September 21, 2005

ARISS SCHOOL CONTACT SCHEDULED WITH HIGH SCHOOL AT TREGARON, WALES, UK

Thursday 29 September 2005 at 11:28 UTC, i.e. 12:28 local time and 13:28 CET (Continental European Time), the Tregaron High School in Tregaron, Wales, United Kingdom is scheduled for a Space Talk with US astronaut John Phillips, KE5DRY onboard the International Space Station.

Ysgol Uwchradd Tregaron is a mixed secondary school teaching pupils between the ages of 11 – 18 years. It is one of the smallest secondary schools in Wales having only 340 pupils and 40 staff. The curriculum of the school is taught in a bilingual context (through the medium of Welsh or English). The school motto is “Mewn Llafur mae elw” which translates into English as “In labour there is profit”. There are nine feeder Primary Schools, which are: Bronant, Llanddewi Brefi, Llangeitho, Lledrod, Penuwch, Pontrhydfendigaid, Swyddffynnon, Tregaron and Ysbyty Ystwyth.

Tregaron High School had already been scheduled for an ARISS School Contact in July 2005, but the contact had been cancelled by NASA due to the astronaut’s priority workload. Let us hope that this time the contact will be a success.

The students have prepared the following questions:

1. Sannan: What inspired you to become an astronaut?

2. Kayleigh: What do you like about being an astronaut?

3. FFion: What is your favourite place on the Space Station?

4. Rachel: Did it take a while for you to adjust to zero gravity?

5. Jessica. What do you study on the Space Station?

6. LLyr: How is the Space Station powered?

7. Jemima: What do you do if the Space Station loses power?

8. Elinor: Do you worry that something might go wrong?

9. Rochelle: Have you ever been scared in Space?

10. Elgan: What do you do if someone is injured?

11. Lewis: What do you do for entertainment?

12. LLyr: How do astronauts keep fit?

13. Awen: How do you select the tools for each mission?

14. Erin: Are the space suits comfortable?

15. Alice: Have you ever had any embarrassing moments in space?

16. Sannan: How long does the oxygen supply last in the space suits? .

17. Kayleigh: If you cry in space, what happens to the tears?

18. FFion: How many rooms does the Space Station have?

19. Rachel: Do you have any books in space?

20. Jessica: Have animals ever been born in space?

The downlink signals of this Ham Radio Space Contact will be readable on 145.800 MHz FM in western Europe and interested parties are invited to listen to John’s answers from Space.

73

Gaston Bertels, ON4WF

ARISS-Europe chairman