An International Space Station Expedition 14 ARISS school contact has been planned with students at Hanazono Elementary School, Akashi-city, Japan on Monday, 12 Feb. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 09:05 UTC.

The contact will be a direct between stations NA1SS and 8N3F. The contact should be audible in the Japan and Eastern Asia. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.

Hanazono Elementary, is located in Akashi, the city that Japan Standard time is defined by. Students sometimes go to the planetarium of the astronomical science building in Akashi or observe the starry sky at the playground. Students went to camp at astronomical observatory park in our prefecture when they were 5th grade and looked at stars through a two-meter telescope. We are breeding the Japanese killifish that were on the space shuttle with the astronaut Chiaki Mukai. There are many children interested in outer space in our school.

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

1. Why did you want to become an astronaut? 2. Do you sometimes have arguments with other astronauts? 3. How do you deal with carbon dioxide there? 4. Can you keep animals in space? 5. Can you see the forest destruction and desertification from space? 6. What is beautiful in space? 7. Can you tell when it is night or morning in space? 8. Is it tiring to float? 9. What would you do when you are sick or get injured? 10. What is convenient and what is not in a gravity-free space? 11. Is it true that meteorites are flying around in space? 12. Do you have any hot space food? 13. Do you miss the earth? 14. What smells do you have at the space station? 15. Where do you throw away trash & etcetera? 16. What is the future plan of space station? 17. Is the starlit sky the same in space? 18. How much monthly trash is there in space? 19. Do raw foods get spoiled in space too? 20. What is the hardest experience during the training before going to space? 21. Is it true that you will lose your balance after you come back from space? 22. What do you do at the space station? 23. Have you ever seen an UFO? 24. Is it possible for us to go to space without training?

Please note, the amateur equipment on the ISS is not functioning in the automatic modes properly and may be silent more than usual. Information about the next scheduled ARISS contact can be found at http://www.rac.ca/ariss/upcoming.htm#NextContact .

Next planned event(s): Vasant Valley School, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, India, telebridge via WH6PN Sat 2007-02-25 08:50 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.rac.ca/ariss (graciously hosted by the Radio Amateurs of Canada).

Thank you & 73, Kenneth - N5VHO