An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Cedarview Middle School, Ottawa, ON, Canada on 24 Sep. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 19:07 UTC.

The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds.

The contact will be direct between NA1SS and VE3TBD. The contact should be audible over parts of eastern Canada and the U.S. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English.

Cedarview has a dynamic, energetic staff who are committed to providing quality educational experiences to all students. We present our students with a range of opportunities to extend their interests, talents, skills and leadership qualities.

Our System Initiative for this year is literacy. We have expanded our library collection, improved accessibility to students and increased community involvement. By incorporating professional development of staff and sharing of best practices pertaining to the teaching of reading and writing we will develop student skills in these areas. The school television broadcast studio will feature literary achievement and engage children in learning. A new math programme is being implemented at all three grade levels. We will focus on developing our students' proficiency in communicating mathematical ideas with a particular emphasis on mathematical investigations using manipulatives. Emphasis will be placed on further developing students' problem solving and critical thinking skills. We believe that this will contribute to our students' success. Our third school improvement goal relates to school climate and culture. We will continue to build a professional learning community through collaborative teamwork, reflection, curriculum development and addressing the needs of students at risk.

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

1. What is your favourite part of being in space? 2. Does Mars look any different from the space station than from Earth? 3. In your opinion, what is the most difficult aspect of your

training in becoming an astronaut? 4. How do you find living in space compared to on Earth? 5. What's the best part about being an astronaut? 6. What does it feel like to blast off from Earth? 7. What courses helped you the most for becoming an astronaut? 8. What do you miss most about Earth while you're in space? 9. How do you mentally prepare yourself for a mission like this ? 10. Why is there no gravity in space, and why is there only gravity

on Earth? 11. What are your fears or concerns when you're in space? 12. Out of all the planets and moons in space, which do you think

we'll inhabit first, and why? 13. What challenges do you find in eating food in zero gravity

on the space station? 14. Does the changing of seasons affect you in space? 15. Are you allowed to have IPods and video games on

the space station? 16. What's the coolest, or most difficult, thing about being

weightless? 17. What is the difference in speed between the space station

orbiting Earth and the moon orbiting Earth? 18. What kinds of experiments are you doing while you're

in the space station? 19. Do you think you will be able to walk at the end of your trip? 20. Did you have any astronaut role models who inspired

you to achieve what you've done? 21. How have you found your experience in the space station

compared to what you trained for? 22. What advice would you give teenagers who are interested

in a career in space?

Information about the upcoming ARISS contacts can be found at http://www.ariss.org/upcoming.htm#NextContact.

Next planned event(s):

1. WHEELS Idaho Historical Museum (Garfield Elementary), Boise, ID

Thu 24 Sep 09 20:34 UTC

2. Houya Elementary School, Nishitokyo, Japan, Sat 26 Sep 09 09:28 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.ariss.org/ (graciously hosted by the Radio Amateurs of Canada).

Thank you & 73,

David - AA4KN