An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Istituto di Istruzione Superiore "Claudio Varalli", Milano, I-20142, Italy on 17 Feb. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 10:33 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and W5RRR. The contact should be audible over portions of the central U.S. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in Italian.

"Varalli" is both a Technical Touristic School and a Secondary School with an emphasis on foreign languages (Linguistic Liceo). The school is inside the Campus of Puecher Centre in the south part of Milan.

During the five years course the students attend the study of English, French, German and Spanish languages. Technical Tourist School has 474 student while Linguistic Liceo has 174 student. For the school year 2010/2011

the school is planning the formation of 34 classes. Besides curricular activities, the students of the school attend meeting, seminars, conferences, visits, theatrical performances and exhibition. The school has a Radio Club Station with official call IZ2SHS, useful also for language training.

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

1. What's your typical day on the ISS?

2. What's the temperature range in space and which insulating materials are

needed by the ISS?

3. According to your personal experience, how does human body reacts to life

in space?

4. What's your main task on this mission?

5. What kind of experiments are you carrying on? Concerning medicine,

biology, mechanics or else?

6. Which path led you to become an astronaut?

7. Which physical requirements are needed to become an astronaut?

8. Is there an experiment among those you have carried out which has

particularly interested you and which you can tell us about?

9. Considering how important communication is on the ISS, has being a radio

amateur helped you in your career as an astronaut?

10. Do you have a special diet while on orbit?

11. Which is the primary source of energy on the ISS?

12. Which systems are adopted ro reduce consumption of energy on the ISS?

13. Is it possible to see from space the most polluted areas of the Earth?

14. Did you find it easy to interact with astronauts of different countries?

15. Is it possible to see any human buildings on the Earth from the ISS?

16. If you fall ill, do you have any special treatment?

17. Can you tell us something about the new comunication satellite ARISSat-

1/RadioSkaf V?

18. Can communication with the Earth be disturbed by magnetic storms or other

phenomena?

19. How do you perform daily activities in a state of zero gravity?

20. How long do day and night last on the ISS and how do you get used to it?

21. How do meteors and bolids appear to you in space and how is the ISS

protected from them?

22. Are you carrying on studies on the atmosphere which can be useful for

meteorology?

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

Next planned event(s):

1. Experiencing Learning "Imparare Sperimentando", San Quirino, Italy,

telebridge via LU8YY

Sat, 19 Feb. 2011 11:43 UTC

2. Preston North East Primary School, Preston, Victoria, Australia,

telebridge via W5RRR

Tue 22 Feb. 2011 08:04 UTC

3. Nishibori Eizaburo Memorial Explorer Musium Radio Club, Higashiomi,

Shiga, Japan, direct via TBD

Tue, 22 Feb. 2011 09:12 UTC

4. Istituzione Scolalstica "Saint-Roch", Aosta , I-11100, Italy,

telebridge via LU8YY

Contact is a go for STS-133 slip plan only:

Fri 25 Feb. 2011 09:36 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