ARISS News Release                                                                                                    No.24-03

Dave Jordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR

aa4kn@amsat.org

FORIMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISSContact is Scheduled with Students at

Istituto Comprensivo “Anna Rita Sidoti”, GioiosaMarea, Italy

January22, 2024—Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has receivedschedule confirmation for an ARISS radio contact between an Axiom Mission (Ax-3) astronautaboard the International Space Station (ISS) and students at the Anna RitaSidoti Institute located in Gioiosa Marea, Italy.  ARISS conducts 60 -100 of these specialamateur radio contacts each year between students around the globe and crewmembers with ham radio licenses aboard the ISS.

The Gioiosa Marea’s Institute “Anna Rita Sidoti”, serves about730 students in three school levels; nursery, primary and lower secondary.Theschool will engage all students in preparation for this ARISS contact and issupported by local radio amateur members of the Italian Radioamateur Associaion(ARI) who will provide practical and technical support for the event.

This will be a direct contact via Amateur Radio allowing students to ask their questions of astronautWalter Villadei, amateur radio call sign IUØRWB. Villadei is a colonel in theItalian Air Force (ItAF), and the pilot for Axiom Space’s Ax-3 mission to theISS on the SpaceX Dragon. Villadei currently lives in Rome, Italy, and ishonored to have this opportunity to not only achieve one of his greatest life’sdreams, but also to use the Ax-3 mission to ignite a passion for STEM educationin teachers and students worldwide 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 relay ground station.

The amateur radio ground station for this contactis in Gioiosa Marea, Italy. The amateur radio volunteer team at the groundstation will use the callsign IT9DBI, to establish and maintain the ISSconnection.

TheARISS radio contact is scheduled for January 24, 2024 at 3:37:22 pm CET (Italy)(14:37:22 UTC, 9:37 am EST, 8:37 am CST, 7:37 am MST, 6:37am PST).

Thepublic is invited to watch the live stream at: https://www.icgioiosa.edu.it/2-uncategorised/1604-axiom-social-news-eventi-c...

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Astime allows, students will ask these questions:

EnglishTranslation:

1.At what age did your passion for space begin?

2.In space can you surf the internet and use social media?

3.Can you cook hot food in the space or do you eat cold food from therefrigerator?

4.Which of an astronaut's five senses is most affected by microgravity?

5.How and how much do you sleep in space?

6.How did you feel before leaving on a mission?

7.Have you ever seen unidentified objects outside the spacecraft?

8.How do you take care of your daily hygiene?

9.How did you prepare before leaving for space?

10.Do you ever get bored?

11.Do you experience good or bad sensations in a state of microgravity? Is itannoying to be in a state of microgravity after a while?

12.During this mission what type of research will you carry out?

13.How do you contact family members from space?

14.How do you use the toilets in Space?

15.What is the thing you miss most about the Earth?

16.What do you do in your free time on the space station?

17.Do any of you write a logbook?

18.How is time perceived in space?

19.Even though you have chosen to go on a space mission, and even though you havebeen physically and psychologically prepared, do you ever feel afraid?

20.Do you astronauts always float inside the space station, or is there a roomwith Earth's gravity on board?

AboutAxiom Mission 3:

Asthe first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the ISS, Axiom Mission 3(Ax-3) redefines the pathway to low-Earth orbit for nations around the globe.This mission marks a new era of opportunity for countries to join theinternational space community and access low-Earth orbit to advance explorationand research in microgravity.

About ARISS:

Amateur Radio on the InternationalSpace Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radiosocieties and the space agencies that support the ISS. In the United States,sponsors are the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), Amateur Radio DigitalCommunications (ARDC), Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), NASA’sSpace 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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MediaContact:

DaveJordan, AA4KN

ARISSPR

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