An International Space Station Expedition 15 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at the SRJC Day Under the Oaks in Santa Rosa, California USA on 06 May. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 16:48 UTC.
The contact will be a direct between stations NA1SS and W6SRJ. The contact should be audible in western portions of North America. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.
Santa Rosa Junior College is home to 40,000 students in the California wine country of Sonoma County. We're located approximately 38 miles north of San Francisco. We are fortunate and proud to be the home of W6SRJ - one of the telebridge stations for ISS school contacts.
Day Under the Oaks is our annual open house for prospective students, teachers, and the community. The event attracts over 10,000 visitors and is held on the beautiful 110 acre main campus which has hundreds of majestic oak trees with classic ivy covered brick buildings. Some of the oaks and other tree specimens were planted by renowned botanist Luther Burbank.
Day Under the Oaks (DUO) includes demonstrations for students of all ages, including a robot competition, building computer models, shows in our planetarium and tours of the W6SRJ telebridge station. DUO attendees explore SRJC's outstanding instructional program exhibits and demonstrations and a festive array of other colorful activities, plus sample the delicious array of food prepared by student clubs! At Day Under the Oaks you can visit the stunning world class Pomo basket collection in the Jesse Peter Museum and watch the colorful Native American dancers or the dramatic Chinese Dragon Dance Troup. Other activities include a children's theatre, sports clinics and fencing and karate competitions, and dazzling magic shows in the Chemistry Lab.
Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. What kind of research will be done on the space station (ISS) once it is completed in 2010? 2. What challenges do you face while you're in space without any gravity? 3. You participated in the Anomalous Long Term Effects on Astronauts Experiment - Have you seen the results of this experiment yet and what could be the cause of the light flashes?
4. What has been the most exciting part of the Expedition 15? What has been the least exciting? 5. Describe what you like best about being in space? 6. How long did it take you to adjust to microgravity? How long will it take you to re-adjust to earth's gravity when you return?
7. We visited NASA in Houston last month and saw the astronaut training area. What are some differences between training here and doing the real thing up in space?
8. I'm entering a robotics contest today. Do you think my interest in robotics will help me become an astronaut? 9. What do you enjoy most about your current mission? 10. What type of projects or experiments are they working on right now? 11. Since you hold records for number of spacewalks and total time spent on spacewalks by a woman, can you tell us about what kind of jobs you perform while on your spacewalks?
12. How long does it take to reach your destination in space from the time you leave earth? 13. I understand that the ISS is noisy inside - how high is the noise level and why is it so noisy? 14. Was it more or less effort to run the Boston Marathon from Space? 15. What type of exercises do you do in space so that you don't lose muscle tone? 16. What did you like best about your training? What did you like the least? 17. Have you ever seen satellites or "space junk" from the space shuttle or the space station? If so, what have you seen?
18. How many years of schooling did it take you to become an astronaut? 19. What was one of your most interesting moments in space? 20. For fun, do you ever run up the walls and do stunts like in the Matrix movie?
Please note, the amateur equipment on the ISS is not functioning in the automatic modes properly and may be silent more than usual. Information about the next scheduled ARISS contact can be found at http://www.rac.ca/ariss/upcoming.htm#NextContact .
Next planned event(s): Sunset Mesa Schools, Albuquerque, New Mexico, direct via W5SCA, Wed 2007-05-09 14:39 UTC Escola Secundaria de Estarreja, Estarreja, Portugal, direct via CT6ESE, Wed 2007-05-09 14:58 UTC
ARISS is an international educational outreach program partnering the participating space agencies, NASA, Russian Space Agency, ESA, CNES, JAXA, and CSA, with the AMSAT and IARU organizations from participating countries.
ARISS offers an opportunity for students to experience the excitement of Amateur Radio by talking directly with crewmembers on-board the International Space Station. Teachers, parents and communities see, first hand, how Amateur Radio and crewmembers on ISS can energize youngsters' interest in science, technology, and learning. Further information on the ARISS program is available on the website http://www.rac.ca/ariss (graciously hosted by the Radio Amateurs of Canada).
Thank you & 73, Kenneth - N5VHO