*ARISS News Release No. 24-60*

*Dave Jordan, AA4KN *

*ARISS PR*

*aa4kn@amsat.org aa4kn@amsat.org*

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*

*ARISS Contact is Scheduled with Students at *

*European School of Varese, Varese, Italy*

October 9, 2024—Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has received schedule confirmation for an ARISS radio contact between an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and students at the European School of Varese located in Varese, Italy. ARISS conducts 60-100 of these special amateur radio contacts each year between students around the globe and crew members with ham radio licenses aboard the ISS.

The European School of Varese, founded in 1960, is one of the 13 existing European Schools, and the only European School located in Varese. It has about 1300 pupils and is connected to the Joint Research Centre (JRC). The school is divided into five language sections (Dutch, English, French, German and Italian) and offers mother tongue tuition in all European Union official languages. The European School system consists of Nursery School (ages 4-5), Primary (ages 6-10), and Secondary (ages 11-18) education. Studies of astronomy and physics is included in the syllabus in addition to the study of aerospace engineering and other STEM studies.

This ARISS contact is supported by members of JRC Radio Club (IQ2XH). The JRC (based at Ispra, Italy) is a Science Organization acting as scientific support for the EU policies and decisions. Hundreds of scientists from the 27 countries of the EU work in the JRC. Among these are the radio amateurs who created the JRC Radio Club and who are providing the equipment and technical expertise for this ARISS contact.

This will be a direct contact via Amateur Radio allowing students to ask their questions of astronaut Sunita Williams, amateur radio call sign KD5PLB. The downlink frequency for this contact is 145.800 MHz and may be heard by listeners that are within the ISS-footprint that also encompasses the relay ground station.

The amateur radio ground station for this contact is on the school campus in Varese, Italy. Amateur radio operators using call sign IQ2XH, will operate the ground station to establish and maintain the ISS connection.

The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for October 11, 2024 at 10:20 am CEST (Italy) (8:20 UTC, 4:20 am EDT, 3:20 am CDT, 2:20 am MDT, 1:20 am PDT).

The public is invited to watch the live stream at: *https://www.youtube.com/live/x6t1vRa07JU https://www.youtube.com/live/x6t1vRa07JU*

*_______________________________*

As time allows, students will ask these questions:

1. What are your thoughts on the planned decommissioning of the ISS, and how do you think it will impact the future of space exploration?

2. Among the experiments carried out is that of wound healing on the skin. Is cell healing and restoration faster in microgravity?

3. How do you perceive time passing on the space station, since you can see the sun rise about 16 times?

4. How long do outside maintenance operations take and how many steps do you have to follow?

5. How does it feel to receive news from Earth while being amongst the few people that are outside our planet?

6. Since you have many things to do every day, do you have any free time? If yes, what do you do with it?

7. What do you think about the countless tasks that you have to do to keep yourself healthy and clean, just because you're in space?

8. Do you think that the geopolitical situation of the world could interfere in the relationship between scientists on the ISS?

9. What’s the strangest sensation you experience in microgravity during daily life?

10. What has been the most surprising discovery or experiment you’ve been involved in?

11. How do you manage the internal temperature in the ISS when it is -100 to + 100°C outside?

12. How do you get the oxygen to breathe in the space station?

13. Are there festive moments on the space station?

14. Do you miss your normal life on earth?

15. What are the major physical ailments you experience in microgravity?

16. How do you handle any conflicts between crew members?

17.How long did it take you to prepare for your mission?

18. What did you study in school/university to become an astronaut?

19. What emotions did you feel during liftoff?

20. How much time do you normally need to adapt to live in space and what is the harder thing to adapt?

*About ARISS:*

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

Media Contact:

Dave Jordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR

Find us on social media at:

X: ARISS_Intl

Facebook: facebook.com/ARISSIntl

Instagram: ariss_intl

Mastodon: ariss_intl@mastodon.hams.social

Check out ARISS on Youtube.com.