An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Doncaster Primary School, Doncaster, Victoria, Australia on Feb 25. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 08:37 UTC.

The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and VK4KHZ. The contact should be audible over portions of Australia. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English.

Doncaster Primary School is located in Doncaster, in the City of Manningham near Melbourne. It has a long and rich history dating back to 1863. The school still occupies the same 2.63 hectare site, but with modernised facilities that are now outstanding.

From October 1994 to the present day, the focus has been on rebuilding and rejuvenating. Fire destroyed half the school in 1979. Temporary relocatable buildings were put in place and remained for the next 20 years. In 1994 the school was in a state of disrepair. Its buildings and grounds, furniture and equipment, school organisation, curriculum, declining enrolments and appalling media coverage were evidence of a school at risk. The turn around has been exhilarating and astonishing.

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

1. At what stage in your life did you decide you wanted to be an astronaut? 2. Does living in a zero gravity environment cause long term health

problems? 3. How far have astronauts ever been in space? 4. Who was the youngest astronaut to go into space? How old was she or he? 5. How do you exercise in space? 6. How did you get into space? 7. What if there is a fire? Can you get rescued? 8. What's the most interesting thing about space? 9. How do you drink in space because there is no gravity in space? 10. How do you control the space ship when it is floating in space? 11. Are there aliens in space? 12. How do you sleep in the space station? 13. What is your favourite food you eat in the space station? 14. What do you do on the space station to relax? 15. What happens if you run out of air? 16. What happens to all the rubbish from the space station? 17. How often do you have to do space walks to make repairs to the space

station? 18. When you are in space are you ever nervous about anything? 19. When you swallow your food, does it feel funny in your stomach when in

zero gravity?

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

Next planned event(s):

1. Hamasuka Junior High School, Chigasaki City, Kanagawa, Japan

Thu 04 Mar 10 10:09 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