An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Missoula Family YMCA, Missoula, MT on 08 Jan. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 16:14 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between NA1SS and W7PX. The contact should be audible over portions of the Midwest U.S. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English.

Missoula Family YMCA will be hosting an ARISS contact this coming January 8, 2013 at 16:14 UTC at Target Range School in Missoula, Montana. Students will have a chance to talk to the crew aboard the ISS with the assistance of the Hellgate Amateur Radio Club and ask a pool of questions generated from the student winners of an essay contest. The students represent grades 3 - 9 and attend the following Missoula county schools; Target Range, Loyola, St. Josesph's, Russell, Hellgate Elementary, Lowell and Chief Charlo. The Missoula Family YMCA has been committed to incorporating academic programs to help students figure out their place in the world. We think of the ARISS contact as the real world application of our students' studies of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Our participation in the ARISS event can help us achieve this goal and continue to excite the interest in our youth and to promote NASA STEM activities. Missoula is located along the Clark Fork and Bitterroot rivers in Western Montana and at the convergence of five mountain ranges, thus is often described as being the "Hub of Five Valleys". The 2010 Census put the population of Missoula at 66,788 and has been the second largest city in Montana. The city is also home to four high schools, five middle schools, sixteen elementary schools, two private schools and The University of Montana.

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

1. How do you oxygenate the water for the mediac fish experiment?

2. On the ISS, do you experience pain differently than you would on earth?

3. Are there any foods you like in space that you don't like on Earth since

you have a reduced sense of smell?

4. How do you get oxygen to breathe in the ISS?

5. What experiments are you working on right now on the ISS and what have

you learned from them?

6. How do you study climate change from the ISS?

7. Are meteors and satellites dangerous for the ISS?

8. What do you feel is the most life-changing technology NASA has created?

9. What is the thing you miss the most about gravity?

10. What is the longest time you've been up in space?

11. Is it true that you are taller when are in space?

12. If you get cut in space does the blood flow differently?

13. How high can you jump in space?

14. I read an article about an astronaut that completed a triathlon at the

ISS. Can you explain the special equipment people use to keep active in

space?

15. What is the scariest part about being in space?

16. How long does an astronaut have to be in space before bone and muscle

loss become irreversible?

17. Can you do a back flip?

18. Have you experienced any of the medical effects of long term

weightlessness, such as muscle atrophy, or differences in your skeleton?

19. What future experiments will we have to do to live on another planet?

20. How will the Flame Extinguishment Experiment (FLEX) help Montana Fire

Fighters with large scale fires?

21. After staying in space for so long, what kind of difficulties do you

have when you return to Earth?

22. What is the most interesting thing you find about microgravity?

23. What is the procedure to go to the bathroom in space?

24. Do you float off when you try to sleep?

25. What is the most interesting thing you've found doing science in space

so far?

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

Next planned event(s):

1. Royal Canadian Air Cadets Newfoundland Cadet Detachment, St. John's,

Newfoundland, Canada, direct via VO1BZM

Sat, 12Jan2013, 14:40 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