An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Wattsburg Area School District, Erie, PA on 19 Oct. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 16:11 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between the ISS and VK4KHZ. The contact should be audible over portions of Australia and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English.
The Wattsburg Area School District is a rural district located in Northwest Pennsylvania,10 miles south of Erie, PA.
The WASD campus is comprised of 3 schools in which we provide rich and rewarding educational opportunities for over 1500 students in grades K-12. We are especially driven to provide our students with those experiences which will enhance their educational development through continued exposure to Science, Technology, Engineering and Technology courses and curriculum.
This radio contact will continue to support our goal to allow each student to experience real world applications as these experiences apply to their coursework by bringing STEM to life. The contact will also arouse continued interest and participation in our extracurricular activities which include Robotics Club, Astronomy Club, Amateur Radio Club, Science Olympiad Team and others. Students have been able to participate in a variety of programs provided by NASA, for example students in the Physics and Physical science classes have recently used the Rocket Modeler program and Water Bottle Rocketry programs to design and launch their own rockets.
Students have classroom access to live NASA TV programming and broadcasts through the Internet and via audio retransmissions of NASA TV provided by the local N3UMM/N3BXL 2-Meter Amateur Radio Repeater. Students are monitoring activities aboard the ISS and are able to track the location of the ISS and other satellites using tracking software in the classroom.
One of our high school students participating today has applied to and is hoping for acceptance to the United States Naval Academy and hopes to follow in Astronaut Suni Williams footsteps and become an engineer and maybe an astronaut.
Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:
1. What did you pack in your suitcase to take to the space station? What
will you bring back from outer space?
2. What is your favorite space food? Is it true that you grow taller in
outer space?
3. What are you learning from the fish habitat on the space station? Will
you take other animals up to space?
4. What do you do for fun when you're not working or when you're not busy?
5. How many astronauts can be on the ISS at one time?
6. What do the astronauts do after a mission?
7. How do you live, work and feel in microgravity?
8. Is the ISS helping to make future space travel easier?
9. How has space travel affected your personal and world views?
10. How much work does it take to maintain the ISS? How often do you have to
replace or fix things?
11. What is the temperature inside the ISS and how is it regulated?
12. When you move around the ISS does it take more time or less time in
microgravity?
13: What kind of training did you have to go through to become an astronaut?
14: What are the major milestones in your career?
15. Do you ever get homesick being away for such a long time?
16. What is your favorite experiment on the ISS?
Information about the upcoming ARISS contacts can be found at http://www.ariss.org/upcoming.htm#NextContact.
Next planned event(s):
1. National Scouting Museum, Irving, TX, telebridge via VK6MJ
Sat, 20Oct12 18:32 UTC
2. Meikei High School, Tsukuba, Japan, direct via JJ1YAF
Tue, 23Oct12 11:06 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.ariss.org/ (graciously hosted by the Radio Amateurs of Canada).
Thank you & 73,
David - AA4KN