An educational radio contact is planned with National STEM Festival, Washington, DC, telebridge via VK6MJ. The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS and the scheduled crewmember is Chris Williams KJ5GEW; the ARISS mentor is W4NTR/ KM4YHZ.
Contact is go for: Thursday 25 June 2026, 13:31:42 UTC, 49 deg. Downlink signals from ISS will be audible over parts of Australia interested by the ISS footprint on 145.800 MHz narrowband FM; contact will be in English. RX only! (Credit: AMSAT.)
Proposed questions generated by the National STEM Festival students:
1. Did you always have the goal of becoming an astronaut? If so, when did that dream start? If not, what made you change your mind?
2. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, under whose administration NASA was established, once said, ‘Always take your job seriously, never yourself.’ With that in mind, when was the last time you belly-laughed on the job?
3. How do you think the privatization of space travel will affect space exploration?
4. What do you think of the viability and cost effectiveness of data centers in space? With the accelerating rate in the usage of AI and your own experiences in being in space, do you think it is a feasible idea we should pursue?
5. What advice do you have for someone who aspires to become an astronaut?
6. What is one unexpected challenge you faced while living and working in space, and how did that experience change the way you approach teamwork and problem-solving?
7. Is it mostly just eerily silent in space? (***)
8. Beyond the expected physical tolls of spaceflight, what has been the most surprising psychological shift you’ve personally experienced while living in the final frontier?
9. With the recent advancements in AI, what roles do AI systems play in monitoring the effects of microgravity on your health in the ISS?
10. Tanish: In the International Space Station, do you visibly see space debris? Have you noticed it increasing over your time in space?