ARISS News Release                                                                                            No. 24-25

DaveJordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR

aa4kn@amsat.org

FORIMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISSContact is Scheduled with Students at

PleasantKnoll Middle School, Ft. Mill, South Carolina, USA

April 20, 2024—AmateurRadio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has received scheduleconfirmation for an ARISS radio contact between an astronaut aboard theInternational Space Station (ISS) and students at Pleasant Knoll Middle Schoollocated in Ft. Mill, SC.  ARISS conducts60-100 of these special amateur radio contacts each year between studentsaround the globe and crew members with ham radio licenses aboard the ISS.

PleasantKnoll Middle School is a suburban, public school with about 950 students ingrades 6-8. In eighth grade science courses, students learn the differencesbetween digital and analog by demonstrations with amateur radio, radio scienceand wave propagation. Space science is also taught throughout the school’scurriculum. The school has partnered with members of the York County AmateurRadio Society (K4YTZ) who have been providing students with various STEMactivities/experiments that included: Stirling Engine, Tesla Ball, Grid Map andmagnetic compass, CW (Morse code) with practice oscillators, Lenz's Law withcopper tubing, Homo Polar motors, and using a multi-meter. In preparation forthis ARISS contact students have also been listening to a recording of anamateur radio contact with ISS astronauts.

This will be adirect contact via Amateur Radio allowing students to ask theirquestions of astronaut Matthew Dominick, amateur radio call sign KCØTOR. Thedownlink frequency for this contact is 145.800 MHz and may be heard bylisteners that are within the ISS-footprint that also encompasses the relayground station.

The amateur radio ground station for this contact is in Ft.Mill, SC. Amateur radio operators using call sign K4YTZ, will operate theground station to establish and maintain the ISS connection.

The ARISS radiocontact is scheduled for April 22, 2024 at 12:10:29 pm EDT (SC) (16:10:29 UTC, 11:10am CDT, 10:10 am MDT, 9:10 am PDT).

The public isinvited to watch the livestream at: https://youtube.com/live/L-7BmSktTNg?feature=shareand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI1VxynMBmo

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As time allows,students will ask these questions:

1. What is themost interesting thing you have seen up there?

2. What madeyou interested in being an astronaut?

3. How long didit take you to adjust to living in no gravity?

4. What is atypical day on the ISS like for you?

5. What is theconsistency of your food and how does it taste?

6. Are thevegetables you grow there as tasty as the ones we grow on Earth?

7. What happensif you get sick?

8. How do yougo to the bathroom?

9. If you can’tshower, how do you keep yourself clean?

10. What is themost unexpected thing you have learned during your time in space?

11. The mainpurpose of the ISS is to conduct scientific research. What are the main scienceexperiments your crew is currently performing aboard the station?

12. What advicewould you give someone who wants to be where you are?

13. IsArtificial Intelligence used on the ISS as of today?

14. What gamesdo you play?

15. What arethe long-term effects of being in space?

16. What is thefirst thing you plan to do when you return to Earth?

17. How do youcommunicate and maintain contact with your loved ones on Earth?

18. Could youtell us one everyday life thing that is easier to do in space than on Earth?

19. How do yourecycle your water?

20. What isyour opinion on space tourism?

21. How doesthe perception of time and space change during a prolonged space mission?

22. What issomething that surprised you that you didn’t expect about living in space?

23. Do youthink we will find evidence of life beyond Earth?

About ARISS:

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) isa cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the spaceagencies that support the ISS. In the United States, sponsors are the AmericanRadio Relay League (ARRL), Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), RadioAmateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), NASA’s Space Communications andNavigation program (SCaN) and the ISS National Lab—Space Station Explorers. Theprimary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology,engineering, the arts, and mathematics topics. ARISS does this by organizingscheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS andstudents. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents,and communities take part in hands-on learning activities tied to space, spacetechnologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see http://www.ariss.org

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Media Contact:

Dave Jordan,AA4KN

ARISS PR

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