An International Space Station Expedition 18 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at Ellis School, Belleville, IL, USA on 08 December. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 1656 UTC.
The contact will be a direct between stations NA1SS and K9GXU. The contact should be audible over central and eastern 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.
Grades 5-8. Ellis School is located 15 minutes from St. Louis and serves approximately 400 students ranging from kindergarten through fourth grade. Ellis school has been named a No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon winner for 2008. Only 21 schools in Illinois received this honor and Ellis School was the only school in Southern Illinois to be named a Blue Ribbon School. Nationwide, 329 schools were selected as Blue Ribbons Schools. The students that will be talking to Sandy on board the International Space Station will be 16-third graders that have been studying about the shuttle, ISS and the planets during this year at school. The questions that they will be asking Sandy are questions that the students have developed over the past few weeks. Dr. Gina Segobiano is the Superintendent of District 175; Pam Leonard is the Principal of Ellis School and Jennifer May is the Third Grade Teacher.
Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:
1. Is it fun to float in the ISS, what do you like to do best when you are floating? 2. How can you tell if it is day or night in space when you are inside the ISS? 3. How do you move the robotic arm? 4. Is there a limit of how many days a person can live on the ISS and stay in space? 5. Since you are going to be on the ISS for Christmas, how are you going to get your presents? 6. Do you watch TV or movies in the ISS and if so, which ones? 7. How did it feel when you took off on Endeavour, was it scary? 8. What was the first thing you did when you got into space? 9. How long does it take to get from Earth to the ISS? 10. How funny do you think a bird would look if it was flying inside the ISS-would it fly like a bird on Earth? 11. What are some of the fun experiments you are doing? 12. What is your favorite thing to do in your space time? 13. If you could invite a superhero to the ISS, who would it be and why? 14. How long does it take for the ISS to travel around the Earth? 15. When you are eating, how do you prepare your food in space? 16. How fast does the shuttle travel when it comes back into the Earth's gravity? 17. How do you get power on the ISS since you cannot plug something in an outlet with an extension cord? 18. How much oxygen do you have in the white suit when you do an EVA? 19. How long does it take for you to get dressed in the morning since there is no gravity and your clothes would float away? 20. If something breaks on the ISS, how hard is it to fix it? 21. Do you feel different in space than on Earth?
Information about the upcoming ARISS contacts can be found at http://www.ariss.org/upcoming.htm#NextContact .
Next planned event(s): 1) Stephen F. Austin Elementary School, Richmond, Texas, USA Tue 2008-12-09 15:45 UTC 2) Istituto Comprensivo "Marco Polo", Grado I-34073, Italy, Wed 2008-12-10 10:11 UTC 3) 2 Circolo Didattico, San Giuseppe, Mola di Bari, Italy, Fri 2008-12-12 14:18 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, Kenneth - N5VHO