An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Student Space Technology Association, Knoxville, TN on 01 Mar. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 19:08 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between NA1SS and AA4UT. The contact should be audible over the middle and 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 University of Tennessee Knoxville is an amazing school located in the hills of Tennessee. It is the largest campus in the state, hosting more than 30,000 students. This school is known for its engineering and science heritage, having close ties with research facilities such as Oak Ridge National Lab and companies like Alcoa. Also, included in our alumni are 9 astronauts including the recent ISS inhabitant Scott Kelly. Our school is filled with thousands of eager students seeking to pursue careers in the space industry. With our vision of becoming a top-tier research school, our students are set to become the next leaders in STEM industries.

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

1. Is it difficult to remain up to date on recent events on Earth?

2. Have there been any recent advancements made in ISS biological research

that could be applied on Earth?

3. How do you feel about riding on a commercial spacecraft like SpaceX's

Dragon Capsule as opposed to a government agency's craft?

4. When doing research, or any other investigation, what kind of cleaning

processes do you use on your equipment, or even yourself, to avoid

contamination of material and equipment?

5. Has there been any research that has been done with the possible

application of zero g therapy to joint diseases such as arthritis.

6. Having used current NASA spacesuits, are you excited about the new space

clothing developments being made like the Skinsuit?

7. Why does the vegetable growth experiment chamber have a pink-looking light

rather than a white light?

8. Are there any items/tools that are "lost" inside ISS?

9. Can you tell us about the recent software updates to the ISS computers?

10. Are there any experiments related to additive manufacturing going on at

the moment?

11. Using the Haptics-2, how close do you think the technology is to

application on Mars? What kind of applications could you see the

technology being used for? Anything memorable from the experiment?

12. How often, and how, do you launch satellites from the ISS?

13. Are there plans to test means of producing artificial gravity in the near

future?

14. Can you talk about the inflatable module that was delivered to the ISS in

April of 2016?

15. Would there be any foreseeable benefits in performing complex medical

operations (such as open heart surgery) in a zero g environment.

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):

TBD

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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