October 02, 2009
ASTRONAUT Nicole Stott
KE5GJN TALKS WITH “ALIGHIERI - TREVIGI” SCHOOL
Friday, 02 October 2009 at 14:41 UTC, i.e. 16:41 local
time, “Alighieri - Trevigi” School, Casale Monferrato, Italy, established a
direct contact with astronaut Nicole Stott KE5GJN on board the International
Space Station. The Amateur Radio school station operated the contact with
callsign IK1SLD.
Trevigi Lower
Secondary School is a prestigious educational institution in the city centre of
Casale Monferrato. Casale is a small town situated on the River Po, in Piedmont
(Northern Italy). The students, both boys and girls, number about 450; they are
between 11 and 14 years old.
The school offers a
good standard education through several basic subjects of study that develop the student’s general knowledge. They also study
English and French or Spanish as foreign languages.
A virtual travel in
space, communicating with astronauts, is the final event of several school
activities concerning Science, History, Geography, Maths, Information
Technology and English. Also, it will help students to improve their
communicative skills.
Mr. Claudio Ariotti, IK1SLD, the contact coordinator
for this ISS contact, decided in favour of a direct contact. Before the
contact, ARISS mentor Francesco De Paolis, IK0WGF
introduced the event with ARISS presentation by phone. The questions were read
by the students. The contact site was located in the school, where an audience
of more than 200 students, parents, teachers, visitors and the mass media could
follow the contact.
At 14:41 UTC, contact with OR4ISS was established by
station IK1SLD. Nicole Stott answered 21 questions. The sequence of the
questions finished 2 minutes before LOS has allowed to
thank astronaut for the participation. The signal from the
ISS was loud and clear all the time.
The audio and video was distributed on: http://www.ik1sld.org/live
and on: http://www.batc.tv
689 Contacts by Web streaming from Italy (264), Poland
(111), United States (118), United Kingdom (29), Belgium (26), France (32), N/A 22, Germany (19), Denmark (14),
Romania (6), Spain (8), Netherlands (9), Australia (5), Canada (3), Portugal
(4), Ireland (4), Japan (6), South Africa (3), Argentina (3), Austria,
Bulgaria, Ukraine (2), Mexico, Sweden,
Russian Federation, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Israel (1).
A video is presently visible at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0heXH6uYF88
Local media and newspapers covered the event.
Congratulations to “ARI CASALE Monferrato” team!
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.
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Francesco De Paolis,
IK0WGF
ARISS mentor
