An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Teodoro Mommsen Middle School, Roma, Italy on 19 Dec. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 08:42 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and LU1CGB. The contact should be audible over Argentina and 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 Italian or English.

The Mommsen middle school is located in the district "Appio-Latino", in the south of Rome and is composed of three complexes located on the edge of the Caffarella Park.

The school endorses the aims of Article 3 of the Constitution of the Italian Republic and those suggested by UNESCO for the formation of the citizen.

The school is attended about 800 students aged 11 - 13.

1. Scientific experiments aside, how can your mission in space benefit

mankind?

2. How many years of training are required for an important mission like

yours?

3. How do you spend your spare time?

4. Have you ever come across serious problems or accidents during your stay

in space?

5. How are you able to get on well with others for so long in the spaceship?

6. How does it feel to see the planet Earth from such a distance?

7. How do you reach and get back from ISS?

8. When outside the station, does the speed stay the same?

9. How do you get about the daily cleanliness and the personal hygiene?

10. As soon as you land, what physical problems do you encounter?

11. During your stay in space, have you ever come across any particular

phenomena such as meteorites, which you can't see from Earth?

12. What is the most common illness in space?

13. What advice would you give young people who hope to one day become

astronauts?

14. What do you miss most of your everyday life on Earth?

15. How does it feel to go round and round without gravity in space?

16. Does the passage of time feel different in space than on Earth?

17. When you get back to Earth from space, what do you miss the most?

18. Does the human body go through changes in space? Do you sweat?

19. What does a typical day on ISS look like?

20. What does it feel like to go up in space for the first time?

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