An International Space Station Expedition 18 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at St. Teresa's School, South Wairarapa, New Zealand on 20 November. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 0430 UTC.
The contact will be a telebridge contact between stations NA1SS and VK4KHZ. The contact should be audible over eastern Australia. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.
St Teresa's School in Featherston is located 65Kms north from Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. It is a small rural school of 125 pupils in a district of 3 schools and covers an age range 5-13 years. There are 70 girls and 55 boys with 5 full time and 3 part time teachers. The district of South Wairarapa is a farming community, dairying, sheep and cattle farms, grapes are also grown near by for a small but significant wine industry. Olives, apples and pears are grow here
Featherston with a population of 3270 is the main town in this 3 town district. The main railway from Wellington to Hawks Bay passes through the centre of the town. St Teresa's is a Catholic school.
Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. Have you ever seen any comets or meteorites? 2. How far is it from earth in kms? 3. How long is day and night up in space? 4. How do you wash your clothes, bodies and teeth in space? 5. What type of food do you eat? 6. What does the Milky Way look like? 7. What do you do for leisure/fun? 8. Do you feel anything when going through the earths' atmosphere? 9. What work are you currently doing in space? 10. Do you ever take animals into space? 11. What type of training do you need to become an astronaut? 12. What is it like when you step back on earth after you have been moving round with no gravity? 13. How often are you able to have contact with your family? 14. Can you describe some of the routines that you need to do while in space? 15. Do you think there is life on the other planets you can see from up there? 16. How do you keep fit in space? 17. Do you have any arguments or disagreements with the other astronauts - as you live in very close quarters? 18. Can you smoke or drink wine or beer while in space? 19. What does your bedroom look like - what do you sleep on? 20. How long do you have to train before going into a space ship? 21. Do you have weather patterns like we do on earths e.g. storms, rain, wind?
Information about the upcoming ARISS contacts can be found at http://www.ariss.org/upcoming.htm#NextContact .
Next planned event(s): Wairarapa Home School Association, Carterton, Wairarapa, New Zealand, Wed 2008-11-26 02:19 UTC via VK4KHZ
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