This image of the International Space Station in orbit was taken from the Space Shuttle Endeavour prior to docking. Credit: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

Upcoming ARISS contact with Bennett Venture Academy, Toledo, Ohio

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Bennett Venture Academy, Toledo, Ohio on Friday, 20th of November.

The event is scheduled to begin at 19:46 UTC.

The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between NA1SS and KB9UPS. The contact should be audible portions of the U.S and Canada. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English.

Bennett Venture Academy is a state-funded, public charter school. Therefore there is no cost to attend the Academy. The school is opened to any child wishing to attend. Students must be age appropriate for their respective grades, and they must reside in the state of Ohio. Bennett Venture Academy opened in the fall of 2005, with grades K - 5. In the years since, one grade had been added each year until the middle school was complete. The school now contains grades K - 8.
The students in the school represent a variety of ethnicities and economic groups. They live in all areas of Toledo and the surrounding suburbs. Our current enrollment is 695. Bennett Venture Academy has 60 staff members. All of the instructional personnel are highly qualified.
The school has an active Parent Teacher Organization as well as several committees that are instrumental in the running of the school.

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

1. What does Earth look like from outer space?
2. Is there anything special you took with you into space from home?
3. What are your space suits made of?
4. Does NASA use solar power, if they do, how do they use it?
5. Did you always want to be an astronaut when you were a kid?

6. Can you tell that the earth is spinning when you look at it?
7. What are some of the experiments you have done on the ISS?
8. With the shuttle accidents that have happened in the past, does it make you nervous to travel in space?
9. Do the stars look the same in space as they do from the earth?
10. If you had to choose to live in space with no gravity or down on earth with gravity, which would it be?

11. When you sleep, do you wake up upside down or do you have something to hold you down?
12. How long does it take to orbit completely around the earth?
13. Have you ever seen a black hole or an asteroid?
14. Besides Earth, what other planets can you see?
15. What is it like to live in space?

16. Do you recycle in space?
17. I read about an astronaut who dropped her tool bag in space and lost them. Did she get put on probation or fined? What do you do if you lose a tool and you don't have another one?
18. Can you see storms on earth from up there? If so, did you see the tsunami or earthquake?
19. What kind of education did you need to become an astronaut?
20. How long would you be able to live on the ISS without getting more supplies?

21. What do you do for fun on the ISS?
22. What is the hardest part of being on the ISS?
23. Where do you get your water supply?

Information about the upcoming ARISS contacts can be found at http://www.ariss.org/upcoming.htm#NextContact.

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 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.

Further information on the ARISS program is available on the website http://www.ariss.org/ (graciously hosted by the Radio Amateurs of Canada).

Thank you & 73,

David - AA4KN