July 20, 2009

ARISS CONTACT PLANNED WITH SCHOOL IN PORTUGAL  

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Escola E.B.2/3 de S. Romao do Coronado, Trofa, Portugal on 21 July. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 17:07 UTC, i.e. 18.07 local time and 19.07 CEST.

The contact will be direct between OR4ISS and CT1HHP. The contact is expected to be conducted in English.

E. B. 2,3  S. Romao do Coronado is a public school situated in Trofa, in the north of Portugal, not very far from Oporto (31 Km north). Nowadays, Trofa is basically a rural area,  but is slowly becoming more surburban due to the development of industry and trade. This school is mainly attended by children aged between 9 and 15. In addition to key subjects, school tries to offer other activities (theatre, music, art) and involve the community. The school has about 650 students.

One of the pupils, Bruno Tedim Guerra (12 years old), is among the winners of the ESA T-Shirt competition for the OasISS mission. He is an intelligent, attractive and creative student, who likes comics, especially « Les Aventures de Tintin ». He is always good-humoured and plays guitar.

 

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

1.  How many times have you been in space? In what circumstances?

2.  Do you like football? What is your favorite Portuguese football team and your favorite football player?

3.  How many astronauts are there in the shuttle?

4.  How long have you been an astronaut?

5.  When you were a child, did you want to be an astronaut?

6.  How long do you have to stay in space?

7.  How do you communicate with your family?

8.  Do you have Internet access in space?

9.  What happens if you are sick? Do you have medicine to treat yourself?

10. What is the temperature outside and in the space station?

11. Do you like computer games? What are your favorites?

12. How do you generate and store electricity?

13. How much time does it take you to go around the Earth?

14. What do you do with your rubbish?

15. How does your day at the station go?

16. Can you see any objects flying in space?

17. How was your trip from the Earth to the space station?

18 .What is life like in zero gravity?

19. Do you ever get out of the spaceship? How do you manage to do so?

20. Does the Earth look beautiful from space?

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 onboard 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 Chairman