NA7V antennas. (QRZ.com)
ARISS Contact Scheduled for Students Sponsored by Peace Corps Moldova and a Consortium of Educational Institutions, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
March 1, 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 and students from various schools in the Republic of Moldova. Students will take turns asking their questions of Astronaut Mike Hopkins, amateur radio call sign KF5LJG. English is the language that will be used for this contact. The downlink frequency for this contact is 145.800 MHz.
ARISS team member David Payne, using call sign NA7V in Portland, OR will serve as the relay amateur radio station.
The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for March 3, 2021 at 3:09 pm EET (Chisinau, Republic of Moldova), (13:09 UTC, 8:09 am EST, 7:09 am CST, 6:09 am MST and 5:09 am PST).
The public is invited to watch the livestream at: https://m.facebook.com/
The Moldova Peace Corps (MPC) will be the host organization for the ARISS contact. Ninety students (ages 10-18 years old) from a consortium of educational institutions, rural schools, and libraries from nine Moldovan villages throughout the Republic of Moldova (Molovata, Salcuta, Bacioi, Singerei, Gura Bicului, Stefanesti, Cociulia, Cirpesti and Cobani) will participate in this contact. Peace Corps is an educational organization in Moldova, promoting economic and civic development with a particular focus on developing local resources in rural and suburban communities. Another focus of MPC is to provide youth in Moldovan villages with access to STEM opportunities and build capacity among local teachers/librarians to implement STEM activities in their curricula. In support of this contact the MPC partnered with the staff at the Centre of Excellence for Space Sciences and Technologies within the Technical University of Moldova, the United States Peace Corps Volunteer Coordinator, and the participating schools/libraries. In preparation of the ARISS contact, STEM studies for all grades have incorporated class topics/activities that include: temperature extremes in space, organisms living in space, water chemistry on off-world environments, effects on human biology in space, and effects on electronics in the space environment (microsatellites).
As time allows, students will ask these questions:
1. Why did you choose this job?
2. What is the daily routine of an international space station spaceman?
3. What happens in space if someone catches a cold?
4. How is it to live and work in space?
5. How do you feel about the fact that the last mission to the moon was in 1972?
6. What type of experiments do you manage to conduct on board?
7. What can an astronaut bring with him on board and what is not allowed?
8. How do you deal with a major medical emergency on board of a space craft? Is a doctor part of the crew?
9. Are the ISS modules separated by country/agency or you all are in permanent collaboration with other groups?
10. What is the most difficult thing to get used to in lack of gravity?
11. How did you find out this was the perfect job for you?
12. What is the hardest part of being an astronaut?
13. How much time does it take to prepare for an event like this call?
14. How long does it take to recover from a trip to the International Space Station? Physically and mentally?
15. What is the main purpose of the station?
16. What is your favorite food to eat in space?
17. Do you ever call your family from space?
18. How does the Earth look from space?
19. What advice do you have for students who want to be astronauts?
20. Do you have a favorite space joke?