US astronaut Greg Chamitoff KD5PKZ will speak to students at the Michael Sobell Sinai School in the UK

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ARISS contact planned with UK school

An International Space Station Expedition 17 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at Michael Sobell Sinai School, Harrow, Middlesex, United Kingdom on 25 September.

The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 1134 UTC, which 12:34 UK Time and 13:34 Central European Time (CET).

The Michael Sobell Sinai School opened in 1981 and is the largest Jewish Primary School in Europe. It caters for children aged 3-11 and offers a challenging curriculum and the highest standard of education. It receives excellent Ofsted reports on a consistent basis.

Two of Sinai's pupils, Jessica and Amelia Diamond, visited the Kennedy Space Center in May to see their cousin, astronaut Greg Chamitoff, KD5PKZ, embark on a NASA flight to the International Space Station.

Sinai are excited to use this fantastic opportunity as part of its "The Earth and Beyond" unit which follows the National Curriculum for the year 5 age group (ages 9/10). During this period of study our pupils learn in detail about space and the planets. The topic is mainly science based but there are many planned activities which cross over into other areas of the curriculum such as literacy, maths and information technology.

The International Space Station is viewed from space shuttle Endeavour after undocking. - March 2008. Credit: NASA TV

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

1. What training do you do to become an astronaut?
2. What is the purpose of your trip?
3. Could you describe a typical day in space?
4. How do you go the toilet?
5. In what ways can an astronaut observe their religion in space?

6. What qualifications do you need to become an astronaut?
7. Will there ever be a day when we can holiday on the moon?
8. What's the food like?
9. What inspired you to become an astronaut?
10. How close are you to the planets and how do you/ can you identify them?

11. What do you miss?
12. What has been your most exciting moment so far?
13. Could you describe what the earth looks like when you are in space and can you identify countries, weather conditions and the seas?
14. How does it feel to be in Space without gravity?
15. What is the International Space Station?

16. Do you notice light and dark, day and night, temperature when you are in space?
17. How do you sleep?
18. What do you do for fun up there?
19. If one of your children wanted to be an astronaut what would you say to them?
20. How many people are involved in preparing you for the trip and in supporting you while you are in space?

The contact will be a telebridge contact between stations NA1SS and WH6PN. The contact should be audible over Hawaii. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.

The audio for this event will be fed into the EchoLink AMSAT (101 377) and JK1ZRW (277 208) servers.

Please note that there are automatic breaks in the EchoLink audio transmission every 2.5 minutes during the event and while we listen to preparations going on for this contact. Each audio break is approximately 1 second long. Please configure your systems to not time out during times of inactivity or ongoing audio transmissions.

This ARISS event will possibly be broadcast through the IRLP "Discovery" Reflector 9010 on the Internet. It is then available via the "Discovery" Reflectors companion web site www.discoveryreflector.ca . Once on its main page, select "Live Streaming Audio" (left side bar) and follow the prompts.

More directly the URL is as follows: www.discoveryreflector.ca:8000/listen.pls

The audio on the Internet is typically delayed by about two minutes.

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.
See http://www.ariss-eu.org/schoolcontacts.htm

73

Gaston Bertels, ON4WF
ARISS-Europe chairman