An International Space Station Expedition 17 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants from the Town of Berkeley Heights, NJ, Summer Playground Camp on 13 August. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 16:08 UTC.

The contact will be a direct between stations NA1SS and N2XJ. 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.

The town of Berkley Heights, New Jersey sponsors an annual summer playground camp at one of the town's parks. Each year the New Providence Amateur Radio Club sets up its station, N2 XJ, at the camp as an educational opportunity for the children attending the camp. The club lets any interested camper get on the air to make both local and long-distance contacts. The camp is open to all grades of school students, but most campers are in grades from kindergarten to sixth grade.

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

1. Do you have any plants growing on the Space Station, and can you bring them back to Earth to study them? 2. Have you ever worked with a female astronaut? 3. What can a girl do to become an astronaut? 4. Have you done a spacewalk, and what is it like? 5. I've heard that Jeff Williams likes spicy foods in space. Do you have the same experience? 6. Can you see an eclipse from the Space Station despite the station's high speed? 7. Can you see aurora from the Space Station? 8. How do you eat and drink while floating? 9. Can you see meteors from the Space Station, and do they look the same as here on Earth? 10. Do you think that children will go into space someday? 11. Will you be home in time to vote, and what state do you vote in? 12. Can you see any other satellites from the Space Station? 13. Can you see forest fires burning in California and Arizona? 14. How often do you communicate with your family, and how do you do it? 15. Do stars look the same from the Space Station as they do on Earth? 16. Do you expect another opportunity to go into space? 17. Would you go to the moon if offered the chance?

Information about the upcoming ARISS contacts can be found at http://www.rac.ca/ariss/upcoming.htm#NextContact . Packet is transmitted on 145.825 simplex.

Next planned event(s): Los Padres Council Troop 105, Santa Barbara, CA direct via K6TZ, Thu 2008-08-21, 14:55 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.rac.ca/ariss (graciously hosted by the Radio Amateurs of Canada).

Thank you & 73, Kenneth - N5VHO