DOUBLE CONTACT FOR ESA ASTRONAUT SAMANTHA CRISTOFORETTI, IZØUDF
WITH TWO
SCHOOLS IN ITALY.
Saturday, March 7, 2015 at 10:51 UTC, 11:51 local time and at
12:29 UTC,
13:29 local time, students at "G. Salvemini
- G. La Pira", Montemurlo,
Italy, and “Dante Alighieri” 1st Grade Secondary (Middle) School, Casale
Monferrato, Italy established two ARISS contacts with ESA astronaut
Samantha Cristoforetti, IZØUDF onboard
the International Space Station.
These were direct contacts performed by Amateur radio ground
stations
IQ5VR, located at "G. Salvemini -
G. La Pira" in Montemurlo
and IK1SLD
located at "Dante Alighieri” School in Casale
Monferrato.
Presentation G. Salvemini
- G. La Pira
The school “Salvemini - La Pira” is in Montemurlo, province
of Prato,
Tuscany region and it is a Secondary Middle School; it has 21
classes
with
pupils aged between 11 and 14. The name of the school derives from
the
fusion of the two schools of the commune. This is the only secondary
middle
school of the area. The schoolhouse hosts around 520 pupils.
Presentation “Dante Alighieri”
The "Dante Alighieri" School is situated a bit off the
town centre of
Casale Monferrato, near the ancient Cittadella, province of Alessandria,
Piedmont region. It's a modern construction, developed on two main
buildings: one for the school's didactical and administrative
activities, one for the sport activities (gym and pool). It's surrounded
by
a wide playground, with a little plantation of poplars, planted by
the
pupils of the school. There are 12 classrooms (4 at the main floor
and
8 at the first floor) and different labs: Science lab, Informatics
lab,
Techno lab, Art lab, Maths lab, Languages lab and a coloured and
wide
library. There is also a lot of afternoon activities, such as Latin
courses, Languages courses and sport tournaments (soccer, basket,
volley).
The Dante Secondary I grade School has a current roll of 230
and
a teaching staff of 29. In the last few years the school has been
enhanced by the richness of its diverse student population.
Mentor Francesco De Paolis IK0WGF
proposed to the radio coordinators Mr.
Alessandro Tesconi IK5EHI and Mr.
Claudio Ariotti IK1SLD to set up a
combined direct contact, with the
support by IK1SLD back-up ground
station and this was accepted. A phone conference call allowed the full
sharing of the events between all the contact sites involved. The
sequence of questions was made alternately by the students at two
schools. ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli IZ0JPA
participating to the event in the
Montemurlo school, presented the International Space Station, talked
about
his experience aboard and before the AOS trained the students for the
contact. Great Paolo!
Contact was established at 10:51 UTC, 11:51 local time with IR0ISS
via
IK1SLD and then via IQ5VR, alternately. Mr. Claudio Ariotti IK1SLD
proposed to astronaut continue the contact during the following orbit.
ESA Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti IZ0UDF
agreed. During the first
scheduled contact Cristoforetti answered 10
questions from students.
Samantha Cristoforetti was really very
accurate in giving the answers
With many details.
At 12:29 UTC, 13:29 local time, contact was established again with
IR0ISS, not on the primary channel, which was interfered, but on a
back-up
channel where the event continued normally without problem.
During the second random contact Cristoforetti
answered 11 questions from
students and exchanged greetings with the schools. Signals from the ISS
were
good during both passes.
Both contacts established with IR0ISS were webcast live on:
http://www.livestream.com/amsat_italia (from Montemurlo)
http://www.livestream.com/ariss
(from Casale Monferrato)
The Montemurlo event is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egJ72f_I6To
(contact 1 start 46' - contact 2 start
2h23')
The Casale Monferrato
event is available t: http://livestre.am/545U4
(contact
start
59' - contact 2 start 2h23')
Regional and Local Televisions and newspapers covered the event
also.
About 700 students, parents, visitors and media attended the
events at
contact sites.
The event was announced on ESA Portal - National News:
Congratulations to IQ5VR and IK1SLD Teams!
73
Francesco De Paolis, IK0WGF
ARISS Mentor