Space station

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school contact has been planned Sunday 18 March 2012 at approximately 11.31 UTC with students at Istituto Tecnologico Statale Trasporti e Logistica “Leone Acciaiuoli”, Ortona, Italy.

The contact will be performed by the radio station IQ6LN and the downlink signal will be audible over Europe on 145.800 MHz FM.

The Ortona Maritime Institute “Leone Acciaiuoli” (I.T.N) is a technical high school preparing the students to a career as officer on merchant ships or to university studies in the field of engineering disciplines.
The subjects that characterize the I.T.N. programme are: Navigation, Astronomy, Celestial navigation, Satellite navigation, Telecommunications (including satellite telecommunications), Technical English, Nautical and Aeronautical Meteorology, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics and Physics. Many courses deal with matters related to space technologies. The student population is about 400.

The event will be broadcast in streaming video onhttp://www.livestream.com/AMSAT_Italia/

Students will ask as many of following questions as time allows.
1. Loris: We all believe you are special people working together to achieve one common great goal. Are you proud of the great moral and scientific value of your commitment?
2. Mauro: What is the relationship among you being forced to live together in a confined place for an extended period of time?
3. Pierluigi: What cultural requirements must an astronaut satisfy besides very hard physical and psychological training?
4. Andrea: Is it easier for astronauts to get used to being weightless or to get used to gravity again when they come back to Earth?
5. Antonio: What height is ISS orbiting at and why was this specific height chosen?

6. Nichol: How is the ISS flight path controlled?
7. Giada: When working outside the ISS how are you protected from the space environment and the risk of flying away?
8. Angela: How long does the voyage back down to the earth take? And how does it take place?
9. Iary: How do you feel when watching the earth from the spacecraft window?
10. Causarano: Do you think living in space might change your perception of the world and influence your future life on earth?

11. Agnese: People say human beings age slower in space than on earth. Is that true?
12. Tamara: How do days and nights alternate up there and how often do you see the sun rising?
13. Francesca: How do you receive news from the earth?
14. Federica: Do you ever happen to miss your ordinary life on earth while being up there?
15. Carmen: What does astronauts’ diet consist in and how is it usually prepared?

16. Giulia: How are water and oxygen generated on board?
17. Mario: What research are you doing and what benefits will result from it?
18. Matteo: We know you are growing plants on board. Why?
19. Alessia: How do you dispose of waste?
20. Francesco: Do you think people will travel to space in the next future?

ARISS is an international educational outreach program partnering the space agencies, NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, 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.

Gaston Bertels, ON4WF
ARISS Chairman