An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Brihaspati Vidyasadan, Kathmandu, Nepal

on 20 Jan. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 08:37 UTC. It is recommended that you start listening approximately 10 minutes before this time.The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and VK5ZAI. The contact should be audible over Australia 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.

Brihaspati Vidyasadan is a 32 year old High school, located in Kathmandu, Nepal. Brihaspati runs classes from Nursery to 100 at Secondary level and the 10+2 program in Science and Management at the Higher Secondary Level. Besides these Brihaspati also runs Diploma in Hospitality Managemant and Tourism in affiliation with Confederation of Tourism and Hospitality (CTH), UK.

Brihaspati is known for its Academic excellence. Till date Brihaspati has produced over 2000 SLC graduates and over 600 +2 Graduates who have achieved excellent academic achievements. Brihaspati has also been awarded the Best School in Nepal in 2055BS.

Brihaspati is also known for its co-curricular and extra-curricular activities including sports, debates and concerts. Over the years the School has achieved Inter-school successes in Football (Soccer), cricket and Basketball at national levels. School has also successes in inter-school competitions like debate, elocution and concerts.

For its academic, co-curricular and extra-curricular achievements Brihaspati has been placed among the Class A schools of Nepal by the Ministry of Education, Government of Nepal.

Brihaspati staff and students have been known for their innovation in education. The school is reputed to be the first school in Nepal to introduce computer education. Brihaspati houses clubs like Lokopakar, which is a student club that looks into Humanitarian aid. Brihaspati students recently started gThink Inkh, an activity designed using the principles of Extreme Design from Stanford for instilling Critical Thinking and Problem solving skills in students. This program has gained attention of a lot of people in the academia at a very rapid pace.

Brihaspati is located in a 25 acre land space at the heart of Kathmandu within the Balmandir compound. It has academic facility that is of very high standards. It houses the Free and Open Source Research lab and HAM (Amateur) radio facility that students and staff have access to.

Recently during the earthquake of Nepal, one of the buildings of Brihaspati was used by HAM radio operators from Nepal and India to coordinate search and reconciliation of families where over 500 families were reunited with their loved ones.

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

1. What is the most beautiful view from the space?

2. What are the most important things that ISS have known till now about

space?

3. Many inventions were first used by astronauts which were later found to

be commonly used by all e.g. Velcro. Can you tell us of any such tools or

equipment that you are currently using that might be commonly used

later by all?

4. What would happen if you sneeze without holding on to anything?

5. Can you see any signs of pollution from space?

6. What would you like to say to students like us?

7. How does a match burn in near zero gravity? Is it very different to that

from what happens here?

8. Who or what inspired you to be an astronaut? What advice can you give to

youths who want to be astronauts?

9. What are the detrimental effects on the body when living for a long time

in a space lab?

10. Is it true that you use pencil to write in space? If not what do you

use?

11. Has there been any case of sickness like common cold in the ISS?

12. Which subjects must we study to become astronauts?

13. I think half the crew members are from Russia. Do you have a language

barrier problem when talking to each other?

14. Is it true that Americans use the foot/pound system of measurement, so

is there any difficult in this regard?

15. In Kathmandu, our shirts become dirty within a few hours. How often do

you have to clean your clothes?

16. Is there any research going on in ISS which can have impact in less

developed countries like Nepal? Could you please briefly explain about

it?

17. In what ways does zero gravity affect human physiology? How difficult is

it to perform normal human activities that time?

18. How do you manage communication in the space? -

19. Some people believe that there is existence of aliens in the space. What

are the possible evidences to prove their survival?

20. How aging is affected in the prevailing conditions of space?

21. Why is space black in the movies even though the sun is there?

22. Can we change the direction of the spaceship according to our wish?

23. What is the most difficult part of training to become an astronaut?

24. How did you feel seeing cities on earth, the bright lights at night and

gray smudges in daytime from space?

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Next planned event(s):

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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), and the 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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