February 13, 2008

ARISS SPACE TALK PLANNED FOR FRENCH SCHOOL WITH ASTRONAUT LEOPOLD EYHARTS

Thursday 21 February 2008 an ARISS School Contact is planned for a school in France with French astronaut Leopold Eyharts, FX0STD.

French Air Force Brig. Gen. Leopold Eyharts flew to the station on space shuttle mission STS-122, which has delivered the European Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station. Eyharts will remain on the station to oversee activation and checkout of the laboratory.

The "Robespierre-B" Elementary school is located in the city of RUEIL-MALMAISON, 10 km west of PARIS, near the "Mont Valerien". Mont Valerien is a 162m high hill where a fortress was built 1841. During WWII, members of the French Resistance were executed in the fortress. Mont Valerien presently harbours a memorial to the “France Combattante” and a crypt for the martyrs of the Resistance. Next to these monuments, on the mount’s slope, an American cimetery with 1 200 tombs of US soldiers fallen 1917-1918 and a chapel with the names of US soldiers fallen in France 1944-1945.

The school’s name refers to Maximilien Robespierre, a famous character of the French revolution in 1789. Robespierre-B is a school for boys and girls comprising 10 classes, ranging from 1st grade to 5th grade, with a total of 256 children, aged from 6 to 11.

RUEIL-MALMAISON is a lovely city surrounded by a large forest, parks and gardens, for the happiness of its 75,000 inhabitants. In the 17th century, Cardinal de Richelieu, minister of King Louis the 13th, was the lord of RUEIL. In 1799, Napoleon the 1st and his wife Josephine lived in the nice castle of MALMAISON. At the end of the 19th century, famous impressionist painters Renoir, Manet and Monet used to find scenery inspiration on the banks of the nearby Seine river.

Following questions have been prepared by the Robespierre students:

No	Elève / Classe	Questions en Français	English Version (for information only)
1	Lucas CP/a	Comment savez-vous à quel moment il faut dormir ?	When do you know when it is time to sleep?
2	Balthazar CP/b	Qu’est-ce que vous aimez beaucoup, et que vous ne pouvez pas manger dans l’ISS ?	What do you like to eat on earth, that you could not have in the ISS ?
3	Bouyagui CE1/a	Est-ce que ça fait peur d’aller dans l’espace ?	Is it frightening to go to space?
4	Eryan, Alexis CE1/b	Combien de temps la station spatiale peut elle rester dans l’espace ?	How long the Space Station could remain in space?
5	Napa CE2/a	Quand vous êtes malades, comment faites-vous ?	What do you do if you get sick?
6	Logan CE2/b	Y a-t-il des météorites qui passent près de la station spatiale ?	Are there any meteors passing nearby the ISS?
7	Marie CM1/a	Comment prend t on sa douche en apesanteur ?	How could you take a shower in zero-gravity?
8	Auriane CM1/b	Est-ce que la pollution de la Terre est visible depuis l’espace ?	Is the Earth pollution visible from the space?
9	Mathilde CM2/a	Qu’avez-vous emmené dans vos valises pour partir dans l’espace ?	What did you put in your suitcase before leaving to the space?
10	Marine CM2/b	Est-ce qu’un jour vous aimeriez vivre autre part que sur la Terre ?	Do you plan to live one day on another planet?
11	La classe de CP/b	Quels sont les bruits qu’on entend dans l’espace ?	What kind of sounds could you hear in the space?
12	Hugo CM1/a	Pourquoi avoir fait une grande base dans l’espace ?	What is the purpose of such a big space outpost?
13	Victorine CM1/a	Quelles études faut-il faire pour devenir astronaute ?	What type of studies do I need to become an astronaut?
14	Pauline CM1/a	Qu’est ce qui vous plaît le plus dans ce métier ?	What do you find most enjoyable being an astronaut?
15	Pierre CE1/a	Etait ce votre rêve d’aller dans l’espace ?	Was it your childhood dream to become an astronaut?
16	Zacchary CM2/b	Avez-vous déjà manqué d’eau dans un de vos voyages dans l’espace?	Have you ever been short of water during one of your space journeys?
17	Julie CP/b	Est-ce que vous avez des enfants ? pouvez-vous parler avec eux ?	Do you have children? Are you able to talk to them from the ISS?
18	Tiphaine CP/b	Qu’est-ce que vous allez étudier pendant cette mission ?	What will you study during this mission?
19	Amélie CE2/a	Est-ce drôle de flotter dans la station spatiale ?	Is it funny to float in zero-gravity in the space station?
20	Aurélien CM2/b	Y a-t-il un âge minimum pour partir dans l’ISS ?	Is there a minimum age to be eligible for going to the ISS?

The contact will be conducted in French. It is slated to start at 14:21 UTC, which is 15:21 CET.

Interested parties are invited to listen to the astronaut’s answers on downlink frequency 145.800MHz FM. The signals should be audible in most of Europe.

73

Gaston bertels, ON4WF

ARISS-Europe chairman