Tag Archives: International Space Station

Apr 25 2012

ISS: successful contact with Balaklava school

We are pleased to announce very successful contact of Balaklava school
(Sevastopol, Crimea, Ukraine) with International Space Station.
More than 100 children came to take part of the evening event on April
11, 2012 in Balaklava – very unique place with interesting history as well
as known as a place where Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov was born.
17 questions were asked and after the radio contact was finished we continued
communication via phone in combination with video stream available on http://spacestationlive.jsc.nasa.gov/timeline/index.html
Anton came to the place where web camera is located so we were able
not only to speak but also to see what he was doing on board of the station.
During the conversation Daniel Burbank joined giving greetings to all participants
on the ground.
Anton has answered 5 more questions and shown how Orlan space suit glovers
works, how to drink water in the space. Under storm of applause Anton presented
Balaklava’s school pennon which he has on board.
Space station

Space station

Event was organized by Ukrainian radio-amateurs Andrey Begunov – UT9UF and
Oleg Dmitrenko UR4UKV with support of Sevastopol’s radio-amateurs, space enthusiast
Vladimir Kovgan and Anton’s first teacher Irina Bogdanova.
Andrey
UT9UF
Apr 15 2012

ISS Amateur Radio contact with Scouts

Dan Burbank KC5ZSX - 640

Dan Burbank KC5ZSX

An International Space Station school contact took place between astronaut Dan Burbank KC5ZSX and Japanese Scouts on April 14, 2012.

The Scouts were from Troop 2nd & 3rd Iruma Group, Saitama Scout Council Scout Association Of Japan, Iruma and used the callsign 8N1BSI.

Radio amateur Dan Burbank KC5ZSX was using the callsign NA1SS from one of the two amateur radio stations that have been installed on the ISS.

Watch ARISS RadioScouting

ARISS ham radio contact with Japanese Scouts
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/april2012/ariss_event_1404.htm

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) http://ariss.rac.ca/

Mar 26 2012

Apex students talk with space station

On Wednesday, March 21, students at Salem Elementary in Apex came together in the school’s multipurpose room for a once-in-a-lifetime event.

WRAL TV news reports that fourteen students, six of them winners of the school’s science fair a few weeks earlier, made their way onto the stage for their turn to ask a question of astronaut Don Pettit KD5MDT 241 miles (388 km) up and on the other side of the Earth aboard the International Space Station. Tony Hutchison VK5ZAI provided the telebridge link to the ISS amateur radio station NA1SS.

At 10:07 am EDT, the station came over the horizon of Southern Australia and ham radio volunteer Tony Huchison VK5ZAI called out to callsign NA1SS. Everyone relaxed a little bit when Pettit KD5MDT responded and students lined up to ask their questions one after another.

Watch the WRAL video

Read the full WRAL news report at http://www.wral.com/weather/blogpost/10904028/

ARISS ham radio space contact with Salem Elementary School, Apex, NC http://www.southgatearc.org/news/march2012/ariss_event_2103.htm

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) http://www.rac.ca/ariss/

Mar 23 2012

O/OREOS Mission: “Cost effective” CubeSat science

 

Astrobiology magazine posts a piece on the success of NASA’s O/OREOS mission that points out that serious science can be accomplished by tiny spacecraft:

‘The full success of the O/OREOS mission demonstrates convincingly that cubesats can be cost-effective platforms for performing science research and conducting technology demonstrations,’ said Mary Voytek, senior scientist of NASA’s Astrobiology Program at NASA Headquarters, in a statement from NASA. ‘The capabilities of cubesats are growing steadily, making them good candidates to operate precursor experiments for missions on larger satellites, the International Space Station, lunar surface exposure facilities, and planetary exploration.’

O/OREOS monitored the effects of the space environment on microorganism growth and metabolism in a high-inclination, low-Earth orbit.

Wayne

Image credit: NASA Ames

Mar 23 2012

O/OREOS Mission: "Cost effective" CubeSat science

 

Astrobiology magazine posts a piece on the success of NASA’s O/OREOS mission that points out that serious science can be accomplished by tiny spacecraft:

‘The full success of the O/OREOS mission demonstrates convincingly that cubesats can be cost-effective platforms for performing science research and conducting technology demonstrations,’ said Mary Voytek, senior scientist of NASA’s Astrobiology Program at NASA Headquarters, in a statement from NASA. ‘The capabilities of cubesats are growing steadily, making them good candidates to operate precursor experiments for missions on larger satellites, the International Space Station, lunar surface exposure facilities, and planetary exploration.’

O/OREOS monitored the effects of the space environment on microorganism growth and metabolism in a high-inclination, low-Earth orbit.

Wayne

Image credit: NASA Ames

Mar 16 2012

ARISS ham radio space contact planned with school in Ortona, Italy

Space station

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