NA7V antennas. (QRZ.com)
ARISS Contact is Scheduled with Students at
February 27, 2021—Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has received schedule confirmation for an ARISS radio contact with astronauts. ARISS is the group that puts together special amateur radio contacts between students around the globe and crew members with ham radio licenses on the International Space Station (ISS).
This will be a Multipoint Telebridge Contact via Amateur Radio between the ISS and students from Newcastle High School. Students will take turns asking their questions of ISS astronaut Mike Hopkins, amateur radio call sign KF5LJG, during the ARISS radio contact. The downlink frequency for this contact is 145.800 MHz. Since the first ARISS contact on December 21, 2000, this will be the first ARISS-sponsored contact to a Wyoming school. RX only! (Credit: AMSAT.)
ARISS team member David Payne, using call sign NA7V in Portland, OR will serve as the relay amateur radio station. Each student asking a question will be conferenced in from home or social-distanced at school.
The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for March 1, 2021 at 9:20 am MST (Newcastle, WY) (16:20 UTC, 11:20 pm EST, 10:20 am CST, 8:20 am PST).
Newcastle High School (grades 9 – 12) is a rural, public school, and part of the Weston County Public School District, which serves students (grades K-12, ages 5-18) in communities in the county in northeastern Wyoming. Newcastle HS offers college preparatory courses, a concurrent/dual enrollment college class program as well as a vocational-technical training program. Newcastle HS’s amateur radio club includes activities that allow students to learn how to operate ham radios and build antennas with curriculum tie-in to the school’s mathematics and science classes. Student activities (involving students in grades K-12) prior to the ARISS contact were designed to increase awareness and interest in amateur radio, and STEM education, and to foster an appreciation for STEM in a student’s future career choices. The school has partnered with members of the North East Wyoming Amateur Radio Association (NE7WY) who will provide technical support during this contact.
ARISS invites the public to view the live stream of the upcoming ARISS radio contact at https://youtu.be/qdQlKQK5mT4 .
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As time allows, students will ask these questions:
1. How long did it take you to fully adjust to being on the ISS?
2. What effects have you experienced from zero gravity?
3. What do you folks do for fun? Boardgames? Play catch in space?
4. What is the most interesting thing you have seen on a spacewalk?
5. What happens when you fly into the South Atlantic Anomaly?
6. What is the most important lesson you’ve learned from your time in space?
7. What types of organisms do you grow or use in space?
8. I am asking a question for our 2nd grade class. How big is the International Space Station and what is inside? Are there bedrooms, gym, kitchen?
9. Is it weird not being able to experience night and day the same as you would on earth?
10. What research is currently being conducted? Is it biological?
11. Have you ever lost something on a spacewalk?
12. Since Spaceflight-Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome can affect mission success, does the research currently being conducted on the retina of mice take priority over other experiments?
13. What is the weirdest solution to a problem that you have tried that actually worked?
14. What is the most dangerous aspect about living and working in space?
15. What is the most exciting thing you have experienced so far?