10 April 2005

 

SWISS SCHOOL HAS SKED WITH ISS

Friday 15 April 2005 students of a Swiss school will have the opportunity to talk to astronaut Leroy Chiao, KE5BRW over amateur radio.

Richterswil is a small town in the Zurich area. The school has about 200 students who are between 7 and 13 years old (grade 1 to 6).

 

In science, the 4th graders learned about space and the solar system some time ago. Of course, the students now are extremely excited to have the opportunity to talk to a real astronaut in space and ask him what they’ve always wanted to know.

 

Here are the questions they prepared:

1.  Olivia: How many crew members are there on board the ISS?  How long have you already been there?

 

2.  Jan: At how many kilometers per hour is the ISS orbiting the earth?

 

3. Audrey: Will any more modules be added to the ISS in near future?

 

4.  Narina: What is it like to live in zero gravity?  Do you like it?

 

5.  Denise: Can you see the Alps from space?

 

6.  Philipp: How can you go to the toilet and take a shower in space?

 

7.  Kevin: What time zone does the ISS belong to?

 

8.  Vitalj: Have you always wanted to be an astronaut?  What kind of education is needed for this profession?

 

9.  Vanessa: Do you have the possibility to exercise?

 

10.  Ramona: Where do you get water, oxygen and electricity from?

 

11.  Brian: Can you see planes from up there?

 

12.  Elisa: How do you wash your dirty clothing?

 

13.  Gustav: What are you doing when you’re not talking to students on earth?

 

14.  Ammon: Do you like living in space or do you miss earth?

 

15.  Alexandra: What is the view into space like?  Can you see the milky way?

 

16.  Tehreem: Do you sleep in beds?

 

17.  Narina: What do you do in your spare time?

 

18.  Vitalj: What’s the distance to earth?

 

19.  Philipp: Are you afraid of a collision with a meteorite?

 

20.  Audrey: What was your greatest experience in space?

 

The ARISS School Contact is scheduled at 08:57 UTC, which is 10:57 local time.

The downlink radio frequency is 145.800MHz FM. The signals will be readable in western Europe and interested parties are invited to listen to Leroy answering the students’ questions.

This is a primer for Switzerland.

Good luck!

 

Gaston Bertels, ON4WF

ARISS-Europe chairman