Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report January 17, 2011

1. Upcoming School Contacts

Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace Nr I im. Stanislawa Staszica in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, Poland has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Tuesday, January 18 at 12:03 UTC. The school is setting up an astronomy and amateur radio club for the students and there are plans for a series of lectures on astronautical engineering and astronomy.

Two Italian schools, Corrado Melone and Ilaria Alpi, located in Ladispoli, Italy have been scheduled for a joint Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Tuesday, January 18 at 13:37 UTC. At Ilaria Alpi, students have learned about space, space exploration, the ISS, astronauts' preparation for space flight and radio and telecommunications. Corrado Melone has integrated the contact into lesson plans covering science, Information Technology and geography in order to stimulate the youth's interest in science and space research.

2. Japanese Contact Successful

Tsutsujigaoka Minami Elementary School in Akishima, Tokyo, Japan participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with on-orbit astronaut Cady Coleman, KC5ZTH on Wednesday, January 12. An audience of approximately 250 students and parents watched as the youth posed 14 questions to the astronaut. Three magazines and a newspaper covered the event.

3. ARISS Contact with Italian Students

On Wednesday, January 12, two Italian schools, Istituto Comprensivo Marco Polo-Viani and Istituto delle Suore Mantellate di Viareggio located in Viareggio, Lucca, Italy experienced an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact. Nearly 150 people were present for the event and listened as Paolo Nespoli, IZØJPA spoke with the children, answering 15 of their questions. The contact highlighted a science, technology and space curriculum.

4. Nespoli Speaks with Italian Youth via ARISS

On Saturday, January 15, students attending the Istituto Comprensivo Via Toscana 2 in Civitavecchia, Italy took part in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli, IZØJPA. Nespoli answered 12 questions during the first ISS pass. On the following pass, he completed the students' questions and exchanged greetings with Italian Space Agency President Enrico Saggese. Nespoli also talked about the importance of school contacts as well as the 10th anniversary of ARISS contacts in both Italian and English. The event was attended by three hundred people and was covered by national television and other media.

5. Russian Article on ARISSat

Energia posted a story on its Web site about ARISSat-1/Radioskaf-V. The story, with photos, may be viewed at: http://www.energia.ru/en/news/news-2010/news_12-31.html

6. AMSAT Posts Update on ARISSat-1

On January 16, the AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) News Service bulletin (ANS-016) included a status report on ARISSat-1. "ARISSat-1 Update" may be found at: http://www.amsat.org/amsat/archive/amsat-bb/48hour/msg83313.html