An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, Austin, TX on 20 Mar. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 14:20 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and VK6MJ. 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.

The Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders is a unique all-girls school founded to educate young women and give them the confidence and skills necessary to succeed in college, in their careers, and in their communities. We are a public school in the Austin Independent School District serving over 700 girls in 6th through 12th grade. The girls partake and excel in engineering design projects and robotics competitions. The demographics of our student body mirror that of our local community. During the 2011 - 2012 school year, 61% percent of our students were Hispanic, 22% are Caucasian, 13% were African-American, 3% were Asian-American and 1% were American Indian/Alaskan Native. Two hundred of the girls will be gathered as 10 of their peers ask questions on behalf of all grade levels during the ARISS contact.

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

1. What is the most consistent repair or maintenance that must be done on

the International Space Station?

2. I've heard you grow plants for food on the ISS. How do you grow them?

Are the experiments with plants on the ISS helping improve things on

Earth?

3. Does having internet available make you feel more or less homesick?

4. What are some of the most difficult psychological effects of living with

the same people in space for extended periods of time and being away

from earth?

5. What's your favorite place on the ISS?

6. With the risks of working in space, does the ISS have an emergency

escape system?

7. What special sanitation issues do astronauts face that those of us on

Earth don't worry about?

8. What do we hope to learn from the existence of the ISS and your presence

there?

9. What made you want to be an astronaut?

10. Do you get to vote when you're up in space?

11. What are some of the major ways that research on the space station can

improve quality of life on Earth, with regards to biotechnology or other

fields?

12. Being in orbit do you still experience "turbulence" or disturbances in

orbit?

13. What are some of the limitations of living in space as compared to

living on Earth?

14. I have noticed that your daily schedule of waking up is at times in the

early morning of the US time. What is the reasoning for doing that?

15. What would happen in the event that space debris shattered a window on

the ISS?

16. Can you describe the effects of G-forces on the human body during re-

entry to our planet?

17. Are you able to see shooting stars or fireworks?

18. What do you like about being in space and what do you dislike?

19. How many personal belongings are you allowed to bring with you to space?

20. We're all wondering it: How do you shower and use the bathroom in space?

Information about the upcoming ARISS contacts can be obtained by subscribing to the SAREX mail list. To subscribe, go to http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/maillist/ and choose "How to Subscribe".

Next planned event(s):

1. UA Huntsville Space Hardware Club, Huntsville, AL, direct via K4UAH

Thu, 21Mar2013, 15:50 UTC

2. Thornton Middle School, Katy, TX, direct via KF5NZD

Mon, 25Mar2013, 15:39 UTC

3. Des Cardinaux School, Sainte-Rose, Laval, Quebec, Canada, telebridge

via K6DUE

Tue, 26Mar2013 13:13 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