Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report March 28, 2011

1. Upcoming School Contacts

Lehman High School students in Kyle, Texas have been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Tuesday, March 29 at 17:40 UTC. The youth have been learning about astronomy, geography and physics and have been studying for their amateur radio Technician licenses. Journalism students have established reporter contacts and will provide news briefs, interview material, photographs and video material to local news outlets.

Canterbury High School, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Wednesday, March 30 at 14:56 UTC. The ARISS activity will be incorporated into the Grade 9 curriculum through the Earth and Space Science strand and into the Grade 10 curriculum through lessons on Scientific Investigation Skills and Career Exploration.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for Istituto Tecnico Industriale Statale "Leonardo da Vinci", Pratola Peligna, Italy on Saturday, April 2 at 08:34 UTC. The contact has been integrated into telecommunications, the main focus of this institution, and has been supported by local radio amateurs. Interdisciplinary activities have included the study of electronic systems, the English language and mathematics.

2. Recent ARISS Contacts

On Wednesday, March 23, Paolo Nespoli, IZØJPA spoke with students from Istituto Comprensivo di Verano Brianza - Scuola Media in Italy via an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact. Nespoli, an alumnus of the school, exchanged greetings with the youth and answered 15 of their questions. Approximately 250 students, teachers and guests were on hand for the event which received regional and local media coverage. The contact supplemented course studies emphasizing astronautics, astronomy, radio techniques and English.

Students from two schools in Italy, Istituto Comprensivo "G. Manzi" and Istituzione Scolalstica "Saint-Roch" jointly participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with astronaut Paolo Nespoli, IZØJPA on Saturday, March 26. The activity was part of a curriculum concentrating on space, technology and human spaceflight. Nespoli fielded the students' 34 questions over 2 consecutive ISS passes as 400 students and visitors gathered for the event. Regional and local media reported the event.

3. AMSAT Posts ARISS News

On March 27, the AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) covered several ARISS-related items in its News Service bulletin (ANS-086). Stories on the 600th ARISS contact with Poland, the recent Munich, Germany contact as well as the astronaut training status were included in the report. See: http://amsat.org/pipermail/ans/2011/000496.html

4. Amateur Radio Newsline on ARISS

The Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1754 included three ARISS news items. The first piece was about the 600th ARISS contact which was performed by Cady Coleman. Another item covered the two astronauts who just passed their technician license exams and received their call signs and a final report talked about astronaut ham Doug Wheelock who will host the Dayton Hamvention Forum in May. The stories may be found at: ftp://ftp.arnewsline.org/quincy/News/news.txt