ARISS Contact with Students in Nine Countries (Updates) 28.11.,15.58 UTC

November 19, 2022 Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has received schedule confirmation for an ARISS radio contact between an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and students in nine different countries in the Caribbean and Central America. ARISS conducts 60-80 of these special amateur radio contacts each year between students around the globe and crew members with ham radio licenses aboard the ISS.

St. Josephs Convent Secondary School, in Castries, Saint Lucia is hosting this ARISS contact allowing students at 12 schools to contact the ISS. The students have been studying and monitoring natural hazards as viewed from space. The schools involved in this contact are: Colegio Agustiniano Nuestra Senora del Buen Consejo in Panama, Escuela La Pradera and Escuela Francisco Gamboa Mora in Costa Rica, St. Nicholas Primary School in Antigua and Barbuda, New Horizons School in the Dominican Republic, John Cumber School and John Gray High School in the Cayman Islands, St. Josephs Convent Castries and St. Mary’s College in St Lucia, St. Nicholas Primary School in Antigua and Barbuda, Joshua Obadiah Williams Primary School in St. Kitts and Nevis, and Grande Riviere Anglican Primary School in Trinidad and Tobago.

This will be a Multipoint Telebridge Contact via Amateur Radio and students will take turns asking their questions for Astronaut Josh Cassada, amateur radio call sign KI5CRH. Local Covid-19 protocols are adhered to as applicable for each ARISS contact. The downlink frequency for this contact is 145.800 MHz and may be heard by listeners that are within the ISS-footprint that also encompasses the telebridge station.

The ARISS amateur radio ground station (telebridge station) for this contact is in Casale Monferrato, Italy. The amateur radio volunteer team at the station will use the callsign IK1SLD, to establish and maintain the ISS connection. The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for November 22, 2022 at 1:40 pm AST (Saint Lucia) or 17:40 UTC.

The public is invited to watch the live stream at: https://www.ariotti.com

As time allows, students will ask these questions:
 1. What is the international space station?
 2. How do you see meteorological events from space and what is it like to be there?
 3. If a hurricane is happening can you see it in space?
 4. How long did you study to become an astronaut?
 5. What do you do in space?
 6. Do you study and measure climate change from space?
 7. When a volcanic eruption happens, can you see the effects from space?
 8. What are the impacts of space hurricanes and does it affect us here on earth?
 9. How close does a meteorite have to pass to affect the Earth?
10. Do other planets have volcanoes?
11. What can I do to make sea levels stop rising?
12. What does the moon look like up close?
13. When does the Sahara sand cross the Atlantic Ocean?
14. Can you see rainbows in space?

About ARISS:
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the ISS National Lab-Space Station Explorers, Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) and NASAs Space communications and Navigation program. The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics topics. ARISS does this by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities take part in hands-on learning activities tied to space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org

Media Contact:
Dave Jordan, AA4KN
ARISS PR

UPDATE:
ARISS Contact is Scheduled with Students at Five Bridges Junior High School, Stillwater Lake, Nova Scotia, Canada

November 20, 2022, Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has received schedule confirmation for an ARISS radio contact between an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and students at the Five Bridges Junior High School located in Stillwater Lake, NS, CAN.

Five Bridge Junior High School is a rural school located in the community of Hubley, just outside Halifax, the Provincial Capital city of Nova Scotia, Canada. Leading up to this ARISS contact, students are learning about space exploration through activities that includes constructing models of planets within our solar system, attending presentations from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, testing and growing of tomato seeds that have previously flown on the ISS, and examining black holes and the origins of the universe. Students are also learning about past lunar landings, the future Artemis program as well as the Gateway program. Local amateur radio operators have also provided students with a series of presentations about amateur radio.

Astronaut Josh Cassada

This will be a telebridge Contact via Amateur Radio allowing students to ask their questions of Astronaut Josh Cassada, amateur radio call sign KI5CRH. Local Covid-19 protocols are adhered to as applicable for each ARISS contact. The downlink frequency for this contact is 145.800 MHz and may be heard by listeners that are within the ISS-footprint that also encompasses the telebridge station.

The ARISS amateur radio ground station (telebridge station) for this contact is in Casale Monferrato,Italy. The amateur radio volunteer team at the ground station will use the callsign IK1SLD, to establish and maintain the ISS connection. The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for November 23, 2022 at 12:52 pm AST (Nova Scotia) (16:52 UTC).

