An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Flanders Dist. of Creativity & Dept. of Ed. of the Flemish Govt., Leuven, Belgium on 17 Nov. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 13:41 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and LU8YY. The contact should be audible over the portions of South America. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English and Dutch.

IKANDA is the very first congress for children in Flanders. It is convened November 17th in the Brabanthal, Leuven, Belgium. In Flemish IKANDA means: I can do that! The message behind IKANDA is: where passion and talent come together. What you like doing, you mostly do better and the other way around. With IKANDA we seek for a cross fertilization between science/culture/sports and entrepreneurship. 1400 twelve years old will participate in the congress. They will all be wearing their Talent T-shirt where they will show what their talent and passion is. For the plenary session, we have invited speakers who will tell the children about their talent and passion: e.g. Stijn Meuris will tell us about stars and astronomy, astronaut Dirk Frimout has an interesting story about his mission in space, Elodie Ouedraogo will tell us how difficult it is to win a gold medal at the Olympics, Dixie Dansercoer has a passionate story about his expeditions to the North Pole etc. Participants have prepared questions they will ask Frank De Winne during the ARISS experiment.

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

1. Hoe kom je aan zuurstof in de ruimte? How do you get oxygen in space? 2. Wat betekent eigenlijk ISS? What does ISS exactly mean? 3. Wat zijn je nieuwe verantwoordelijkheden en taken als Commander? How did your responsibilities and tasks changed when you became

Commander? 4. Wilde je al astronaut worden als je nog maar 11 jaar was? Did you already want to become an astronaut when you were 11 year old? 5. Hoeveel kandidaten waren er om aan boord te gaan? How many candidates took the tests to be elected to go on board? 6. Hoe lang ben je reeds in de ruimte, in "ruimtetijd"? Tijd gaat toch

sneller in de ruimte, niet? For how long have you been in space in "space time"? Time goes faster in

space, isn't it? 7. Wat eet je in de ruimte? What do you eat in space? 8. Is de aarde mooie vanuit de ruimte? Does the earth look nice from out of space? 9. Welke experimenten heb je reeds gedaan? Which kind of experiments did you do? 10. Kan je andere planeten zien? Zo ja, welke? Can you see other planets? If so, which ones? 11. Is de lancering werkelijk schrikwekkend? Is the launch of the rocket really that scary? 12. Wat mis je het meest? What do you miss most? 13. Is het verschil tussen gewichteloosheid in de ruimte en zwaartekracht op

aarde moeilijk te verwerken? Is the transition between being weightless in space and walking on earth

hard? 14. Wanneer is het nacht in de ruimte? Ik bedoel, in de ruimte is het altijd

donker, maar wanneer ga je naar bed en welke tijdzone gebruik je? When is it night in space? I mean, in space it is always dark but when do

you sleep and which timezone do you follow? 15. Is het niet heet als de zon door het ISS schijnt? Of heb je speciale

gordijnen? Isn't it hot when the sun shines through the ISS? Or do you have special

curtains? 16. Wat moet men studeren om astronaut te worden? Is het heel moeilijk? Which studies do you have to do to become an astronaut? Isn't it very

hard to do? 17. Denk je dat er leven bestaat, elders in het heelal? Do you believe in extraterrestrial life? 18. Hoe blijf je fit? In de ruimte moet men zijn spieren oefenen omwille van

de gewichteloosheid, niet waar? How do you stay in shape? Because in space you do not need to use your

muscles if you are weightless, do you? 19. Wat doe je in je vrije tijd? What do you do when you're not working? 20. Uit welke materie is een ruimtepak gemaakt? What is the material used to make your space suit?

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

Next planned event(s):

TBD

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