November 23, 2009

ARISS CONTACT PLANNED WITH HIGH SCHOOL IN SINT-TRUIDEN, BELGIUM

An Expedition 20 ARISS school contact is planned with participants at KCST high school, Sint-Truiden, Belgium.

“Katholieke Centrumscholen Sint-Truiden” (KCST) is a secondary school in Sint-Truiden (a city in Belgium). Student population of 1130 is spread across three campuses according to their age group (three levels of 2 forms each.) Every campus is situated in the heart of the city and accommodates both pupils taking general education (ASO) and a smaller amount taking technical courses (TSO) and vocational training (BSO).

The school policy has always been to stimulate scientific interest, both through school subjects, extracurricular activities (such as school trips, e.g. visits to the Planetarium in Genk) and the participation in scientific competitions (known as “Olympiads”) in the field of Geography, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Many of our students go on to higher education in sciences and establish a professional career in academics or scientific research.

In the 5th form the geography classes cover the subject of cosmography. This course deals with the way we receive information from outer space. In the past, our school has had the pleasure of welcoming Frank De Winne as a guest speaker in a seminar on the subject. In order to prepare our students for the radio contact, headmaster J. Plevoets has informed the pupils about the ISS and his own experiences during two “space camps” in the VS (Huntsville and Cape Kennedy).

The school firmly believes that participating in this radio contact is one of the outstanding means to make pupils, teachers and parents more aware of what lies beyond our planet’s borders. This event offers the chance to get more pupils than ever before interested in that process of scientific advancement. In this respect the radio contact with Frank De Winne during his space adventure is a unique opportunity for the pupils.

The radio contact is scheduled on Thursday November 26 at about 14:24 UTC, which is 15:24 CEWT.

WARNING: if the STS-129 Shuttle mission is extended by one day, the present planning of this ARISS school contact would be cancelled or modified.

This telebridge contact will be performed by ARISS ground station ON4ISS, located in Belgium. Downlink signals will be audible over Europe on 145.800MHz FM. The space talk will be conducted in Dutch.

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

1. Hoe bent u geïnteresseerd geraakt in ruimtevaart?

2. Wat vond u het tofste aan de voorbereiding op deze missie?

3. Wat was uw eerste reactie toen u voor het eerst in het ISS kwam?

4. Zijn er verschillen met de vorige keer dat u in de ruimte was? (bv. het uitzicht op aarde.)

5. Hebt u tijdens deze missie ooit schrik gehad?

6. Binnen het ISS vormen de ruimtevaarders een kleine gemeenschap. Hoe komt uw militaire vorming u, als gezagvoerder, van pas om deze groep te leiden?

7. Kan u al wetenschappelijke resultaten van uw missie bekendmaken?

8. Kunt u het uitzicht beschrijven vanuit het ISS?

9. Is het broeikaseffect zichtbaar vanuit de ruimte?

10. Kan u vanuit het ISS orkanen zien?

11. Men spreekt hier wel eens over rondvliegend ruimteschroot…..Merkt u daar iets van?

12. Hoe wordt het ISS beschermd tegen schadelijke straling?

13. Hoe lang duurt het om 1x rond de aarde te draaien?

14. Hoe lang kan u een ruimtewandeling maken?

15. Wat doet u als u vrije tijd hebt?

16. Welk effect heeft een verblijf in de ruimte op het lichaam? Had u na de eerste missie gezondheidsklachten?

17. Wat gebeurt er wanneer iemand aan boord echt ziek wordt?

18. Wat is het eerste wat u gaat doen als u terugkomt op aarde (na de verplichtingen)

19. Moet u als u terugkomt wennen aan zonlicht en zwaartekracht?

20. Wat zal u het meest missen van het ISS?

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.

Gaston Bertels - ON4WF

ARISS Chairman