An International Space Station Expedition 18 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at the Istituto Comprensivo Pietrasanta1-Scuola Secondaria 1° Grado, "Padre Eugenio Barsanti", Pietrasanta, Italy on 10 February. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 1024 UTC.
The contact will be a direct between stations OR4ISS and IZ5NII . The contact should be audible over most of Europe. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.
Pietrasanta is a small town in Tuscany, 30km north of Pisa near the Ligurian Sea. It is a centre for processing marble and bronze with many art galleries. The school is situated in the centre of Pietrasanta, in a large building near the Town Hall. It is attended by 313 students from the age of eleven to the age of thirteen-fourteen. The School has an experimental curriculum, that is basic subjects plus additional activities such as Drama, Art, Music, IT, Science, Foreign Languages, carried out by groups of students.
The participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. How important is the amateur radio station on board the ISS? 2. What projects do you carry out on board the International Space Station? 3. Who pays for all the costs of the ISS' project? 4. What is it like living in a small place like the space shuttle for a few days? 5. Would you like to participate in a journey to the Moon? 6. What does the ISS inside smell like? 7. Is there a magnetic field in the ISS'orbit? 8. Can you breathe normally on board the ISS? 9. How do you cope with the alternation of day and night every 45 minutes? 10. How long did the training last in order to participate in this mission? 11. What do you do if you get sick in Space? 12. What do your family and your friends think about your job? 13. What is the most dangerous moment during the mission, the take-off or the landing? 14. What do you eat and drink? 15. Would it be possible to produce artificial gravity on the ISS? 16. Is it difficult and dangerous to pass through the atmosphere before landing? 17. Is the perception of time onboard the ISS the same as on Earth? 18. What was the most spectacular moment during your stay in Space? 19. How often can you communicate with your family on Earth? 20. What does it feel like to live without gravity?
Information about the upcoming ARISS contacts can be found at http://www.ariss.org/upcoming.htm#NextContact .
Next planned event(s): First and Second Lyceums of Alexandroupolis, Alexandroupolis Greece, Wed 2009-02-11 07:43 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