An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Istituto Superiore "G. Curcio", Ispica, Italy on 14 Oct. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 11:03 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and W6SRJ. The contact should be audible over the west coast area of the US. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English.

Our High School has various courses which deal with different subjects such as Scientific, Linguistic, Classical and others dedicated to Professional and Technical studies. The school is divided into two buildings with different facilities and laboratories for Chemistry and Physics. There are also Language and Computer Labs, a Library and a Gym.

The student population is about 1,500 and there are about 100 teachers. The school and especially the students have been greatly motivated to take part in this project with the ISS because of their interests and fields of study. Students in our school are very open-minded and ready for new experiences. We have many projects always going on that stimulate and promote their curiosity. Some are: training courses with companies in the commercial and tourist field, cultural exchange programs with other European countries, participating in the International Conference NHSMUN at the UN in New York City and from this the leap towards the International Space Station just came natural.

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

1. We all admire the work you do up there on the ISS, what personal

qualities do you need to become a good astronaut?

2. What activities do you like doing most and doing less on the space

station?

3. Does working in zero gravity make it a problem?

4. Since everything you do on the ISS is programmed beforehand if you

suddenly come up with some interesting experiment can you do it or

not?

5. What has been the greatest discovery you've made since you have been on

the ISS?

6. What particular gadgets do you take with you to space that you really

don't need?

7. Is it sometimes difficult to get along with the other astronauts and how

do you solve differences?

8. Was becoming an astronaut a dream come true?

9. Is it more tiring physically or mentally to stay so long on the space

station?

10. What experiments are you conducting at the moment and have they given any

useful results?

11. What has been the most unusual event on Earth that you have been able to

observe from space?

12. How long does the trip from Earth to the ISS take?

13. What have you liked best about being an astronaut up to now?

14. Do you think that there could be other forms of life on other planets?

15. During your years of training to become an astronaut have you ever gotten

discouraged?

16. Have any of you seen unusual objects flying around in space?

17. Do you lose any amount of your senses by staying so long in space?

18. Since you are surrounded by technological equipment for everything you

do, what do you miss most of all of nature?

19. I've read about a lot of space debris that orbits our planet, can you

actually see it from the ISS?

20. When you fly over Italy, does it really seem like a boot?

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

Next planned event(s):

1. Amateur Radio Morioka Club, Morioka, Japan, direct via 8J7A

Sat, 15 Oct 2011, 09:47 UTC

2. Seiryo Elementary School, Seto, Aichi, Japan, direct via 8N2SETO

Tue, 18 Oct 2011, 08:33 UTC

3. Zespol Szkol Technicznych, Rybnicka 44, Poland, direct via SP9PKS

Fri, 21 Oct 2011, 16:38 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,

David - AA4KN