June 7,
2010
SUCCESSFUL ARISS CONTACT WITH ROSI SCHOOL IN CAMAIORE
(LUCCA), ITALY
Saturday, 5
June 2010 at 10:21 UTC, i.e. 12:21 local time, Michele Rosi School in Camaiore
(Lucca - Tuscany), Italy established a direct radio contact with NASA astronaut
Tracy E. Caldwell-Dyson, KF5DBF on board the
International Space Station. The Amateur Radio school station operated the contact with callsign IZ5QLC.
Michele Rosi school is a
middle school part of the Comprehensive Institute "Camaiore 2"
located in Lido di Camaiore. This is a little Tuscan town on the beautiful
Tyrrhenian coast of Versilia, near Lucca, Italy.
Mr. Alessandro Tesconi,
IK5EHI decided in favour of a direct contact and operated the radio contact. The questions were read by
students of Michele Rosi School. Ages of the students: 6 to 10 years.
At 10:21
UTC, contact with OR4ISS was established
by amateur radio club station IZ5QLC. At 10:30 UTC, contact with OR4ISS
continued via amateur radio club at “Cittadella Mediterranea della Scienza” in
Bari (south Italy) connected by phone line to the school in Camaire. Amateur
radio club station I2JRY in Gallarate linked via phone line to the Rosi school was ready to be involved as
backup ground station during the contact due local noise in Camaiore only if
needed. Astronaut Tracy E. Caldwell-Dyson, KF5DBF
answered all questions and greetings and thanks exchanged. The signals from the
ISS were loud and clear all the time.
An audience
of more than 150 students, teachers, visitors and media assist to the contact.
Before the contact, ARISS mentor Francesco De Paolis, IK0WGF introduced the
event and ARISS activities with a presentation via phone line.
Regional
media and newspapers as “RAI3 Toscana”, “Il tirreno”, etc. covered the event.
The audio
and video of the event was distributed by webcast on: http://www.livestream.com/isscontact from Rosi school;
http://it.justin.tv/cittadella
from “Cittadella Mediterranea della Scienza” at University of Bari.
Congratulations
to Camaiore staff, Gallarate staff and
ARISS Puglia team!
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
Francesco
De Paolis, IK0WGF
ARISS
mentor
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