November 01, 2008

ARISS CONTACT PLANNED WITH SPANISH SCHOOL

An International Space Station Expedition 18 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at IES Trassierra, Cordoba, Spain on 03 November. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 09:03 UTC, which 10:03 local time.

The contact will be a direct contact between stations OR4ISS and AO7URC. The contact should be audible over Western 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 IES Trassierra is a Secondary Education School with 900 students. It is located between a developing area and an area of low social-economical status.  The project "Sailing through Space" will help students to broaden their knowledge in the field of space and also will be a very important tool to motivate them to study. The project is going to last two years and it will include a wide variety of activities such as observing the sky from Cordoba, visiting the workshop that the Observatory of Granada brought to the school and making trips to the observatory situated in Toledo.

Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:
1. What kind of food do you eat? Do you have a special diet?
2. Are you in contact with your family?
3. How long have you been in the ISS?
4. What do you miss the most?
5. How long does it take to go to the space?
6. What is your favorite thing up there?
7. Have you ever felt frightened?
8. What is the weight of your space-suit?
9. What is your mission onboard?
10. How do you have a shower?
11. What have you studied to be an Astronaut?
12. When are you coming back?
13. How long are you going to be in space?
14. What is the temperature in the ISS?
15. How is it like to live in the ISS?
16. What do you do in your free time?
17. How do you drink?
18. What is the most important thing you have done in the ISS?
19. What is your position at this moment relative to the earth?
20. How do you go to the toilet?

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.

73

Gaston Bertels - ON4WF

ARISS-Europe chairman