US astronaut Mike Fincke KE5AIT

Australian school contact a huge success

Anderson's Creek Primary School in Warrandyte, Victoria, Australia experienced a very successful Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact via telebridge station VK5ZAI in Kingston, South Australia.

Ten students asked two questions each of astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT during the contact, which took place on Monday, November 10. An audience of over 230 witnessed the event including the mayor, sergeant, representative from Rotary, Bendigo Bank and the Warrandyte High School principal. There were also many representatives including the president from the local Wireless Institute. The majority of the teaching staff also joined in.

The Herald Sun sent a photographer before and during the event and published an article in the paper and online.
The Education Times, the Victorian Teacher newspaper, also conducted an interview and will publish a story in its next edition. The Victorian Space Science Education Centre published an account of the event in their emailed newsletter to teachers, and a student was also interviewed on ABC 774 Melbourne radio station.

The audio, which was fed into the Internet Linking Project (IRLP) Discovery Reflector 9010, received 6 connections. EchoLink received 16 connections from Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, England and the U.S.

To view The Herald Sun article, see:
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,,24632605-2862,00.html

The Wireless Institute of Australia published a story covering the contact:
http://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2008/20081110-1/index.php

The Victorian Space Science Education Centre also ran a short summary:
http://www.vssec.vic.edu.au/resources/download/
capcom/capcom30-1108.pdf