ARISS contact planned with students in Zuromin, Poland

Monday January 2, 2012 at approximately 12:05 UTC which is 13.05 CEWT, a radio contact is planned with students in a school in Zuromin, Poland. Amateur radio station SP5PMD will call OR4ISS.

The School nr 2 in Zuromin consists of the primary school and a junior high school. The primary Kornel Makuszynski School was founded in 1990 and the Henryk Sienkiewicz junior high school was founded in 1999. There are about 500 students in both schools. The school has a well equipped gym and chemical and language labs. Since 2010, the SP5PMD Amateur Radio Club is operational in the school and the students learn first hand about short waves comunications.

The school is the first in Poland where youngsters study science extensively. following a program written by one of the teachers. Students learn about modeling, telecommunications and robot building. This provides them a proper introduction to technology and space. The school has organized Science Days for several years. Students have also observed Amateur Radio operators working the ISS.

The conversation will be conducted in English. Downlink signals with the astronaut’s answers will be audible in Europe on 145.800 MHz FM.

Students will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:

1. Monika (10): Is it cool to be an astronaut?

2. Lukasz (8): Are there night and day in space?

3. Stanislaw (8): What do you do with waste?

4. Artur (11): What kind of planets can you see at the moment?

5. Izabela (11): How do astronauts spend their free time?

6. Kamil (11): Do you have an access to TV, news programs and the Internet on ISS?

7. Aleksandra (12): What is so interesting in space for you?

8. Julia (12): How do you take a shower on the ISS?

9. Aleksandra (11): How do astronauts eat meals in space?

10. Ilona (13): How would you describe the feeling of flying into space?

11. Katarzyna (13): What type of school did you graduate from?

12. Dominik (14): How do you communicate with your family on ISS?

13. Katarzyna (15): How does the ordinary day on ISS look like?

14. Ewelina (15): How do you feel after being weightless for a long time?

15. Aleksandra (15): How do you celebrate the holidays such as Easter or Christmas in space?

16. Katarzyna (15): Does the absence of gravitation has influence on perceiving hunger or thirst?

17. Adam (14): What was your first feeling after arriving on the ISS?

18. Asia (14): How long have you been on the 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.

73,

Gaston Bertels – ON4WF

ARISS Chairman