The public is invited to watch the live stream at:        
https://www.ariotti.com

As time allows, students will ask these questions:

  1. Why did you choose to be an astronaut?
  2. What was the best or most interesting part of your training to become an astronaut?
  3. What is it like to go through the atmosphere and into space at high speeds for extended periods of
    time?
  4. Does everyone rest at the same time or do you work in shifts?
  5. What is a day like for you on the ISS?
  6. What do you hope to achieve with your experiments during your mission?
  7. How will the use of robotics help Astronauts in the future?
  8. What are your hobbies and how do you pursue them on the ISS?
  9. What are problems that you have to anticipate/prepare for in space that you would not have to on
    Earth?
  10. What are some common misconceptions about astronauts?
  11. How do you celebrate all the diverse nationalities, beliefs and religions while on board the ISS?
  12. When the ISS is retired from service in 2030 what will replace it in low earth orbit?
  13. What kinds of equipment and materials had to come along for your specific mission?
  14. If you weren’t an astronaut what job would you have pursued and why?
  15. If there was one thing you wanted young people to know about Space and/or Aerospace Programs,
    what would it be?
  16. How will the effects of increasing radiation from the sun affect life on the ISS?
  17. For students who are interested in Aerospace, what fields of science or skills do you recommend they
    explore?
  18. How noisy is it in the ISS?

  1. UPDATE:
    ARISS contact is scheduled with Students at West Ferris Intermediate Secondary School, North Bay, Ontario, Canada

November 26, 2022 – Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has received schedule confirmation for an ARISS radio contact between astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and students at the West Ferris Intermediate Secondary School located in ON, Canada. ARISS conducts 60-80 of these special amateur radio contacts each year between students around the globe and crew members with ham radio licenses aboard the ISS.

West Ferris Intermediate Secondary School (with about 1100 students enrolled) is a grade 7 – 12 English public school located in North Bay, Ontario about 350 kilometers north of Toronto on the shores of Lake Nipissing. The school also serves several rural communities in the Nipissing District. Their curriculum offers innovative and diverse programming including French immersion, competitive athletic teams, and fine arts, and is the residence of the citys STEAM program. West Ferris students at the intermediate level are supported in a creative science program where problem solving and technological creativity is at the fore.
 
Amateur Radio is an important component of the school’s Near Space Program in which students plan and execute stratospheric balloon launches under the guidance of an amateur radio operator/teacher. Students explore the theory and implementation of radio technology through the use of the Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) for payload tracking. Students learn the concepts of wave propagation, polarity, wavelength and frequency and the applications of these concepts. The Schools Near Space Program was started in 2018 with a stratospheric balloon launch in October, another on May 14, 2019, with plans to continue and expand the initiative in coming years. Members of the North Bay Amateur Radio Club (VE3NBC) provide technical support for the launches, an APRS gateway for tracking, and participate in the payload retrieval in chase cars.

This will be a telebridge contact via Amateur Radio allowing students to ask their questions of Astronaut Koichi Wakata, amateur radio call sign KI5TMN. Local Covid-19 protocols are adhered to as applicable for each ARISS contact. The downlink frequency for this contact is 145.800 MHz and may be heard by listeners that are within the ISS-footprint that also encompasses the telebridge station.

The ARISS amateur radio ground station (telebridge station) for this contact is in Aartselaar, Belgium. The amateur radio volunteer team at the ground station will use the callsign ON4ISS, to establish and maintain the ISS connection. The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for November 28, 2022 at 10:58 am EST (ON, CANADA) (15:58 UTC).
 
As time allows, students will ask these questions:

  1. Do you feel any changes when you return to Earth?
  2. What do you do during your free time?
  3. What is your favorite and least favorite food in space?
  4. How long did it take to get into space?
  5. Why did you decide to become an astronaut?
  6. What does your sleep schedule look like?
  7. How much food do you consume a day?
  8. How do you clean the station?
  9. Is it difficult to contact your family while there?
  10. When first entering space, do you feel any differences inside your body? For instance, your organs moving?
  11. What is the coolest thing you have seen while on station?
  12. Are space suits uncomfortable?
  13. How long have you been an astronaut?
  14. How do you keep your bones from getting weaker in space and how do you restrengthen them after returning?
  15. Once in space, how long do you have to be there for?
  16. Has there been anything that you were not prepared for that you thought you were?
  17. How do you deal with an illness in space and have no medication to help the person who is ill?

Media Contact:
Dave Jordan, AA4KN
ARISS PR