June 7,
2010
SUCCESSFUL ARISS CONTACT WITH “ANDREA PONTI” SCHOOL IN
GALLARATE (VARESE), ITALY
Monday, 7
June 2010 at 09:40 UTC, i.e. 11:40 local time, “Andrea Ponti” School in
Gallarate (Varese), 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 I2JRY.
The
Technical Industrial State Institute (ITIS) was established on 1st October
1959, in Gallarate, as a textile course with its head office in Giovane Italia
square. In 1961 the School opened the Telecommunication specialization. Later,
in 1964, the Industrial Electronics specialization and in 1969-70 the
Electrotechnics specialization were added. In 1999, the Aeronautics
Constructions course started, followed in 2004 by the Industrial Computer
Science course. The school is attended by 1000 students aged 14-19.
Mr. Mauro Scambroglio, IW2KVT made arrangements for a direct contact. The questions were
read by students of “Andrea Ponti” School.
At 09:40
UTC contact with OR4ISS was established
by amateur radio club station I2JRY. Amateur radio club station at “Cittadella
Mediterranea della Scienza” in Bari (south Italy), linked by phone line to the
“Andrea Ponti” school, was ready to operate as backup ground station if needed.
Astronaut Tracy E. Caldwell-Dyson, KF5DBF
answered all questions and greetings and thanks were exchanged. The signals
from the ISS were loud and clear all the time.
An audience
of more than 250 students, teachers, visitors and media assisted to the contact
from several classrooms, connected by multimedia screens. Before the contact,
ARISS mentor Francesco De Paolis, IK0WGF introduced the event and ARISS
activities with a presentation via phone line.
Local media
and newspapers covered the event.
The event
was distributed by webcast on: http://www.livestream.com/isscontact
Congratulations
to 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