An International Space Station Expedition 15 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at Westbrook Intermediate, Friendswood, Texas USA on 14 Sep. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 18:48 UTC.
The contact will be a Telebridge between stations NA1SS and W6SRJ. The contact should be audible along the western coastline of North America. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. In addition, the audio should be available via IRLP and EchoLink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.
Westbrook Intermediate, one of 8 intermediate schools in Clear Creek Independent School District, is a 6th - 8th grade campus of almost 1500 students. Housed on the campus is the district's intermediate gifted and talented (GT) magnet, Webster Academy - Visions in Education, or WAVE. This GT magnet brings together over 500 gifted and talented students from across the district to participate in a unique program design. One of the opportunities available to WAVE students is an amateur (ham) radio license class. In partnership with the Clear Lake Amateur Radio Club, over 300 students have earned their ham radio license over the last 8 years. At any time, there are approximately 100 hams in attendance at the school.
Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:
1. Which activities that are very much a part of your regular life on Earth do you find most difficult to perform in space? 2. What aspects of daily life are different in space? 3. How did you feel when you first opened the airlock on your first spacewalk? 4. How realistic do space simulators and training facility pools feel compared to really being in space? 5. Compare the foods that you eat in space to the foods you eat at home. Why does space food have to be different? 6. How is the climate controlled on the ISS and in the shuttle? 7. After a shuttle launch, the fuel tank and solid rocket boosters fall from space. What happens to them? 8. What would happen if there were a fire on the ISS, and what would fire look like in space? 9. How does the work on the ISS bring us closer to the forming of Lunar, Mars, or other planetary colonies? 10. What does a sunrise and sunset look like from space? 11. What happens to your muscles when you are in zero gravity, and you don't use them for long periods of time? 12. How does your body "act" in space? Example: Do you need haircuts? 13. What do you do with your free time? 14. What are the physical effects of the G-forces on your body? 15. What preparations and training have you had for emergencies like a leak on the ISS? 16. What do you feel are the most important reasons for humanity in general and America in particular to continue manned space flight despite the cost in lives and money? 17. What was the first hurricane you saw from space, and how big was it? 18. Can you only communicate with NASA, or sometimes do you have the chance to talk with your family? 19. On Earth, is there any feeling that we have that can compare to what you feel in space? 20. What space sights have you seen? Like dying stars or space storms? 21. If you could do another job other than being an astronaut, what would you do? 22. Going into space was a big dream of yours, and you have now accomplished that. What are your next goals? 23. What's it like to live on the International Space Station? 24. How much would the ISS weigh if it were on earth? 25. There are rumors that a meteor could hit earth in a few years. Is there a possibilty that a meteor or space debris could hit ISS? 26. Does seeing space from the scientific point of view spoil the "mystery" of space? 27. : What does it feel like blasting off at hundreds of miles per hour, then breaking the atmosphere, and finally reaching space? 28. What question are you asked the most? 29. What's the most important job at the ISS? 30. How do you think space aeronautics will change in the next decade?
Information about the next scheduled ARISS contact can be found at http://www.rac.ca/ariss/upcoming.htm#NextContact http://www.rac.ca/ariss/upcoming.htm#NextContact . Packet is occassionally active on 145.825 simplex.
Next planned event(s): 1. Mitchell Elementary School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, direct via NØEFT, Mon 2007-09-17 13:39 UTC
2. Pueblo Magnet High School, Tucson, Arizona, direct via KD7RPP, Fri 2007-09-21 15:04 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 http://www.rac.ca/ariss (graciously hosted by the Radio Amateurs of Canada).
Thank you & 73, Kenneth - N5VHO