ARISS News Release No. 20-26
Dave Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS PR aa4kn@amsat.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISS Contact is Scheduled for Students at Oregon Charter Academy, Mill
City, Oregon - US

December 11, 2020—Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS) has received schedule confirmation for an ARISS radio contact
with astronauts. ARISS is the group that puts together special amateur
radio contacts between students around the globe and crew members with
ham radio licenses on the International Space Station (ISS).

This will be a Multipoint Telebridge Contact via Amateur Radio between
the ISS and students from Oregon Charter Academy (ORCA), in Mill City,
OR. During the ARISS radio contact, students will take turns asking
their questions of astronaut Shannon Walker, whose amateur radio call
sign is KD5DXB. The downlink frequency for this contact is 145.800 MHz.

ARISS team member Shane Lynd, using call sign VK4KHZ from an amateur
radio club station in Glenden, Queensland, Australia will serve as the
relay amateur radio station. Each student asking a question of Shannon
Walker will be teleconferenced from home or social-distanced at school.

The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for December 15, 2020 at 11:00 am
PST (Mill City), (19:00 UTC, 2:00 pm EST, 1:00 pm CST, 12:00 noon MST,
11:00 am PST).

A public virtual charter school, ORCA (with about 4,800 students ages 5
to18) provides online programs via video teleconferencing, and virtual
classroom courses (Zoom). ORCA opened in 2005, can reach students
statewide (including remote areas), and employs over 200 teachers and
staff.

ORCA is in the second year of a partnership with the James P. Loftus
Mobile Museum to provide monthly assemblies on a variety of STEM topics
(astronomy, space science and engineering related) via the Remote and
Distant Interactive Online Sessions (RADIOS) program. These RADIOS are
interactive assemblies that highlight educational programming provided
in real time by NASA and live-streamed from Space Center Houston.
Additionally, student activities related to this ARISS contact have been
used to supplement existing STEM course study materials.

The upcoming ARISS contact will provide students with a significant,
relevant and timely showcase event that is being utilized to increase
student’s awareness of and interest in STEM-related careers. ORCA
provides high school students with special opportunities through a
program all about career and technical education.
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As time allows, students will ask these questions:

1. How do you sleep?

2. Do compasses work in space?

3. Can you listen to the radio on the spaceship that is the same on
earth?

4. How many satellites are in space?

5. Do you see storms in outer space and what do they look like?

6. What do you have to do for training to go on the ISS, and what is
your favorite activity you had to do during training?

7. Are you currently growing any plants on the ISS?

8. Does it take a while to get used to this new way of living, and is
adjusting to being back on earth equally hard?

9. How is your Circadian Rhythm affected while in space?

10. What is your favorite thing to research?

11. Are you allowed to have pets in space and if so what kinds?

12. Did you ever accidentally activate/deactivate something by bumping
into it?

13. Do you watch TV in space?

14. How do you use electronics phones, computers, and tablets, and
touchscreens?

15. How do you communicate with people on Earth?

16. How do satellite communications work?

17. How long does it take to get to the international space station?

18. What was the most dangerous situation you ever faced in space?

19. What happens if your technology goes out? What is the back up?

20. How long is the delay for a video call like this compared to
something like texting or normally calling someone on a phone?

ARISS – Celebrating 20 Years of Amateur Radio Continuous Operations on
the ISS

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, and NASA’s Space Communications and
Navigation program. The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration
of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics topics 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 learn about space, space
technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see
www.ariss.org

Media Contact:

Dave Jordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR