An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Rancho Romero Elementary School, Alamo, CA on 13 Nov. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 19:44 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between NA1SS and KJ6TWN. The contact should be audible over the west coast of the U.S. 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.
Rancho Romero Elementary School ("Rancho") serves a population of 10,000 in Alamo, California, about 25 miles east of San Francisco. Rancho Romero is committed to STEM education and is working with alumna and licensed amateur radio operator Rebecca Rubsamen to install a permanent satellite communications station in the Rancho science lab. The satellite ground station will provide a laboratory environment where students and faculty can explore concepts from basic orbital mechanics and basic radio theory. The Rancho satellite station is being specifically designed to be accessible over the internet by partner schools in our larger community who lack the resources to have this type of equipment available on their site. Rancho Romero will be working with other schools in its network to encourage faculty make use of this link to access the satellite station for classroom demonstrations at their campuses by accessing one of the many orbiting amateur radio satellites. Pre-contact activities have featured presentations by Camilla SDO, NASA's mascot for the Solar Dynamics Observatory and retired astronaut James Van Hoften who will talk about manned space flight.
Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:
1. How much were you allowed to bring with you for your 6 month stay on
the ISS?
2. What is your specific job as a crew member?
3. What kind of experiments do you do, and which one has been your
favorite?
4. Are there any animals (including insects) on board?
5. How do you recycle water?
6. As a child, were you very interested in science?
7. How many minutes per day do you need to exercise to keep your bones
strong?
8. What are the long-term effects of microgravity?
9. How do you keep track of what day it is?
10. How do you take care of daily housekeeping chores, like doing laundry
and taking out the trash?
11. How does Earth look from space, and do you have a favorite view?
12. How do you sleep in the space station, and is it comfortable?
13. How do the docking ports on the ISS work?
14. Does your heart beat faster or slower in space?
15. How do you communicate with family and friends at home?
16. How do you store food on the ISS, and do you ever get fresh fruit &
veggies?
17. What are your sources of entertainment on the ISS?
18. How did you feel when the rocket to the ISS took off?
19. What is your favorite moment in space so far?
20. What do you miss the most from Earth?
PLEASE CHECK THE FOLLOWING FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ARISS UPDATES:
Sign up for the SAREX maillist at
http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/sarex
Visit ARISS on Facebook. We can be found at Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS).
To receive our Twitter updates, follow @ARISS_status
Next planned event(s):
TBD
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