An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Belmont Elementary, Langley, BC, Canada on 09 Oct. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 20:20 UTC.

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

The contact will be direct between NA1SS and VA7GAB. The contact should be audible over western Canada. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English or French.

Ecole Belmont Elementary School is a dual track (French / English) school with approximately 530 students. We are located in Brookswood a suburb of Langley, 52 Kms east of Vancouver. As part of our back to school "Week Of Welcome", we undertook a school wide focus on "Space". Students learned about Canada's contribution to space exploration, the Canadian astronauts, the construction of the ISS as well as many other related things. Students created event patches and a myriad of other artwork in preparation for the upcoming event.

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

1. It is 10 seconds before takeoff... What are you thinking? 2. When you get back on earth is it hard to get used to gravity again and

how do you prepare for this transition? 3. What do you get to eat up there and what is your favourite thing to eat? 4. What inspired you to become an astronaut? 5. What is the scariest thing that you have had to do while is space? 6. How do you know when it is time to go to sleep? 7. Approximately how many scientific discoveries have you made aboard the

space station and what were they? 8. Are you ever worried something bad might happen to the space station? 9. Pourquoi est ce que les personnes vont dans espace?

Why are people going into space?

10. What happens if one or two crew members

gets seriously sick? 11. What is your favourite thing about being in space? 12. What is the hardest experiment you have done while on the space station? 13. Are there colours in space that you've never seen on earth? 14. Were you scared of the speed of the rocket ship that took you into space? 15. Have you had any health problems aboard the ISS? 16. Do you get dizzy going around the earth? 17. Will learning French make it easier for me to become an astronaut?

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

Next planned event(s):

1. Glenmore Christian Academy, Calgary, AB, Canada

Wed 14 Oct 09 16:01 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