An International Space Station Expedition 17 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants from the Challenger Learning Center of Lucas County, Oregon, Ohio, on 01 September. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 1522 UTC.

The contact will be a direct between stations NA1SS and KB9UPS. The contact should be audible over eastern North America. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.

Using space as a theme and the power of simulations as a teaching tool, Challenger Center programs create an exciting and cooperative learning environment that exposes students to the challenges and successes of teamwork, problem solving, communication, and decision-making. These positive learning experiences raise students' expectations of success, foster in them a long-term interest in math, science, and technology and motivate them to pursue careers in these fields.

Our mission is to create a scientifically literate student that can thrive in a world increasingly driven by information and technology. Our vision for the future is a global community where today's students command their own destinies by using higher-order thinking skills. The Challenger Center of Lucas County is located in the Shuer Center on Seaman Road in Oregon, Ohio.

Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. What do you do for fun, and how much time do you have for fun? 2. What do you do for entertainment as a crew? 3. What one thing have you discovered from being on the space station that has surprised you the most? 4. Which college course prepared you the most for being an astronaut or aerospace engineer? 5. How eco-friendly is the ISS? 6. What do you like best about being an astronaut/cosmonaut? 7. What part of your astronaut/cosmonaut training helped you prepare for the mission the most? 8. What is the most unusual item that has been taken onboard the ISS? 9. What has been your greatest challenge in life? 10. What role could the ISS play in a crisis or is it inaccessible and why? 11. What is the closest the station has come to an emergency such as a fire or being hit by stray rocks from a passing comet?

12. How can we as students help NASA? 13. Who is your hero? 14. What is the hardest thing about being on the space station? 15. Have you ever had any emergencies? 16. When you were in junior high school, what was your favorite class? 17. What is the approximate length of the cable and wire that makes up the space station? 18. Has the environment in space altered your appetite in any way? 19. Do you ever get scared in space? 20. How would a solar flare impact the ISS operations? 21. What experiments are done on the ISS? 22. Have you always wanted to go to space? When did you know? 23. How much are the problems with an aging space station, like the recent plumbing issues and oxygen replacement issues being downplayed

24. What is the funniest, wildest or most rule-breaking activity that has happened in the history of the ISS that is legendary among fellow astronauts?

25. How do you fix equipment outside the space station? 26. Where should NASA astronauts go next?

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, Kenneth - N5VHO