ARISS event - One Stop Richmond Hill Community Center, Richmond Hill, New York

An International Space Station Expedition 15 ARISS school contact has been planned with children at the One Stop Richmond Hill Community Center, Richmond Hill, New York, USA on 07 August. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 13:25 UTC.

The contact will be a telebridge between stations NA1SS and WH6PN. The contact should be audible in Hawaii. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. In addition, the audio should be available via IRLP and EchoLink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.

Richmond Hill Community Center began as a block association 37 years ago. It expanded to become the One Stop Richmond Hill Community Center and serves the neighborhood with many programs including children's summer camp, citizenship and English as a Second Language courses, after school tutoring for neighborhood children, Mommy and Me preschool programs, Videoconference and Computer Technology after school and summer program for elementary school children, local civilian patrol and a Community Emergency Response Team program (CERT). The community center also holds meetings regularly to get neighborhood feedback and concerns to solve local area problems.

All of these programs are funded and supported by state elected officials (bipartisan) and therefore are offered at no cost to the community.

The One Stop Richmond Hill Community Center in NYC (Queens, NYC) is headed by Community Center President Simcha Waisman and Director Joan Bachert.

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

1. What was the biggest challenge the crew faced during any of the spacewalks while you were working on the ISS?

2. What is your favorite foods in space and does chocolate taste strange in space?

3. How often are you able to email your family from space?

4. What activity is the most fun as you float around the space station?

5. What is your favorite module of the space station and why?

6. What did you bring with you to remind you of family and home?

7. What are you doing with robots on the space station? We notice it is on your list of activities.

8. It is exciting up there. What do you do if you have trouble going to sleep?

9. Do you ever share meals and what kind of food is your favorite?

10. What do you eat for breakfast -- and can you change your mind about what you want to eat?

11. We know you have private family conference time. How long do you talk to your family and can you see them?

12. What surprises have there been? What did not go as expected?

13. How did you first become interested in space science?

14. Do your children want to travel in space like you and why?

15. Has any of you gotten sick in space and what did you do about it?

16. Do you have Internet on the ISS and what video games are your favorite (if you have any)?

17. How do you get news up in space? Can you watch any of it and does mission control send any news to you?

18. When you return home, what is the first thing you want to do?

19. What food do you miss most up in space?

20. What sports can you play up there in microgravity?

21. Fire safety is important here. What has to be done when you inspect the ISS smoke detectors?

22. How is trash prepared for return to Earth? Is there a compactor?

23. Is the ISS going to become a national laboratory and what kind of experiments will be most important?

24. What fun things will you be leaving behind for the next crew to use?

Information about the next scheduled ARISS contact can be found at http://www.rac.ca/ariss/upcoming.htm#NextContact

Next planned event(s):
TBD

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 on-board 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.

Further information on the ARISS program is available on the website http://www.rac.ca/ariss (graciously hosted by the Radio Amateurs of Canada).

Thank you & 73,
Kenneth - N5VHO