Successful ARISS Contact for CRA Pozohondo, Nava De
Abajo, Spain successful
Tuesday October 16 at 09:30 UTC, which is 11.26.52
CEST, students from CRA Pozohondo, Nava De Abajo, Spain established ARISS
contact with NASA astronaut Sunita Williams KD5PLB on board the International
Space Station. Astronaut Sunita Williams KD5PLB operated with the ISS callsign
NA1SS. This was a telebridge contact performed by Luis Anibal Funes amateur radio
station LU8YY, located in Argentina.
This school is officially named CRA (
Colegio Rural Agrupado) because it is located in a small village called
Nava de Abajo and it only has 30 pupils from kindergarten ( 3 to 5 years
old) to the last level of Primay School ( 11- 12 years old pupils). The
building is small and there are only four teachers, so the students are
organized in mixed levels: Kindergarten, 6-7 years, 8-9 years and 10-11 years
of age.
Regarding this activity, it is remarkable to note the
keen interest teachers and students show for the knowledge of the Universe.
They have developed astrophotography, astronomy ,´astro-tales´
and radioham studios. You can learn more on this website:http://edu.jccm.es/cra/cra_pozohondo
ARISS mentor Marcelo L. Teruel, IK0USO proposed to the
radio contact coordinator a telebridge contact. Abel Martinez Garcia EA5IBG,
radio contact coordinator, decided in favor of this setup. The contact took place
at school, where an audience of about 150 students, visitors,authorities
( Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of Castilla La Mancha, JCCM
delegate in Albacete, coordinator of education, culture and sport in Albacete,
Ministry of Industry) and Media ( local, regional and
national) participated to the ARISS contact. Moreover, live streaming
video enabled a large audience to follow the event in
two separated auditoriums outside the school. Before the contact
with the ISS, Abel Martinez Garcia EA5IBG presented the ARISS program, the
operations during an contact with the ISS via Ham Radio, and the life of the
astronauts in space. Juan Emilio Garcia Heras EA5APW operated the contact in
the school and Maria Jose Gonzalez Sanchez, English teacher, provided
translations. Marcelo L. Teruel, IK0USO moderated the international
teleconference established by NASA for this ARISS event.
At 09:30 UTC , contact with
NA1SS was established by station LU8YY. Using the Kenwood radio in the Service
Module, Sunita Williams KD5PLB answered 20 questions from the students,
exchanged final greetings and closed the contact. During the pass, the signal
from the ISS was loud and clear.
H.M. King Don Juan Carlos I de Borbon EA0JC sent
His greetings to all the staff involved in the contact.
Live streaming video was available on:
http://www.livestream.com/AMSAT_Italia
Video of the contact is available also here:
http://edu.jccm.es/cra/cra_pozohondo
Congratulations to the school staff and the Spanish ARISS
Team!
73
Marcelo Teruel, IK0USO
ARISS mentor
