An International Space Station Expedition 18 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at Anderson's Creek, Primary School, Warrandyte, Victoria, Australia on 10 November. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 0803 UTC.

The contact will be a telebridge contact between stations NA1SS and VK5ZAI. The contact should be audible over eastern Australia. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.

Anderson's Creek Primary School is situated 30 kilometres northeast of Melbourne and has over 340 students. It is nestled in a tranquil natural environment. The school is surrounded by native vegetation that invites parrots, galahs and the sound of laughing kookaburras. Its architectural design encourages cooperative teaching and is very much a community based school which places great importance on the partnership between parents and teachers. There is a strong emphasis on the use of information technology in our classrooms. This term the grade five and sixes are investigating Earth Forces. They are learning about the structure of the earth and its atmosphere. Each student is researching a chosen phenomenon, such as volcanoes, earthquakes, cyclones and tsunamis. They will be then creating models and computer simulations as well as researching how scientists are trying to predict these occurrences and help us deal with them.

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

1. What is your latest discovery? 2. Do your five senses work as well in space? 3. Is everything slower, or faster, in space? 4. Is your speech affected in space? 5. How many people are with you? Do you get on each others nerves? 6. What happens if you need to wear glasses in space? 7. Would a thermometer work in space? 8. How does a space ship move in space when there are no particles to push against? 9. When you exercise, do you lose the same amount of fat as you would on earth? 10. What time zone do you use? Is there special space time? 11. Have you been hit by a meteor? What happens if you are? 12. How do you navigate in space? 13. What happens if one of you gets sick or injured? 14. What goes through your mind during lift off? 15. Does space look like how it is shown in the movies? 16. What happens if you bleed in space? 17. When you eat your pureed food do you feel full? 18. What is gravity and how does zero gravity affect you? 19. When you get hurt do wounds heal the same way as on earth? 20. How long is the communication time delay with space control on earth?

Information about the upcoming ARISS contacts can be found at http://www.ariss.org/upcoming.htm#NextContact .

Next planned event(s): 1. International Education Week (Poolesville, MD, Quito, Ecuador and Raleigh, NC) telebridge via WH6PN, Fri 2008-11-14 15:02 UTC 2. Newcomers Club in Saitama, Japan direct via JK1ZAM, Sat 2008-11-15 10:22 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.ariss.org/ (graciously hosted by the Radio Amateurs of Canada).

Thank you & 73, Kenneth - N5VHO