The International Space Station

Upcoming ARISS contact with David Thompson Middle School, Calgary, AB, Canada

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at David Thompson Middle School, Calgary, AB, Canada on 30 October.
The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 21:12 UTC

The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and LU8YY. The contact should be audible over portions of South America. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English.

David Thompson School is a Middle School in the community of Acadia in Calgary. There are 631 students in grades five to nine. Our school is named after the famous explorer and geographer who mapped a large portion of Western Canada.

We are preparing for our International Space Station communication in the grades specific to the study of astronomy - six and nine. We have had an introductory presentation from Dr. Phil Langill from the University of Calgary and will be reading Mary Lou's New Telescope to encourage and inspire their natural curiosity with the sky.

Students will respond to the day's events with follow-up composition and art activities. This extraordinary experience will be the basis of our grade six Sky Science unit and be a launching board for our analysis and exploration of the skies above us. In grade six, our students will be exploring our solar system by focusing on the International Year of Astronomy. This entails our natural curiosity with our sky and the amazing discoveries made by Galileo when he mastered the telescope 400 years ago and challenged the geocentric beliefs of the time.

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

1. What is the most amazing thing you saw in space?
2. What all do you do in a day in space?
3. What have you discovered in space?
4. What is the purpose of your mission?
5. What are you doing to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy?

6. What is the feeling you get when you look down at the earth?
7. Would being punched in the face in space, feel the same as it does on earth? Would it heal the same?
8. Is there garbage in space? How does the ISS avoid getting hit by it?
9. Does your water taste funny?
10. Have you seen a shooting star or meteor? If so, how many have you seen?

11. Have you ever found any kind of plant in space?
12. What is it like to have no gravity in space?
13. Do you change into different clothes?
14. How do you shower, bath, brush your teeth?
15. How do you wash your clothes?

16. Do you collect anything from space?
17. What do you do for entertainment?
18. Is it hard to live in space for 6 months?
19. Does you hair always stand up in space?
20. How do you exercise in space?

Information about the upcoming ARISS contacts can be found at http://www.ariss.org/upcoming.htm#NextContact.

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.ariss.org/ (graciously hosted by the Radio Amateurs of Canada).

Thank you & 73,

David - AA4KN