ARISS CONTACT FOR ESA ASTRONAUT PAOLO NESPOLI, IZ0JPA
AND ITALIAN AIR FORCE ACADEMY, SUCCESSFUL
Thursday, 28 April, 2011 06.54 UTC, i.e. 08.54
local time, Italian Air Force Academy in Pozzuoli, Napoli, Italy, established a ARISS contact with Italian astronaut PAOLO NESPOLI, IZ0JPA
on board the International Space Station. This was a telebridge contact by
ARISS ground station LU1CGB located in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Besides the Command & Administrative Staff, the
Italian Air Force Academy is made up of three Departments: the Courses
Department, the University Department and the General Technical Service
Department. Their mission is to select and train the prospective commanders of
the Italian Air Force. Among the cadets enlisted there are: pilots, navigators,
general duty officers, engineers, lawyers and doctors.
ARISS mentor Francesco De Paolis, IK0WGF proposed a
telebridge contact to Major Rosario Falanga, coordinator for this ARISS event.
The questions were read by the officers students in
the Academy auditorium with an audience of more than 400 officers students,
teachers, visitors and media. The signal from the ISS was loud and clear all
along the contact.
At 09:12 UTC contact with NA1SS was established by
station LU1CGB. Welcome to Nespoli before of the sequence of questions and
greetings in closing the contact by the Academy Commandant, General Umberto
Baldi. Astronaut Paolo NESPOLI answered 10 questions. All officers
students, motivated and future commanders of the Italian Air Force,
participated to the event with great interest. After the event, one of the officers students revealed to have been guided to this
choice of studies for having participated to an ARISS school contact during
high school. A seed sprouted thanks to ARISS.
ARISS contact was announced by web story on ESA
Portal - National News:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMTIPYGRMG_Italy_0.html
Congratulations to Italian Air Force Academy!
73
Francesco De Paolis, IK0WGF
ARISS mentor