ARISS News Release                                                                                                   No.   21-29

Dave Jordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR

aa4kn@amsat.org

FORIMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISS ContactScheduled for Students at Monaro High School, Cooma, New South Wales, Australia

May 17, 2021—AmateurRadio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has received scheduleconfirmation for an ARISS radio contact with astronauts. ARISS is the groupthat puts together special amateur radio contacts between students around theglobe and crew members with ham radio licenses on the International Space Station (ISS).

This will be a telebridge contact via amateur radio and students will take turnsasking their questions of Astronaut Mark Vande Hei, amateurradio call sign KG5GNP. Englishis the language that will be used for this contact.  Bothonsite and remote access will be provided to the student body at the time ofthe contact per Covid-19 guidelines. The downlink frequency for this contact is145.800 MHZ and may be heard by listeners that are within the ISS-footprintthat also encompasses the telebridge station.

ARISSteam member David Payne, using call sign NA7V in Portland, Oregon will serve asthe relay amateur radio station.

The ARISS radio contact isscheduled for May 19, 2021 at 7:25 pm AEST (Cooma,Australia), (9:25 UTC,5:25 am EDT, 4:25 am CDT, 3:25 am MDT and 2:25 am PDT).

Monaro High School(MHS) (about 500 students, Years 7 to 12) is part of the Snowy Monaro region,120 kilometers south of Canberra City. In advance of the ARISS contact, MHSmodified student courses in all their Key Learning Areas by incorporatingcontent relevant to communication and space habitation. All year levels at MHSwill be involved in the ARISS contact as well as their feeder primary schools(Kindergarten to Year 6) and the surrounding high schools’ students. Members ofthe Snowy Mountain Amateur Radio Club are working with MHS in support of thisARISS contact.

The public is invited to watch the live stream at: https://www.facebook.com/monarohighschool/live/

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Astime allows, students will ask these questions:

1.What is the biggest thing you had to give up to go on the ISS? How did going tospace make it worth it?

2.How do you stay fit in space?

3.As a young Australian woman who wants to go to the ISS later in my life, whatskills should I focus on?

4.What is the best thing about microgravity, and is it difficult to go from theenvironment of the earth to that on the ISS?

5.Have you ever seen an unexplained occurrence or suspicious things in space?

6.From the ISS, can you see the climate of our planet changing or geo-physicalhazards?

7.Why does finger delamination happen? Has it happened to you? And how painful isit?

8.What goes through your head while on the launch pad, about to launch?

9.What are the specifics of the sewage/water systems? And how different is goingto the toilet on the ISS?

10.What inspired you to want to be an astronaut?

11.What is the most important aspect of your training in preparation for living inspace?

12.The investigation on the functional effects of space flight on cardiovascularstem cells revealed anything promising? If yes, then what?

13.Is the Milky Way more beautiful in space than on earth?

14.Are you able to facetime people on earth?

15.How was the ISS built?

16.Have you been to the ISS and back many times? And if so, is it hard to get useto the gravity of earth and the atmospheric pressure?

17.What is the coolest thing you have done in space?

18.How do you cut your hair and shave in space without making a mess?

19.How do you plan enough food for up to 6 months while you are there?

20.What is the weirdest food you eat on the ISS?

21.Is there WIFI in space?

ARISS – Celebrating 20 Years of Amateur RadioContinuous Operations on the ISS

About ARISS:

AmateurRadio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture ofinternational amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support theInternational Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the RadioAmateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL),the ISS National Lab-Space Station Explorers, and NASA’s Space communicationsand Navigation program. The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration ofscience, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics topics. ARISS doesthis 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 take part in hands-on learning activitiestied to space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, seewww.ariss.org

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MediaContact:

DaveJordan, AA4KN

ARISSPR

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