An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Winter Gardens Primary School, Canvey Island, United Kingdom and Pilton Bluecoat School, Barnstaple, United Kingdom on 23 Sept. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 10:37 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and VK4KHZ. The contact should be audible over portions of Australia 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.

Winter Gardens Primary School is a larger than average school on Canvey Island in Essex, England. It has two forms of entry catering for 60 children in each year group. Our school is full to capacity with 420 children from Foundation Stage (Reception - Age 4) up to Year 6 (Age 11). On the school site we also have the Winter Gardens Pre-School which caters for 60 children a day and the Winter Gardens Toddler Group which caters for children from birth upwards. Canvey Island is situated on the Thames estuary and is an actual Island. Close towns include Basildon and Benfleet and slightly further afield, Grays (Thurrock) and Southend. There are 12 schools on the Island, two of which are secondary schools.

Winter Gardens Primary School is an active school not only within the local community, but also nationally and internationally. Children have taken part in many events in London and we regularly receive visitors from a school in Germany.

Pilton Bluecoat is a state run Junior School catering for 250 children aged between 7 - 11 years that is situated on the North Devon coast in the South West of England. The school has excellent links with its community and is committed to providing a vibrant and active learning environment for students. The school prides itself in the high levels of academic attainment by the children as well as providing the children with a wide range of opportunities to enhance their personal development. Our school has been taking part in a whole school theme entitled 'The Final Frontier.'

We have been looking at aspects of space and will include factual investigations, setting up fictitious scenario and looking at aspects of space travel and space history. All curriculum subjects will be integrated into the work, including mathematics and literacy. The children will be given the opportunity to explore their own ideas and facilitate their own learning pathways. Children will also have the opportunity to develop their creativity through aspects of art, music and science

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

1. What is the maximum number of people that can live on the ISS?

2. What inspired you to become an astronaut?

3. What sort of food do you eat?

4. What is your daily routine like?

5. If you cry, do the tears run down your face or just float away?

6. Where does all of your waste go?

7. How do you get supplies such as food, drink and clothes?

8. What effect does no gravity have on your body?

9. How do you get air up there?

10. Have you experienced any meteor showers?

11. Can you use ink pens when there is no gravity?

12. Who came up with the idea of a space station?

13 When you are in space, how often do you get to talk to your family?

14. How often do you work outside the space station?

15. How much sleep do you get in space when you do not know if it is night or day?

16. What is the most serious emergency you have had to deal with?

17. How did you become an astronaut?

18. What interesting research have you done in space?

19. How long does it take you to get rid of your 'space feeling' when you come back

home?

20. How do you get to and enter the space station?

21. How do you know what is happening down on earth, do you get electronic versions

of newspapers?

22. What do you do on space walks?

23. If you were not an astronaut, what would you have been?

24. Is it an advantage or disadvantage to have no gravity on the ISS?

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 volunteer support and leadership from AMSAT and IARU societies around the world with the ISS space agencies partners: NASA, Russian Space Agency, ESA, CNES, JAXA, and CSA.

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/

Thank you & 73,

David - AA4KN

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