An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at JOTA, Boy Scouts of America HQ, Irving, Texas on 17 Oct. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 21:56 UTC.

The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and WH6PN. The contact should be audible over Hawaii. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English.

The JOTA (Jamboree On The Air) is an annual event during which Scouts throughout the world meet each other through amateur radio contacts. JOTI (Jamboree On The Internet) is another event where Scouts make contacts using the Computers and Internet. JOTA/JOTI contributes to better understanding and mutual respect between youngsters in different countries. This annual event is sponsored by the World Scout Bureau. Thousands of amateur radio stations around the world participate. This event is sponsored by the Boy Scouts of America and the National Scouting Museum. For almost 100 years, Scouting programs have instilled in youth the values found in the Scout Oath and Scout Law. The Boy Scouts of America helps the youth develop academic skills, self-confidence, ethics, leadership skills, and citizenship skills that influence their adult lives. The National Scouting Museum preserves, collects, organizes, and displays Scouting's treasures-documenting the movement's unique influence on American culture and the lives of more than 110 million people.

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

1. What tools do the astronauts use in space? 2. What is your favorite planet and why? 3. Are there craters on every planet? 4. How does it feel to be weightless? 5. How "hot" is it working with all those planets? Have you ever found

evidence of "cool" stuff? Have you ever found evidence of life on other

planets? 6. How do you get to be an astronaut? 7. Do space suits work like diving suits? Is it hard to move in them? 8. What kind of isolation do you have to go through before becoming an

astronaut? 9. What does it feel like to be in zero gravity? 10. Do you have control over the gravity on the space station? If so, how

does it work? 11. Is it more fun to leave earth going into space, or coming back down to

earth, and what's it like coming back into earth's atmosphere from space? 12. Do the Space Shuttle engines have enough fuel to go to the moon? 13. How much it will cost to go into space? 14. What do you do for fun at the space station? 15. How do you shower and exercise without gravity? 16. What kind of experiments are you doing to learn about the effects of

weightlessness on astronauts and/or animals; and, how are the experiments

different than those you do on Earth? 17. What is the type of fuel used in the rocket that took you to the Space

Station, and do you recycle water and human-waste materials at the Space

Station? 18. How fast does the Space Station go? 19. What skills did the Arctic Survival Training you received teach you that

have been useful on the space station? Were you a Boy Scout, and if you

were, how have skills you learned there helped you in space? 20. How cool is the Space Station? 21. How many craters are on the moon? 22. How does it feel to see Earth from space? 23. How long will you be in space?

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

Next planned event(s):

1. Istituto Comprensivo Romualdo Trifone, Montecorvino Rovella, Salerno, Italy, Tue 20 Oct 09 07:41 UTC

2. C. E. M. IV, Mbour, Senegal,

Fri 23 Oct 09 10:28 UTC

3. VTI Ieper, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Fri 23 Oct 09 11:11 UTC

4. Samuel Hearne Secondary School, Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada, Fri 23 Oct 09 16:27 UTC

5. Belayr Pathfinders, Dartmouth, NS, Canada,

Sat 24 Oct 09 15:12 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