An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Faith Christian Academy, Orlando, FL on 14 Feb. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 14:30 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between NA1SS and W9DWJ. The contact should be audible over Florida and portions of the eastern U.S. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English.

Story:

Faith Christian Academy is a private school located in Orange County in Orlando, FL. With a student body population of nearly 700, we teach grades K-12. We offer an array of subjects and electives during and after school hours. In addition to traditional athletic activities, we have an emphasis in the arts and have intentionally developed our STEM program in recent years. FCA leadership understands the diversity of the students that attend and therefore strives to prepare them for any future endeavors that suit their individual goals, personalities, and learning styles. Over 50 teachers instruct our students to understand their purpose and to work toward it from an early age. We believe in equipping children to become well rounded adults that are educated, caring, and ambitious.

In preparation for the upcoming ARISS event, our school has done many things to bolster excitement about the ISS and space exploration in general. The students received credit for spotting and videoing the ISS as it passed overhead at night. In addition, they filled out ISS activity books provided on the NASA website, did Math projects on the distances between planets, painted pictures of the themselves with galactic themes in Art, took field trips to Kennedy Space Center, and were taught from curriculum that emphasized the International Space Station and the anticipated mission to Mars.

In the weeks to come, we will have a team from a nearby amateur radio Club come to teach the students about Ham radio and Morse code. Also, FCA will hold after school classes for students to create a Raspberry Pi device in order to track the ISS and keep up with the current crew.

Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:

1. What advice would you give new astronauts preparing to join the ISS?

2. What are the mental and physical effects of going from Earth to space and

back to Earth?

3. What is your favorite exercise to do in space and why?

4. Do all of you rotate jobs on the ISS?

5. How do you shave or cut your hair on the ISS without the hair floating

away?

6. Do you have a certain pre-flight ritual?

7. Can you see any constellations while on the ISS and do you have a favorite

one?

8. Have you ever experienced a major malfunction on the ISS?

9. Do your ears pop like they would when you fly in a plane?

10. Does everything in your body work the same in a microgravity environment,

for instance, does your heart work harder to pump blood through the body?

11. Are you recognized as an astronaut on the streets?

12. Are you allowed to request certain things to be delivered by the cargo

missions?

13. Describe the escape system on the ISS in case of an emergency.

14. What would you say has been your most important or meaningful experience

in space?

15. What is the temperature inside the ISS vs outside the ISS?

16. Is there wi-fi on the space station?

17. Where is the garbage stored on the ISS?

18. What experiment are you currently working on and is it going well?

19. Is there ever a time when you feel a sense of panic on the ISS?

20. What did you feel the first time you saw Earth from the ISS?

21. How long does it take for your body to feel "normal" once you are in

space?

22. What time zone do you work with on the ISS?

23. How many gallons of rocket fuel does it take to get to the International

Space Station?

24. How do you keep up with current events happening on Earth?

PLEASE CHECK THE FOLLOWING FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ARISS UPDATES:

Visit ARISS on Facebook. We can be found at Amateur Radio on the

International Space Station (ARISS).

To receive our Twitter updates, follow @ARISS_status

Next planned event(s):

TBD

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 International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or informal education venues. With the help of experienced amateur radio volunteers, ISS crews speak directly with large audiences in a variety of public forums. Before and during these radio contacts, students, teachers, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org, www.amsat.org, and www.arrl.org.

Thank you & 73,

David - AA4KN

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