An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Salem Elementary School, Apex, NC on 21 Mar. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 14:09 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and VK5ZAI. The contact should be audible over 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.

Salem Elementary school is located in Apex, North Carolina in an area where education is a top priority for its citizens. Also known as "the Peak of Good Living", Apex is located 12 miles from the capital city of Raleigh and just south of the Research Triangle Park formed by the 3 major cities in the area (Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill) and the research universities there (North Carolina State, Duke University and the University of North Carolina).

Salem Elementary was built in 2000 and operates on the year-round calendar. Students at the year-round schools are divided into four groups, called tracks, with each track having its own calendar. Schedules are staggered so that, at any given time, three tracks are in school and one is tracked out. This year-round calendar provides students with a more continuous learning process. Since students do not have long summer vacations, major reviewing in the fall is eliminated. Students and teachers are also more energized throughout the year due to regular breaks.

Salem Elementary places emphasis on lessons and activities which encourage students to collaborate, think critically, communicate and creatively solve problems. The campus features age appropriate playgrounds, baseball fields, soccer fields, a butterfly garden, an outdoor classroom, and a pond. The school features a well-equipped Media Center, spacious Multi Purpose room, full service Cafeteria, Art and Music rooms, Town Meeting area, Computer Lab and a colorful inviting interior.

Salem Elementary is known for its academic success, as well as several extracurricular activities, such as, Skip Its Team. Skip Its is a jump rope team which performs during half time shows, and during the Apex and Cary Christmas parades. Students have the opportunity to become a member of Chorus, Green Team, Student Leaders and Scrabble Clubs. Our PTA volunteers are very active, supportive and dedicated to the school and staff. They volunteer in classrooms to further learning opportunities such as the KITS program and help to raise money for 21st Century technology. The annual science fair sends representatives on to the regional fair. In 2012, three Salem students went on to compete in the state science fair at Meredith College in Raleigh.

Teachers, staff and volunteers focus each day to live up to the school's motto: "Where we do whatever it takes to honor and educate".

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

1. How is life different on the space station? How do you eat, drink and

shower?

2. How do you protect the ISS from meteors and asteroids?

3. Do you bring enough clothes for the whole mission or do you wash your

clothes? If so how?

4. What is the source of electricity on the ISS?

5. When you return to Earth how do your muscles get used to gravity?

6. How would you fix a leaking fuel tank in space?

7. When you are in orbit, does food taste different? Do you prefer the taste

of food on Earth or in space?

8. How long did you have to train to become an astronaut?

9. What experiments are you working on now?

10. How do you exercise in space?

11. How do you know when it is night or day on the ISS?

12. How do you fix a satellite in orbit?

13. How many times can an astronaut go to space?

14. What kind of research are you doing that might help make it safer for us

to travel to other planets?

15. Why did you choose to become an astronaut and if you had not, then what

else would you have been?

16. Are you growing anything on the ISS? If so, does going from dark to light

so many times a day affect the plants?

17. Does the gravity of other planets affect your course? Does it repel or

attract you?

18. Is the ISS shielded from the radiation of a solar flare?

19. Have you ever had a problem on the ISS you had to deal with?

20. If you could change anything on the ISS, what would it be and why?

21. How big is the ISS?

22. What do you do for fun on the ISS?

23. Can you see Earth from the ISS?

24. What does it look like on the moon?

25. How does the space station orbit the earth? Does it go on the same path

every day?

26. Do you share meals with the other astronauts?

27. What do you miss most about Earth?

28. What time zone do you use in space?

29. Do you have internet access on the ISS?

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

Next planned event(s):

TBD

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