ARISS News Release                                                                                               No.24-05

DaveJordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR

aa4kn@amsat.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISSContact is Scheduled with Students at

Bandırma Şehit Güvenç Anatolian High School,Balikesir, Bandırma, Türkiye

January 30,2024—Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has receivedschedule confirmation for an ARISS radio contact between an Axiom Mission(Ax-3) astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and students atthe Bandırma Şehit Güvenç AnatolianHigh School, Balikesir, Bandırma, Türkiye. ARISS conducts 60 - 100 ofthese special amateur radio contacts each year between students around theglobe and crew members with ham radio licenses aboard the ISS.

This will be a telebridge Contact via Amateur Radio allowingstudents to ask their questions of astronaut Alper Gezeravci, amateur radiocall sign KJ5DIY/TA5TRU. As a fighter pilot with the Turkish Air Force,Gezeravcı has 15 years of flying experience on multiple aircrafts including theT-41, SF-260, T-37, T-38, F-5, KC-135 and F-16. In addition, he served as acaptain with the Turkish Airlines for seven years. Gezeravcı has also served asa flight leader, flight safety officer, and commercial airlines captain. He isnow serving as a mission specialist for Axiom Space’s Ax-3 mission to the ISS on theSpaceX Dragon.

Born in Silifke, Türkiye, Gezeravci is honored to be apart of the Ax-3 mission as the first Turkish astronaut to go to space.Through the Ax-3 mission, Gezeravcı hopes to inspire the next generation ofexplorers and ignite a passion for STEM education in teachers and studentsworldwide to each pursue their ambitions. 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.

The ARISS amateur radio ground station (telebridge station)for this contact is in CasaleMonferrato, Italy. The amateur radiovolunteer team at the ground station will use the call sign, IK1SLD toestablish and maintain the ISS connection.

The ARISS radiocontact is scheduled for January 31, 2024 at 15:12:57 pm EEST (Turkey) (12:12:57UTC, 7:12 am EST, 6:12 am CST, 5:12 am MST, 4:12PST).

The public isinvited to watch the live stream at: http://www.ariotti.com/

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As time allows,students will ask these questions:

1. How does it feel to be inspace?

2. Could you provide us withsome information about the International Space Station? What kind of place isit?

3. Where will you land afterthe mission?

4. What kind of experimentsare you conducting on the International Space Station?

5. What contributions haveor will the experiments you conduct on the International Space Station make tous?

6. Will you share somephotos with us from space? Were you able to record some videos there?

7. How does being Türkiye'sfirst astronaut make you feel? Do you feel privileged?

8. As an astronaut with abackground with fighter pilot, what were the most challenging and comfortableaspects of being an astronaut in the microgravity when compared to being afighter pilot?

9. What is it like to watchthe Earth from space?

10. What is the first thingyou want to do after returning to Earth?

11. What did you feel fromthe moment you were strapped into the seat during the launch process?

12. How much G-force did youexperience during launch? How did it affect you?

13. Can you tell us a bitabout the experiments you are conducting on the International Space Station?What are the results of these experiments, and where and how will they be used?

14. What kind ofinfrastructure do you use when conducting experiments?

15. During experiments, doyou have the opportunity to establish contact with Earth and receive support?

16. What is it like to sleepin microgravity? Do you have a private room on the International Space Station?

17. What is the mostimportant characteristic in an astronaut that has caught your attention? Cananyone become an astronaut?

18. What kind of foods doyou eat in International Space Station?

19. Do you have any activitywith other astronauts to have some fun?

20. Would you like to stayin International Space Station more than 14 days?

About Axiom Mission 3:

As the first all-European commercial astronaut mission tothe ISS, Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) redefines the pathway to low-Earth orbit fornations around the globe. This mission marks a new era of opportunity forcountries to join the international space community and access low-Earth orbitto advance exploration and research in microgravity.

About ARISS:

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) isa cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the spaceagencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the UnitedStates, sponsors are the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), Amateur RadioDigital Communications (ARDC), Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT),NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program (SCaN) and the ISS NationalLab—Space Station Explorers. The primary goal of ARISS is to promoteexploration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematicstopics. ARISS does this by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radiobetween crew members aboard the ISS and students. Before and during these radiocontacts, students, educators, parents, and communities take part in hands-onlearning activities tied to space, space technologies, and amateur radio. Formore information, see http://www.ariss.org

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Media Contact:

Dave Jordan,AA4KN

ARISS PR

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