Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report December 1, 2008

1. Upcoming School Contacts

Quispamsis Elementary and Middle Schools in Quispamsis, New Brunswick, Canada have been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Thursday, December 4 at 18:23 UTC. Math, Social Studies, and Literacy Skills have been emphasized through the participation of students in this project. Subjects of amateur radio, space, satellites and the ISS have been integrated in the science curriculum. Quispamsis Elementary School (QES) and the Loyalist City Amateur Radio Club (LCARC) have participated in Echo-51 Satellite contacts for the past two years. The Quispamsis Middle School has an enrichment program. Two years of students who participated in the satellite contacts at QES are also involved with this program. The amateur radio installation has been used to complement the enrichment program, and to demonstrate amateur radio to girl guides and scout troops. Children have created posters for placement in the school to publicize the event and local and national media coverage is anticipated. Bell Aliant, one of Canada's national telecom providers, will assist in providing live video of the Quispamsis Elementary/Middle School contact. It will be streamed on: http://www.aliant.net/SpaceStation. This site may be active as early as Monday afternoon. New Brunswick based provincial newspaper, the Telegraph Journal, ran a front page story on the upcoming contact. See: http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/front/article/495134.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled with Ellis School in Belleville, Illinois on Monday, December 8 at 16:54 UTC. Space studies have been integrated into the school curriculum. Students have created solar system models, written reports and given presentations to their classes. They have designed rockets and given talks to the class about where the rockets will go and what they will do in space. They have planned space colonies and determined how the astronauts will travel, how they will obtain food and where they will live. They have also sampled space food. Students have learned about Expedition 18, the Space Shuttle, the international partners and the ISS and amateur radio. The class is currently growing seeds that were flown in space.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for Stephen F. Austin Elementary School in Richmond, Texas on Tuesday, December 9 at 15:43 UTC. Students have studied space and the identifying characteristics of objects in our solar system including the sun, planets, and moon. Each year the 5th grade students participate in a simulated space shuttle mission, performing tasks that would happen on a regular shuttle flight. Each grade level is involved in some manner with the various missions that occur throughout the day. The school has integrated the ARISS contact as part of this activity.

The Istituto Comprensivo "Marco Polo," in Grado, Italy has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Wednesday, December 10 at 10:08 UTC.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled with 2 Circolo Didattico San Giuseppe in Mola di Bari, Bari, Italy on Friday, December 12 at 14:14 UTC. Lesson plans have been developed for students that cover amateur radio and space missions. Newspapers, radio and television, both local and regional, will report on the event.

2. New Zealand Homeschoolers Experience ARISS Contact

Wairarapa Home School Association students from Carterton, Wairarapa, New Zealand participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Wednesday, November 26 via telebridge stations VK5ZAI and VK4KHZ, both in Australia. Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, answered all 15 questions asked. The audio was available on EchoLink and Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP). This was the second ARISS contact performed with New Zealand students.

3. Video of ARISS - International Education Week Contact

Students from Poolesville, Maryland, Raleigh, North Carolina and Quito, Ecuador experienced a joint Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Friday, November 14 as part of International Education Week (IEW). A video of the participating students from North Carolina and Ecuador has been posted to YouTube. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6d3D66DbBEo

4. CQ VHF Article on ARISS Meetings

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) member Keith Pugh, W5IU, wrote an article for the Fall 2008 issue of CQ VHF which covered the ARISS meetings held in Moscow during July 2008. An excerpt from the article may be viewed here: http://www.cq-vhf.com/Fall08Sat.html

5. ARISS Commemorative Event

Twenty-five years ago, Owen Garriott, W5LFL, became the first amateur radio operator to talk to hams from space on the STS-9 Space Shuttle Columbia mission which was launched on November 28 and landed on December 8, 1983. To celebrate this event, an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) commemorative event will be held during the month of December through early January. A special certificate is being developed for those who communicate with the ISS, either 2-way direct (with the ISS crew, the digipeater, or cross band repeater), or 1-way reception of SSTV or voice downlink. For more details, see: http://www.ariss-eu.org/2008_11_30.htm