Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report April 11, 2011

1. Upcoming School Contacts

Hopewell Ave Public School, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Wednesday, April 13 at 16:10 UTC. Telebridge station WH6PN in Hawaii will provide the connection. The contact has been integrated into the science curriculum on space. Students have learned about the ISS via video, internet and guest speakers and have completed space related projects. The school formed a space club consisting of students from grades 1-8. From these students, candidates were chosen to ask questions of the astronauts aboard the ISS.

Istituto Sociale, Torino, Italy has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Thursday, April 14 at 08:49 UTC via telebridge station K6DUE in Maryland. This contact will complement the school's astronomy lessons. Students involved with the contact are participating in several activities which include a visit to the Planetarium Pino Torinese, watching movies about orbiting missions and modeling the solar system to scale.

2. Recent ARISS Contacts

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact took place between Paolo Nespoli, IZØJPA on the ISS and students from Istituto Tecnico Industriale Statale "Enrico Fermi," Lucca, Italy, on Monday, April 4. The contact was the featured event of a science curriculum covering physics, space and robotics. Approximately 150 students and guests were present and listened as Nespoli answered the 18 questions posed to him. Regional and local media covered the news.

On Monday, April 4, on-orbit astronaut Cady Coleman, KC5ZTH participated in an ARISS contact with Rosebud Secondary College students in Victoria, Australia. Telebridge station W6SRJ in California handled the radio connection. Eighteen students had their questions answered during the ISS pass. The contact was integrated into science courses covering space and physics and students participated in hands-on activities such as model building, water powered rockets and student-designed experiments.

Students from two Italian schools in Italy, Scuola Primaria III Circolo "Tiro a Segno" in Fermo and Scuola Primaria "Viale della Vittoria" in Montecosaro, jointly participated in an ARISS contact on Wednesday, April 6. Audiences of 200 and 150 respectively, gathered for the contact with ISS astronaut Paolo Nespoli. The activity complemented studies about space, technology, astronauts and the International Space Station. In addition, amateur radio operators from Fermo gave lessons on the importance and use of telegraphy. News coverage was provided by local and regional media outlets.

3. ARISSat-1 to be Activated April 11 for Gagarin Anniversary

On April 10, AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) News Service bulletin (ANS-100) posted information on the ARISSat-1 satellite which will be activated on Monday, April 11 at approximately 14:30 UTC in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's first space flight. The satellite will run in low power mode until Wednesday, April 13 at 10:30 UTC. For more details, see: http://amsat.org/pipermail/ans/2011/000501.html

Also covering this news was the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) in its article, "ARISSat-1 On the Air for Gagarin Anniversary." http://www.arrl.org/news/arissat-1-on-the-air-for-gagarin-anniversary

To view the Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1756, "Ham Radio in Space: ARISSat-1 to be on the Air to Celebrate Gagarins Flight," see: ftp://ftp.arnewsline.org/quincy/News/news.txt

Dave Jordan, AA4KN called in to NPR's Science Friday program to talk about ARISSat-1. To listen to the podcast, go to: http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/201104083