An International Space Station Expedition 14 ARISS school contact has been planned with students at Dilworth Elementary School, San Jose, CA, on Monday 8 Jan. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 17:34 UTC.

The contact will be a direct between stations NA1SS and AA6W. The contact should be audible in the Southwestern United States. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.

Dilworth School serves students in Kindergarten through 5th grade and is located in a suburban setting in west San Jose. Dilworth School staff is committed to a child-centered, sound instructional program that emphasizes basic skill building, the process of learning, character education and a variety of opportunities for enrichment. We consider each student a unique individual whose educational and social growth is guided toward the goal of becoming a productive, responsible informed citizen in our society. Dilworth received an API ranking of the ninth highest school in the state of California for the 03/04 school year, and we were ranked fifth for the 05/06 school year. We believe that with our clear alignment between the state standards and our textbooks, reporting procedures and instruction, that our students will continue to progress well.

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

1. How did the delay of the shuttle launch affect your mission? 2. What is the most impressive scene in outer space? 3. What is NASA doing to reduce pollution? 4. Why are astronauts' spacesuits mostly white? 5. Do you bob up and down or do you get strapped in when you sleep? 6. Does the lack of gravity in space affect the way you think or the way your body functions? 7. What advice would you give to kids following in your footsteps? 8. What challenges did you face when training to become an astronaut? 9. What are some of your daily activities? 10. How do you spend your free time in space? 11. How has the Internet changed the way your space missions work? 12. Can you see day and night in space? 13. Can you grow plants and if so, which direction will they grow without gravity? 14. Can you see other planets like Mars from space and what is the most important reason for going to Mars? 15. How do you take a bath with water floating around? 16. What does it feel like when experiencing 3 G's of gravity during lift-off of the space shuttle? 17. How long does it take to get to the International Space Station? 18. How long is your mission and what experiments will you conduct? 19. If you can, give us one bit of advice to future astronauts. 20. What is the journey like when leaving the atmosphere? 21. How long were you trained to become an astronaut? 22. What is the longest amount of time someone has stayed in space? 23. What inspired you to become an astronaut? 24. Do you have Internet access in space or can you use a phone?

Please note, the amateur equipment on the ISS is not functioning in the automatic modes properly and may be silent more than usual. The radios are planned to be shutdown in preparation for the upcoming shuttle mission. Information about the next scheduled ARISS contact can be found at http://www.rac.ca/ariss/upcoming.htm#NextContact .

Next planned event(s): Northlawn and St. Anthony, Streator, IL, direct via KB9UPS Tue 2007-01-16 17:28 UTC Romeo Elementary School, Dunnellon, Florida, direct via K4OZS Wed 2007-01-17 17:53 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