An International Space Station Expedition 15 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at the Town of Anamizu ARISS School Contact Executive Committee, Anamizu-town , Housu-gun Ishikawa, Japan on 06 Oct. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 09:23 UTC.

The contact will be a direct between stations NA1SS and 8J9ISS. The contact should be audible in most of Japan. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.

On June 6, 2006, the Town of Anamizu ARISS School Contact Executive Committee was established and started operations toward its implementation. This committee is led by the Superintendent of the Anamizu Town Board of Education and also includes teachers from the six elementary and junior high schools in Anamizu, the Ishikawa Polytechnic College, and members from the Anamizu Town Board of Education. Past activities began with the application submission for ARISS School Contact in July of 2006 and continued with student activities in July of 2007, including building lessons (making and launching of water rockets from soft drink bottles), the Tanabata gStar Festivalh night sky observation, webpage creation lesson and a rehearsal for communication with the space station.

Introduction of Anamizu Town

The town of Anamizu is located on the Noto Peninsula and is a place abundant with nature that is surrounded by mountains and the ocean. In 1889, Percival Lowell became interested in the Noto Peninsula and visited Anamizu, which he introduced in his book titled Noto. As a commemoration of the last point on Lowellfs journey, a monument was constructed and to commemorate Lowell himself, a telescope has been provided for this town with starry skies. At the end of March this past year, the nature-filled town of Anamizu was hit by the Noto Peninsula Earthquake and suffered a large amount of damage. The success of this dream project will most certainly give local citizens a sense of strength to help recover from the earthquake.

Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. Do you have any free time? 2. What do shooting stars look like from space? 3. Can you see the forest destruction and desertification from space? 4. Can you tell when it is night or morning in space? 5. What does it smell like in the space station? 6. Do you miss your family? 7. How do you throw away trash from the space station? 8. Do raw foods get spoiled in space too? 9. Is the starlit sky the same in space? 10. Is it true that you will lose your balance after you come back from space? 11. Have you ever seen an UFO? 12. Is it possible for us to go to space without training? 13. What would you do when you are sick or get injured? 14. Is it true that meteorites are flying around in space? 15. How do you get rid of carbon dioxide in the space station? 16. What is beautiful in space? 17. Is it tiring to float? 18. How much monthly trash is there in space? 19. What do you do at the space station? 20. What is convenient and what is not in a gravity-free space?

Information about the next scheduled ARISS contact can be found at http://www.rac.ca/ariss/upcoming.htm#NextContact . Packet is occasionally active on 145.825 simplex.

Next planned event(s): 1. Prairielands Council, Boy Scouts of America, Space Jamboree Camp Robert Drake (Oakwood, IL), Champaign, Illinois, telebridge via VK4KHZ Sat 2007-10-06 19:11 UTC

2. Isummasaqvik School, Quaqtag, QC Canada, telebridge via ON4ISS Wed 2007-10-10 18:32 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