An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Descartes, Montigny-Le-Bretonneux, France on 09 Jan. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 10:14 UTC.
The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds.
The contact will be direct between OR4ISS and F6KRK/p. The contact should be audible over France and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in French.
Descartes High School is located 30 km South-West from the center of Paris and 10 km from Versailles Palace.
There are about 800 students, aged 15 to 18 who study non-vocational subjects for the end-of-the-year test called Baccalaureat. A 2-year preparatory class for entering top engineering schools in France opened 2 years ago.
The Astronomy Club has a telescope with which the students observe planets. They have already succeeded taking pictures of the ISS. This year, students study life and work aboard the International Space Station and discover radio amateur activities with the support of the local radio-club F6KRK. The school's English Club is also participating and helping to improve the students' speaking skills for a Space conversation. The students dream to be able to communicate with the ISS so that one day, spotting a small shiny object in the sky, they can say: "I have talked with an astronaut up there!"
Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:
1. How did you feel during your first day in space?
2. Was becoming an astronaut a child's dream, did someone inspire you, like
a role model?
3. How do you cope with cultural differences between astronauts?
4. Have you ever done funny experiments in space, could you give us some
examples?
5. We have taken pictures of the ISS with a telescope, have you also got
this kind of equipment and do you have time to observe the stars?
6. Have you already experienced extravehicular activity?
7. Does your water recovery system filter all the waste water and is it
really efficient?
8. Have you already got the first results of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer
experiment?
9. What has been the most exciting experiment for you so far?
10. Are you happy with the food?
11. How difficult is it to cohabit in such a small space with so few people?
12. Do you have the notion of time in space?
13. When you are in space, do you follow the news?
14. How do you clean the station, have you got a specific system like a
vacuum cleaner?
15. Are there sometimes problems such as oxygen leaks or fire in the ISS?
16. What do you miss most?
17. What outfits are you allowed to wear?
18. How were you chosen to go to the ISS?
19. Do you have free time during the day?
20. What is the main discovery you have made from growing plants in
microgravity?
The event will be webcast live in streaming video on
http://www.f6krk.org/ARISS/static5/jour-j
Information about the upcoming ARISS contacts can be found at http://www.ariss.org/upcoming.htm#NextContact.
Next planned event(s):
1. Atheneum Borgloon, Borgloon, Belgium, telebridge via K6DUE
Fri, 13 Jan 2012, 12:35 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