October 13^th 2004

RUSSIAN COSMONAUT YURI SHARGIN TO PERFORM ARISS SCHOOL CONTACTS

Thursday October 14th 2004, a Soyuz vehicule will leave Baïkonour for the Internation Space Station. Onboard will be ISS expedition crew 10: astronaut Leroy Chiao and cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov. The third seat will be occupied by visiting crew member Yuri Shargin.

We have an agreement with Energia, the Russian Space Agency, for two ARISS School Contacts to be performed by Yuri Shargin during his short stay onboard.

The first contact is scheduled Tuesday October 19th 2004 at 07:13 UTC (09:13 local time) with the High school of Pori, Finland. This will be a direct radio contact and amateurs located in north eastern Europe will have the opportunity to listen to the downlink signals on 145.800 MHz FM.

Here are the questions prepared by the 15-19 years old students:

1. My name is Elina. What are your daily routines aboard the ISS? OVER

2. My name is Helena. What personal belongings have you taken with you? OVER

3. My name is Juho Keitaanniemi. What do you do to have fun and relax? OVER

4. My name is Jussi. Who is your leader now? Do you change leadership during the flight? OVER

5. My name is Eero. Can you keep in contact with you families while on the ISS? OVER

6. My name is Sebastian. What have you been the most afraid of up there? OVER

7. My name is Juho Salminen. Do you like the food on the ISS? OVER

8. My name is Elina. Do you think everyone should have a chance to visit the ISS? OVER

9. My name is Helena. What were the last words you said to your family and friends before you left? OVER

10. My njame is Juho. What kind of experiments do you carry out there at the moment? OVER

11. My name is Jussi. What is the worst thing you've ever forgotten during mission? OVER

12. My name is Eero. What qualifications do you have to meet to be taken aboard? OVER

13. My name is Sebastian. What do you consider the greatest difference between your expectations and the reality of the mission? OVER

14. My name is Juho. What will you miss about space when you return to earth? OVER

15. My name is Elina. How has your view of life changed during your visit in space? OVER

16. My name is Helena. How does your body react when you return to earth? OVER

17. My name is Juho. How long have you known that you want to be a cosmonaut? OVER

18. My name is Jussi. How much does the zero gravity affect your ability to sleep? OVER

19. My name is Eero. How long does it take to put a spacesuit on and are you able to do it by yourself? OVER

20. My name is Sebastian. How does it feel to see the Earth from space? OVER

The second contact is scheduled Friday October 22th 2004 at 08:38 UTC (10:38 local time) with the Science Exhibition, Hasselt, Belgium. We will circulate the questions of the Belgian schoolchildren in due time.

Gaston Bertels, ON4WF

ARISS Europe chairman