ARISS News Release                                                                                                    No.23-52

Dave Jordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR

aa4kn@amsat.org

FORIMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISSContact is Scheduled with Students at

Belgian Defence (KSOO), Koninklijke School voorOnderofficieren, Sint-Truiden, Belgium, and IEPS ofColfontaine, Colfontaine, Belgium

October8, 2023—Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has receivedschedule confirmation for an ARISS radio contact between an astronaut aboardthe International Space Station (ISS) and students at two schools in two citiesin Belgium, Sint-Truiden and Colfontaine. ARISS conducts 60-80 of these special amateur radio contacts each yearbetween students around the globe and crew members with ham radio licenses aboardthe ISS.

The Royal School for Non-Commissioned Officers (KSOO/ERSO),situated in Sint-Truiden, in the east of Belgium, is Belgium’s main militarytraining establishment for non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and serves as amilitary training institution dedicated to educating and training NCOs withinthe Belgian Armed Forces. IEPS of Colfontaine is located about 50 miles west ofSint-Truiden. IEPS is a lifelong learning school for students ages 15 and olderand provides training courses in the fields of mining, beauty care, the hotelindustry, IT, construction, industrial design and HVAC technology.

KSOO/ERSO is providing ham radio equipment for a direct ARISScontact using their radio club’s

callsign (ON4BAF). Members of the radio club of the Union ofBelgian Radioamateurs (UBA), represented by its local section RST Radio Sectionof the city of Sint-Truiden will coordinate this contact while alsoestablishing a telebridge with students at IEPS of Colfontaine.

This will be a direct contact via Amateur Radio allowing students to ask their questions ofAstronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, amateur radio call sign KI5WSL. The downlinkfrequency for this contact is 145.800 MHz and may be heard by listeners thatare within the ISS-footprint that also encompasses the relay ground station.

The amateur radio ground station for this contactis near Sint-Truiden, Belgium. Amateur radio operators using call sign ON4BAF, will operate the ground station to establishand maintain the ISS connection and provide a telebridge contact with students atIEPS of Colfontaine, Belgium.

TheARISS radio contact is scheduled for October 10, 2023 at 1:36:20 pm CEST (Belgium)(11:36:29 UTC, 7:36 am EDT, 6:36 am CDT,5:36 am MDT, 4:36 am PDT).

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Astime allows, students will ask these questions:

1.How can you tell time? Does day and night exist in the space station?

2.What was your motivation to become an astronaut?

3.Which kind of pollution (air pollution, plastics in the sea...) is visible fromspace?

4.How does the ISS maintain its orbit?

5.How did it feel when you took off?

6.How did you feel the first time you realized you were in space?

7.What convinced you to go to space?

8.How does the ISS protect its crew from electromagnetic radiation from space?

9.In February 2018 Elon Musk launched a Tesla (car) in space. Have you alreadybeen able to spot it in space?

10.What are the requirements to be an astronaut?

11.Who does the laundry on board of the ISS?

12.What was the most impressive or breathtaking sight you have witnessed in space?

13.Do you ever change course and how fast can the spaceship change its course?

14.What are the means of survival in the ship?

15. How manyof you can exit the ISS to do work outside? Is there a minimum and/or amaximum?

16.Can you describe the psychological and emotional impact of living in a confinedspace for an extended period?

17.How many hours of sleep do you have daily? And is that sleep the same as inyour bed at home?

18.Are your clothes comfortable?

19.How is the inside temperature of ISS managed in space?

20.Is there a smell in space?

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, sponsors are the American Radio Relay League(ARRL), Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), Radio Amateur SatelliteCorporation (AMSAT), NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program (SCaN)and the ISS National Lab—Space Station Explorers. The primary goal of ARISS isto promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, andmathematics topics. ARISS does this by organizing scheduled contacts viaamateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students. Before andduring these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities takepart in hands-on learning activities tied to space, space technologies, andamateur radio. For more information, see http://www.ariss.org

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MediaContact:

DaveJordan, AA4KN

ARISSPR

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