ARISS contact planned January 7, 2013 with school in France

An International Space Station school contact has been planned January 7, 2013 with participants at Ecole Les Muriers, Saint-Maur-Des-Fosses, France. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 10:57 UTC, which is 11.57 CEWT.

The contact will be a direct operated by F6KMX/p. Interested parties in Europe are invited to listen to dowlink signals on 145.800 MHz FM.

Saint-Maur-des-Fosses is a small city (77,000 inhabitants) located at about 15 km South-East of PARIS, separated from the capital by the large Vincennes Forest, and located on the top of a loop formed by the river Marne.The name of the city is inspired from the Chateau of Saint-Maur, which was frequently visited by the queen Marie de Medicis in the 16th Century.

The school Les Muriers is educating about 500 children in 17 classrooms. The pupils are aged from 8 to 11 and they prepare for their access to Middle school. The children of a classroom of 22 (CM2/ 5th grade) have worked with their teacher on a dream project : a direct contact, via ham radio, with an astronaut aboard the ISS. This year the children are studying life in space and understanding the Space Station. They are participating to science and ham-radio activities organized by the Radio-club of St-Maur (F6KMX).

Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:

1. Adrien(10) and Augustin(10): What is the temperature outside the ISS?
2. Bastien (10) and Camille (11): What does the Earth look like from the ISS?
3. Diana (10) and Ester Rose (10): What does the Moon look like from the ISS?
4. Samuel(11) and Lisandru(11): Have you already passed through an asteroid belt?
5. Guy (11) and Henri (10): Are you able to go outside the station, into the space?
6. Laura (10) and Mathilde (11): What is your speed? Can you feel it?
7. Manon (11) and Rachel (11): How do you sleep? Do you have the same sleep pattern than on the earth?
8. Malaurie (10) and Mathilde (11): Do the crew members sleep one after the other, or do you sleep all at the same time?
9. Mathieu (11) and Nathan (10): How do you know if it is morning or night on board?
10. Noam (10) and Romain (10): Do you do any sports and physical activities? Do you lose weight?
11. Ondine (10) and Raphaelle (11): Do you shave every day? If so, how?
12. Dusan (11) and Samuel (11):Do you see any space debris? Can you see evidence of pollution of the earth?
13. Yacine (10) and Mathieu (10): what are your hobbies on the ISS after a day of work?
14. Sahra (11) and Malaurie (11): Are you happy to come back home at the end of your mission?
15. Matéo (10) and Henri (10): What is your current mission?
16. Louis (11) and Lisandru (11): Why did you choose to become an astronaut?
17. Camille (10) and Mathilde (10): How do you cook food? What is a typical meal in the ISS?

ARISS is an international educational outreach program partnering the participating space agencies, NASA, Russian Space Agency, ESA, CNES, 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 onboard 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

(Source : International Amateur Radio Union/Sougthgate Amateur Radio News)