An International Space Station Expedition 15 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at Pueblo Magnet High School, Tucson, Arizona USA on 21 Sep. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 15:04 UTC.

The contact will be a direct between stations NA1SS and KD7RPP. The contact should be audible in most of western 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.

The school's name, Pueblo Magnet High School, might connote a "highly developed and worldly" school. Pueblo is anything but "complicated or finely experienced and aware". Pueblo High School may be more accurately described as a pueblo: an intimate village whose inhabitants most often learn about the larger world only as it comes to them."

The bias of being a "south side school" has a negative effect on teen's self-esteem, teachers' morale and the potential for our program. A large percentage of the students are basically poor, coming from undereducated environments. Administration, teachers and staff at Pueblo Magnet High School work very hard to build a positive reputation that is challenged daily by the reality of neighborhood violence, dropout statistics, low socioeconomic status and low achievement.

Touch the Sky is a project that has been underway for almost two years and that has as a primary objective, Pueblo Magnet High School students communicating, via amateur radio technologies, with astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

Pueblo students are already learning to apply their daily curriculum lessons by applying them to their study of electronics, Federal Communication Rules and Regulations and amateur radio operating procedures in preparation for their amateur radio license exams. Presently there are five student licensed amateur radio operators, one at the General Class level. There are 27 other members in the Pueblo High School Amateur Radio Club who will become licensed radio operators by April 2008. Pueblo High School is a registered school with the American Radio Relay League as one of only 200 schools nationwide in their "Big Project" Program.

Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:

1. How many times have you orbited earth since you boarded the ISS? 2. Based on your present space experiences, do you believe there is human life on another planet? 3. What is there to do in the ISS? 4. Why did you want to be an astronaut? 5. How does it feel to be in a place where there is no gravity? 6. Were you scared when you went into space? 7. What advice can you give us teens who want to start a career in space? 8. How does loss of gravity affect your digestive system and how do you eliminate bodily wastes? 9. What do you eat in space? 10. What was your state of mind as you left earth? 11. What is your sense of awe and wonderment of nature in outer space? 12. What is something you took for granted on earth that you now miss? 13. Is it difficult to sleep in space? 14. How do you use your hands to touch things when you are in your space suit? 15. Are your sleep patterns different in outer space? 16. How much psychological pressure do you experience when you are taking a space walk? 17. What do you do in case of a power failure? 18. Is it possible for people to build a station on the moon for people to live in? 19. How do you communicate with your family? 20. Do you have the internet in space? 21. How has space travel changed you and how will you live your life when you return to earth? 22. How do you know when it's time to sleep or rise if there is no day or night aboard the ISS? 23. If the ISS is rotating, how are your antennas directed or polarized? 24. Who or what inspired you to become an astronaut? 25. How is your sense of taste different in space? 26. Do cell phones work in outer space? 27. Have you discovered any other planets or moons? 28. Is it true that by reaching a very high speed in an extremely short amount of time we can create a rip in the space-time continuum and go back in time? 29. How does it feel to be floating in space?

Information about the next scheduled ARISS contact can be found at http://www.rac.ca/ariss/upcoming.htm#NextContact .

Next planned event(s): 1. Heidelberg University for Applied Sciences, Heidelberg, D-69123, Germany, telebridge via WH6PN Mon 2007-09-24 08:00 UTC

2. Goforth Elementary School, Clear Creek, Texas, telebridge via WH6PN Wed 2007-09-26 16:52 UTC

3. Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC., telebridge via WH6PN Sat 2007-09-29 16:28 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 (graciously hosted by the Radio Amateurs of Canada).

Thank you & 73, Kenneth - N5VHO