The International Space Station

ARISS ham radio contact with Council Rock High School-South, Holland, PA

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school contact has been planned with participants at Council Rock High School-South, Holland, PA on 19 Feb.



The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 18:18 UTC.

The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds.

The contact will be direct between NA1SS and K3DN. The contact should be audible over the eastern U.S and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English.

A team of science and technology students and their teachers from Council Rock South High School, Richboro, PA will be speaking directly with astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) as it flies over the Philadelphia area. A group of experienced operators from the Warminster Amateur Radio Club will be at the school to assist the teachers and students as they use Ham Radio technology to make the contact.

The school will be using a recently donated radio system and antennas to participate in the ARISS program (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) in which students talk directly with the astronauts and ask questions about living in space while the astronauts are actually there.

Science teachers Jerry Fetter and Jeff Warmkessel have been with NASA's NEAT program (Network of Educator-Astronaut Teachers) since 2004 and got the idea of applying to the ARISS program when Fetter's Astronomy classes were talking about living in space. "They kept asking questions which only astronauts would know how to answers", said Fetter. "I remember thinking how great it would be if we could just ask them directly. To be able to ask the astronauts while they fly overhead is beyond my wildest plans!"

Students in various STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs at Council Rock South High School have spent time considering which questions are important enough to ask an astronaut in the short amount of time available (approximately 12 minutes) as the ISS's flight path crosses over the area.

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

1. What are the precautionary measures that you go through to protect

yourselves from micrometeoroids penetrating the space station or space suit?

2. Does the 90 minute orbit time affect you or how you work?

3. Has there ever been an injury onboard that was made more difficult to treat due to lack of gravity?

4. What are some everyday problems that you experience in space?

5. Do you think there is value in exploring space related to the economics of our country?

6. Is there a large temperature difference on the ISS due to the constant sunrise and sunset and how does that affect day to day activities and experiments?

7. When you return to Earth, what will you experience during re-entry and what training did you go through to prepare for it?

8. What type or types of human impact on Earth are visible from space?

9. Do you have any free time in space or are you always working?

10. How does your body adjust to microgravity and how does your body change?

11. How do solar flares and other solar storms affect your daily routines during a mission?

12. What is it like readjusting to the force of gravity when you come back to Earth after being away for so long?

13. What advice would you give a high school student hoping to pursue a career as an astronaut?

14. What is your favorite part of being in space?

15. Are there technologies developing in space or technologies that allow you to work and live in space but are also good for people on Earth?

16. Are there any insulators or temperature regulating devices that change due to the light exposure?

17. How does adjusting to microgravity affect your sleep cycle?

18. How is completing experiments in microgravity different than on Earth?

19. How many hours of training did you have to go through before your first expedition?

20. What are some different foods that you eat in space and what is your favorite?

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ARISS is an international educational outreach program partnering the volunteer support and leadership from AMSAT and IARU societies around the world with the ISS space agencies partners: NASA, Russian Space Agency, ESA, CNES, JAXA, and CSA.

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/

Thank you & 73,

David AA4KN