ARISS-EUROPE NEWS BULLETIN – MARCH 07, 2006

 

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An International Space Station Expedition 12 ARISS school contact has been planned with students at Evangelisches Gymnasium Lippstadt, Germany on Wednesday, 8 March 2006. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 14:56 UTC, which is 15:56 CET.

 

The contact will be direct between stations NA1SS and DN2LP. The contact should be audible to anyone in central Europe. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.800 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.

 

The Evangelisches Gymnasium Lippstadt is a grammar school belonging to the Protestant Church of Westfalia.  At present about 900 pupils aged 10 to 19 attend our school.  The school has set itself the ambitious aim to integrate the necessary preparations for the ISS contact into its school  curriculum.  The preparation has been part of the school lessons. In addition to working with the ISS education kit, many questions arousing from the theoretical field of amateur radio technology (technical knowledge) were well combined with compulsory topics of an extensive physics course.  The youngsters' goal is to obtain an amateur radio operator's license.

 

Students at Lippstadt will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:

 

1. Do you make use of the radio or the internet in order to follow the current political events on earth?

2. Have you ever taken an insect into space by accident? If so, how did you react?

3. Are there dirty fluffs floating in the air and how can you get rid of them?

4. Is it possible to have a runny nose in zero gravity?

5. Which influence does zero gravity have on photosynthesis of plants?

6. Are your dreams in space different from your dreams on earth?

7. Can you see a difference between urban areas and rural areas from the ISS?

8. What temperature is there outside the ISS?

9. Which physical experiments are performed on the ISS at the moment?

10. Are you able to see the Great Chinese Wall from space?

11. Are you afraid of colliding with orbital debris and has this already happened?

12. Which state law is ratified on the ISS?

13. Does zero gravity have any influence on the distribution of tears?  

14. Does a candle burn in zero gravity?

15. What are the main electric applances on board and what is the maximum total power consumption of the ISS?

16. Is everyone of you able to do all the tasks on the ISS or are you specialized?

17. What kind of entertainment like watching TV do you have in space?

18. Did you bring clean clothes for several months or is there some sort of washing machine on board?

19. How much spare time do you have on the ISS and what do you do when you're not working?

20. Is there a video recorder or a DVD player on board?

21. Do you get a backstroke when you sneeze?

 

Please note, the amateur equipment on the ISS will be turned off prior to the contact It will be returned to regular amateur radio operations as soon as possible afterwards.

 

ARISS is an international educational outreach program partnering the participating space agencies, NASA, Russian Space Agency, ESA, CNES, JAXA, and CSA, with the amateur radio societies 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-eu.org.

 

Gaston Bertels, ON4WF

ARISS-Europe chairman