An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Liberty Junior High School, Burbank, IL on 14 Mar. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 18:13 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between NA1SS and AJ9N. The contact should be audible over portions of the U.S. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English.

Liberty Junior High School is part of Burbank School District 111 in Burbank, Illinois. Although Burbank was not named after the ISS commander Dan Burbank, we felt the connection was quite serendipitous.

Liberty was built in 2004 and educates close to 800 7th and 8th grade students. The demographics of our population include 61.5% white and 35.1 % Hispanic students. We not only educate children; our district provides the community with parenting classes, computer literacy classes, and English as a Second Language classes.

Remarkably, this is the second event of its kind to take place in District 111, as a little over a decade ago; Luther Burbank School was the first in history to participate in an ARISS contact made from the International Space Station featuring astronaut and space station commander Bill Shepherd. ARISS volunteer Charlie Sufana, whose equipment and expertise helped to make the first contact possible, will be there for the second contact to ensure its success.

Anticipation has been brewing among Liberty students as throughout the last several weeks space station history and mission control have been the emphasis of the school's newsletters, hallway bulletins, and daily announcements. Also, teachers across varying content areas have incorporated lessons regarding space, astronomy, NASA, and the ISS into their subject curriculum.

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

1. How long does it take to meet the requirements for being an astronaut?

2. What kinds of training did you have to have to be on the International

Space Station?

3. What kind of medical testing does an astronaut have to go through to be

physically and mentally fit for duty?

4. What kind of research are you doing on this mission?

5. Does time feel different in space as compared to time on Earth?

6. How do you deal with medical emergencies while on the ISS?

7. Is it hard to get along with the same people for the length of the trip

in space, and how do you handle conflicts?

8. How do the simulators you train on compare to really being in space?

9. How and how often do you communicate with your family?

10. If you were able to create an invention to make your journey in space

easier, what would you create and why?

11. What has been your greatest challenge in space?

12. What was the most memorable thing you have seen in space?

13. What life lessons have you learned during your expedition on the ISS?

14. Would you encourage students our age to try for a career in space, and,

if so, what areas of study would you recommend?

15. How long does it take to feel "normal" again when you return from space?

16. What will you miss the most from the ISS when you return to earth?

17. Do computers, such as laptops, IPADS, Kindles, or Nooks, work similarly

in space as they do here on Earth?

18. Does "wireless" internet access or "WIFI" work up there, and if not, how

do you connect via internet?

19. What experiments are being conducted on the outside of the space station?

20. How often do space walks occur and what was accomplished on the most

recent space walk?

21. How much of a threat is there of the ISS being hit by space junk?

22. What is your favorite thing do on your free time?

23. When you were in Junior High School, did you ever envision yourself where

you are today, working on a space station?

24. Has anyone fallen ill soon after launch, and if so, what happened and

what is protocol in such a situation?

25. What are your concerns regarding the long-term physical effects of space

travel?

26. How are robots used aboard the space station?

27. What is the process for selecting astronauts for spacewalks?

28. How much do you learn about other cultures while working with astronauts

from other countries?

29. Does the crew eat the same meals or does each member get to choose his

menu?

30. What are space suits made of?

31. Is each crew member responsible for his own part of the mission, or does

everyone work together on each task?

32. What inspired you to become an astronaut?

Watch for live stream. Go to http://www.bsd111.org/Schools/LibertyJH/

and follow link to Video

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

Next planned event(s):

1. Middenschool de Regenboog Bree, Bree, Belgium, direct via ON5LL

Fri, 16 Mar 2012, 10:10 UTC

2. Istituto Tecnologico Statale Trasporti e Logistica "Leone Acciaiuoli",

Ortona,Italy, direct via IQ6LN

Sun, 18 Mar 2012, 11:31 UTC

Watch for live stream at: http://www.livestream.com/AMSAT_Italia (***)

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