Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report April 4, 2011

1. Upcoming School Contact

Two Italian schools in Italy, Scuola Primaria III Circolo "Tiro a Segno" in Fermo and Scuola Primaria "Viale della Vittoria" in Montecosaro, have been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Wednesday, April 6 at 07:10 UTC. Students have been learning about technology through an educational path of research and experiments. Amateur radio operators from Fermo have been teaching the youth the importance and use of telegraphy.

2. Recent ARISS Contacts

Lehman High School in Kyle, Texas participated in an ARISS contact with ISS astronaut Cady Coleman, KC5ZTH on Tuesday, March 29. Students researched and studied the topic of space travel to prepare their questions and were able to get 13 answered before the ISS went over the horizon. The students used the high school's own satellite tracking station for the contact. MyFOXAustin.com posted a story on the event: http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/top_stories/Lehman-HS-Students-Tal-to-Astrona...

On Wednesday, March 30, students from Canterbury High School, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada took part in an ARISS contact with astronaut Paolo Nespoli, IZØJPA on the ISS. Approximately 450 students and administrators attended the event and listened as Nespoli handled 10 questions from the students. The contact was included in the Grades 9 and 10 curricula covering Earth and Space Science, Scientific Investigation Skills and Career Exploration. The Ottawa Citizen ran an article on the contact. http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/Canterbury+students+enjoy+this+world...

An ARISS contact was held on Saturday, April 2 between on-orbit astronaut Paolo Nespoli, IZØJPA and students from Istituto Tecnico Industriale Statale "Leonardo da Vinci" and Istituto Comprensivo Scolastico "G. Tedeschi," Pratola Peligna, Italy. Students from both schools posed 23 questions to the astronaut over two ISS passes. The contact highlighted the telecommunications curriculum, and was supported by local radio amateurs. The event was attended by over 100 people including regional and local media representatives.

3. ARRL Covers Ham Astronauts

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) posted a story in its March 31 ARRL Letter about two astronauts who recently earned their ham licenses. "Two Astronauts Get Their Ham Ticket" may be found here: http://www.arrl.org/news/two-astronauts-get-their-ham-ticket

4. AMSAT Posts News on ARISSat, Hamvention

On April 3, AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) posted ARISS-related items in its News Service bulletin (ANS-093). The first story covered the anticipated activation of ARISSat-1 which will occur over April 11 - 13 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's first space flight. Another story was about the upcoming Dayton Hamvention on May 20 - 22 which will feature an ARISSat prototype and will be attended by astronaut Doug Wheelock. See: http://amsat.org/pipermail/ans/2011/000498.html

5. NASA Article on ARISS Telebridge Station

NASA wrote an article about Sacred Hearts Academy, an all-girls school in Hawaii that has a telebridge station which can be used to link schools with the ISS astronauts during ARISS contacts. ARISS members Dick Flagg and Nancy Rocheleau were interviewed for the story that talks about ARISS and other NASA programs in which the girls are involved. The story, "A Heart-to-Heart Talk" has been posted to the NASA web site. See: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/a-heart-to-heart-talk_prt.htm