An International Space Station Expedition 14 ARISS school contact has been planned with students at Virginia Run Elementary School in Centreville, Virginia, USA on Monday, 02 Mar. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 16:18 UTC.

The contact will be a direct between stations NA1SS and K4HTA. The contact should be audible in the Eastern United States and Eastern Canada. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.

Located approximately 20 miles west of Washington, D.C. in Centreville, Virginia in Fairfax County, Virginia Run Elementary School provides education to 830 children between the ages of 5 years and 12 years in Kindergarten through sixth grade. Our school is a typical suburban school where the boys and girls often claim that science is their favorite subject.

Our entire school has been busy preparing for our ARISS contact with the International Space Station. We held a contest among students to select the 15 best questions representing all grade levels. Each of the contest winners will have the opportunity to ask their question. Carl Walz, a former Space Station astronaut and community member has agreed to be part of our pre-contact activities. He will bring his space suit, memorabilia, and videos and make a presentation to the entire school about his adventures and career in space.

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

1. How high above the Earth are you? 2. How do you eat? 3. s it pitch black in space besides the stars? 4. Tell us about the layers in your space suit. 5. How and when did you decided you wanted to be an astronaut? 6. What kinds of things are you doing to help future ISS expeditions? 7. How does the air get in the space station? 8. How is day-to-day living different there than here? 9. If something serious happens, what is your most valuable instrument? 10. If you could talk with any former astronaut (deceased or alive), who would it be and what would you talk about? 11. What kind of research are you doing in the space station? 12. What are your daily activities? 13. What has been your biggest surprise since you've been up in space?

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):

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