Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report November 7, 2011

1. Upcoming School Contacts

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for Rehabilitationszentrum für Kinder und Jugendliche in Affoltern am Albis, Switzerland on Wednesday, November 9 at 14:21 UTC. This venue is a hospital school for children during their rehabilitation stay. Students will discover the challenges faced while living in a space environment and will learn about satellites, radio waves and propagation of radio waves.

Donald P. Sutherland School, Nassau, New York has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Thursday, November 10 at 19:35 UTC. The contact will be integrated into the classes of English Language Arts, Mathematics and Technology, Science, Social Studies, Music, Art, Physical Education, and Character Education. Web sites such as NASA Kids and the NASA Digital Learning Network have been utilized by teachers and students to prepare for this event.

I.I.S.S. "G. Marconi" in Bari, Italy has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Saturday, November 12 at 09:49 UTC via station IK1SLD. The ISS (High School) "Marconi" was founded in 1940 and is a scientific high school (applied science) that specializes in technology. The school has an enrollment of more than 600 students and the ARI (Radioamateur Association of Bari) is a part of the ISS "Marconi" body. The Institute participates in the EduSat project, headed by ASI (Italian Space Agency) in collaboration with IMT - Ingegneria Marketing e Tecnologia (Italian SME). The ARISS contact will be integrated into the EduSat project through which students are studying aerospace, the space environment, space telecommunications and satellite subsystems. A Technological Satellite Simulator has been developed by IMT to allow students to perform experiments in the laboratory.

2. Swiss Students Speak with Astronaut Aboard ISS

On Monday, October 31, students attending Kantonsschule Zug in Zug, Switzerland connected with Astronaut Mike Fossum, KF5AQG on the ISS via Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS). An audience of 600 was on hand to witness the contact and watched as 8 students got in 16 questions before the ISS went over the horizon. The contact highlighted lessons on gravity, orbits, the ISS and its flight path, as well as electromagnetic waves and amateur radio. This ARISS event was held in celebration of the school's 150th anniversary. Media coverage included two television stations and one radio station.

3. Californian Students Radio ISS Astronaut

San Diego, California students from Sundance Elementary School participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Tuesday, November 1. Astronaut Mike Fossum, KF5AQG answered questions about the ISS mission, space and how space affects the human body. The contact was integrated into lesson plans about radios, radio waves, space and space-related topics. The local ham radio club gave presentations to the youth. Sign On San Diego covered the event in an article: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/nov/04/poway-students-connect-astron...

4. AMSAT Journal Includes Articles about ARISS Program

The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) posted two articles about ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) in its July/August 2011 issue of the AMSAT Journal. "Apogee View," written by AMSAT-NA President Barry Baines, WD4ASW, is about the deployment of ARISSat-1 and the educational opportunities available for students. Rosalie White, K1STO, ARISS-U.S. delegate and ARRL ARISS Program Manager, talks about the ARISS program and how the ARISS contact is used in the classroom to interest students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in her article, "ARISS = Education."

5. ARRL Short Story on ARISS

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) included a brief report on ARISS in its November 3 ARRL Letter under "ARRL in Action: What Have We Been Up to Lately?" One of the items mentions Debra Johnson and Rosalie White and their role in selecting U.S. schools for ARISS contacts, as well as their participation in the ARISS International Meeting held in Houston last month. See: http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-in-action-what-have-we-been-up-to-lately-39

6. AMSAT Meetings Held November 4 - 6

The 2011 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting were held Friday - Sunday, November 4 - 6 in San Jose, California. Several talks on ARISSat and education were given:

"Fabrication, Integration and Testing of ARISSat-1" - Lou McFadin, W5DID "ARISSat-1 in Flight" - Gould Smith, WA4SXM "Decoding Satellite Telemetry form ARISSat-1" - Douglas Quagliana, KA2UPW/5 "ARISSat-1 Operational Survey" - Steven Bible, N7HPR "ARISSat-1 Post Mortem" - Gould Smith, WA4SXM "The Importance of Educational Outreach for AMSAT" - Barry Baines, WD4ASW

7. AMSAT Award for ARISSat-1 Final Telemetry

On Sunday, November 6, AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) included an item in its News Service bulletin (ANS-310) about ARISSat-1. Although the Chicken Little Contest deadline has passed, the ARISSat team is still collecting telemetry data and will award a certificate to the person who collects and submits the last telemetry transmitted by the satellite. "ARISSat-1/KEDR Team Challenge to Catch the Last ARISSat-1 Telemetry" may be viewed here: http://amsat.org/pipermail/ans/2011/000564.html