Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report January 12, 2009

1. Upcoming School Contact

Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, Canada has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Tuesday, January 20 at 18:01 UTC via telebridge station ON4ISS in Belgium. A space club has been formed at the hospital and those children participating in the club have learned about the ISS via videos, the internet and guest speakers. They have learned to use correct radio protocol and have tracked and plotted the course of the ISS. They have also created artwork to be displayed during the contact. Media coverage of the event is expected.

2. Students in India Experience Successful Contact

On Wednesday, January 7, youth from Axam Jatiya Vidyalaya in Guwahati, India spoke with Mike Fincke, KE5AIT on the ISS. During the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact, students asked 14 questions as 1000 students, parents and guests looked on. All Assam Students' Union (AASU) officials, Mr Brindaban Goswami and many other Guwahati dignitaries attended the event. The contact was facilitated by the telebridge station W6SRJ in California. The audio was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT and JK1ZRW servers and received eight connections including three link nodes and one repeater from five countries. The news was reported on television and in the newspapers. The Assam Tribune posted an article to its Web site: http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=jan0809/at01 The headliner with photos may be found here: http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=jan0809/main

3. ARISS Distributes Calendars

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) distributed International Space Station 2009 calendars to over 40 schools that have recently experienced or will be scheduled for ARISS contacts in the upcoming months. Calendars were also distributed to ARISS volunteers worldwide as a token of appreciation for their hard work and dedication to the program. Over five hundred calendars were distributed.

4. Article on ARISS Contact with Challenger Learning Center

The Ohio Department of Education posted an article on the September 1, 2008 Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with students at the Chal¬lenger Learning Center of Lucas County in Toledo. The article, "Students connect with International Space Station," may be found at: http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3&...

5. Technopolis Contact Video Posted

On Saturday, January 3, students visiting Technopolis in Mechelen, Belgium experienced an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact via telebridge station VK4KHZ in Australia. The video of this contact is now available on YouTube. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipy4isPtuKA