An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Wireless Institute of Australia, Bayswater, Victoria, and Trinity Christian School, Canberra, Australia on 29 May. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 10:47 UTC.

The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between OR4ISS and ON4ISS. The contact should be audible over portions of Europe. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English.

Trinity Christian School is a Kindergarten to Year 12 day school for boys and girls. It is situated in Canberra. The school has a student enrolment of 1135 and more than 130 permanent staff are employed. The school is recognised for its excellence in student achievements across a broad range of academic, physical and social areas. The school Vision is "To provide students with a Christ-centred education in a learning community of Love, Nurture and Service". The school principal, Mr. Carl Palmer is a licensed amateur radio operator (VK2TP / VK1TP).

The Wireless Institute of Australia is the oldest Ham Radio Club in the world, and this ARISS contact will take place during their the Centenary dinner in Canberra. We have asked students from the Trinity Christian School in Canberra to take part.

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

1. What in your opinion is the most interesting experiment that has been

conducted on the International Space Station? 2. Living is space with zero gravity must have some unusual effects on the

body. Does this environment affect an astronaut's circulatory system such

as causing changes to the normal blood pressure and pulse rate? 3. What is the evacuation procedure in the event of an emergency on the

International Space Station? 4. I understand that Astronauts on the ISS are able to see 16 sunrises and

sunsets each day. Does this affect your sleep patterns? Do you sleep a

for longer time or a shorter time than you would on earth? How long does

it usually take to get over the effects of "jet-lag" when you return to

Earth. 5. How often do you interact with the astronauts from other countries and do

you work on projects and experiments together? 6. When you are in space, are you "above" the law? If there was a legal

issue that arose on the space station which nation's law would apply? 7. Do you think that in the future, it will be feasible for people to spend

considerable amounts of time living in space? 8. Astronaut, Neil Armstrong said that when he looked out of the window of

the space ship he could cover the whole world with his finger. Rather

than making him feel big, it made him feel very small. After circling the

Earth for months and months how do you do you relate to the enormity of

space? 9. Does the Space Station ever collide with other solid matter in space? 10. Have you been involved in a space walk? What is it like? Has anyone ever

been separated from the space station by a large distance?

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

Next planned event(s):

1. Istituto Comprensivo Camaiore - Scuola Secondaria 1° Grado "M. Rosi", Camaiore, I- 55043, Italy

Sat 5 June 2010, 10:21 UTC

2 ISIS Andrea Ponti, Gallarate, Varese, Italy,

Mon 7 June 2010 09:40 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