades 6-12 in North Charleston, South Carolina. 6 years ago PSA opened in a converted day care center and was the lowest funded school in America. It was started by a group of concerned parents who wanted to meet the needs of gifted students. In those early days, board members took out second mortgages to meet teacher payroll, and parents pulled together daily to send in supplies. Despite challenges, PSA rose above the decrepitude and started its tradition of achievement, earning their mascot name of Phoenix.

PSA is a student haven for gifted students. "It's okay to be a nerd here" and "It's cool to be smart" illuminate the student culture at PSA.

To meet the intellectual needs of gifted students, PSA participates in many challenges such as VEX Robotics, VEX IQ Robotics, FIRST Robotics Competition, Ham Radio, Low country Science Fair, Odyssey of the Mind, and the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP). PSA students have designed three experiments through the SSEP. Two experiments reached the ISS and returned to Earth, although the second experiment blew up on the Orb-3 and Falcon 9. The third experiment launches next month. Students also send experiments via PongSats, Cubes in Space, and student-launched high- altitude balloons.

PSA has a Ham Radio Club and their own vanity call sign, K4PSA. The club meets every other Friday for 1 ½ hours and after schools on Friday. Since its inception in 2015, the club has gotten 6 students licensed for ham radio.

These students will be the student liaisons and leaders for this ham radio contact.

PSA has established itself as a distinguished charter school in South Carolina. With a new building, better funding, and culture of achievement, PSA rises from the ashes like the Phoenix and challenges its students to reach the stars.

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

1. What is the first thing that you do after you receive the SSEP

experiments?

2. Besides Earth, what interesting objects have you seen from the view on the

ISS?

3. Are there plans to send a 3D printer to the ISS in order to print food?

4. Do you have to wear a uniform, or can you wear anything you want in your

free time?

5. Do you play pranks on each on the ISS?

6. How are you affected by relativity at the current speed you are going, and

do you have some sort of atomic clock on board to measure the effect?

7. Is there one person that is trained to fix the spacecraft, or is everyone

able to fix it?

8. We sent watermelon seeds in microgravity on a sounding rocket out of

Wallops Island. Do you think watermelons would be a good fruit to

cultivate on the ISS?

9. Does microgravity affect your ability to talk?

10. Are there laws in space that don't apply on Earth?

11. Do you think re-usability will become a standard for all rockets launched

by the United States soon in the future?

12. In your opinion, what is the greatest recent innovation in spaceflight?

13. What games, if any, do you play on the ISS that can only be played in

microgravity?

14. How do you feel about civilian space travel, if it ever happens?

15. Can astronauts observe religious services aboard the ISS?

16. Are there any modifications to your 3d printer to allow it to print in

space?

17. What do you plan to do once you are finished being an astronaut?

18. If you could choose any animal to accompany you to space, without it

affecting them, or harming anyone, what animal would you choose?

19. What is the most interesting item that you have printed with your 3D

printer?

20. Have your opinions changed after seeing the world from a perspective no

one else has seen?

21. If you were able to test your own experiment aboard the ISS, what would

it be and why?

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. Collège André Malraux, Chatelaillon-Plage, France, direct via F4KJT

The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be FXØISS

The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG

Contact is a go for: Mon 2017-02-13 14:00 UTC

2. 3rd Junior High School, Komotini, Greece, direct via SV7APQ

The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS

The scheduled astronaut is Shane Kimbrough KE5HOD

Contact is a go for: Fri 2017-02-17 08:58 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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