ARISS News Release                                                                                                   No.   20-26

Dave Jordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR

aa4kn@amsat.org

FORIMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISSContact is Scheduled forStudents at

Oregon Charter Academy, Mill City, Oregon - USA

December11, 2020—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 fromOregon Charter Academy (ORCA), in Mill City, OR. During the ARISS radiocontact, students will take turns asking their questions of astronaut ShannonWalker, whose amateur radio call sign is KD5DXB. The downlink frequency for this contact is 145.800 MHz.

ARISS team member Shane Lynd, using call sign VK4KHZ from an amateur radio club station in Glenden,Queensland, Australia will serve as the relay amateur radio station. Each student asking a question ofShannon Walker will be teleconferenced from home or social-distancedat school.

TheARISS radio contact is scheduled for December 15, 2020 at 11:00 am PST (MillCity), (19:00 UTC, 2:00 pm EST, 1:00 pm CST, 12:00 noon MST, 11:00 am PST).

A public virtualcharter school, ORCA (with about 4,800 students ages 5 to18) provides onlineprograms via video teleconferencing, and virtual classroom courses (Zoom). ORCAopened in 2005, can reach students statewide (including remote areas), and employsover 200 teachers and staff.

ORCA is in the second year of a partnership with the James P. Loftus MobileMuseum to provide monthly assemblies on a variety of STEM topics (astronomy, space science and engineeringrelated) via the Remote and Distant InteractiveOnline Sessions (RADIOS) program. These RADIOS are interactive assemblies thathighlight educational programming provided in real time by NASA and live-streamed from Space Center Houston. Additionally, student activities related to this ARISS contact havebeen used to supplement existing STEM course study materials.

The upcoming ARISS contact will providestudents with a significant, relevant and timelyshowcase event that is being utilized to increase student’s awareness of andinterest in STEM-related careers. ORCA provides high school students with special opportunities through aprogram all about career and technical education.

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Astime allows, students will ask these questions:

1. How do you sleep?

2. Do compasses workin space?

3. Can you listen tothe radio on the spaceship that is the same on earth?

4. How many satellitesare in space?

5. Do you see stormsin outer space and what do they look like?

6. What do you haveto do for training to go on the ISS, and what is your favorite activity you hadto do during training?

7. Are you currentlygrowing any plants on the ISS?

8. Does it take awhile to get used to this new way of living, and is adjusting to being back onearth equally hard?

9. How is yourCircadian Rhythm affected while in space?

10. What is yourfavorite thing to research?

11. Are you allowedto have pets in space and if so what kinds?

12. Did you everaccidentally activate/deactivate something by bumping into it?

13. Do you watch TVin space?

14. How do you useelectronics phones, computers, and tablets, and touchscreens?

15. How do youcommunicate with people on Earth?

16. How do satellitecommunications work?

17. How long does ittake to get to the international space station?

18. What was the mostdangerous situation you ever faced in space?

19. What happens ifyour technology goes out? What is the back up?

20. How long is thedelay for a video call like this compared to something like texting or normallycalling someone on a phone?

ARISS– Celebrating 20 Years 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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