November 15, 2009

ITALIAN STUDENTS TALK TO ISS COMMANDER FRANK DE WINNE ON1DWN AND MEET ASTRONAUT PAOLO NESPOLI IZ0JPA

Friday, 13 November 2009 at 15:50 UTC, i.e. 16:50 local time, (Sacro Cuore( School, Naples, Italy, established a direct contact with ESA astronaut Frank De Winne ON1DWN on board the International Space Station. The Amateur Radio school station operated the contact with callsign IZ8NHN.

The Salesian Institute of Naples (Vomero District) is a religious school of Salesians, a priest community founded by St. John Bosco. The students can attend classes from Secondary 1st grade to the High School, with a specialization in classical, scientific and law-economic-business studies. There are about 1,000 students, aged 10-18. Besides the regular courses, they also perform a lot of scientific, cultural, theatre and sports activities. The planned Space Talk with ISS astronauts is the conclusion of a long curriculum organized by several teachers and covering the study of English, astronomy and physics. The students' interest was captured by presentations given by amateur radio operators on the history of radio transmissions, radio equipment, the structure and the scientific goals of the ISS, as well as real HF radio contacts with amateur radio stations from all over the world. The enthusiasm of the students, the collaboration with the teachers, the mass media interest for this great scientific event, is a reference for the city of Naples and for those who are interested in the development of advanced techniques.

Mr. Nicola Pecoraro, IK8URS Principal of the school and radio contact coordinator decided in favour of a direct contact. All questions were read by the students at (Sacro Cuore( School. The contact site were located in the school, where an audience of more than 600 students, teachers, visitors and media could follow the contact. After the contact, ARISS mentor Francesco De Paolis, IK0WGF commented the event with an ARISS presentation. Mr. Susanna Attolico, ESA/ESRIN Corporate Communication Office presented the ISS educative program. There are also the extraordinary participation of one member of the European Astronauts Corps, Paolo Nespoli IZ0JPA. After the contact Nespoli did a (face to face( with the students and established excellent tuning with students, leaving them all with a big enthusiasm. Great Nespoli. Thank you for the participation to event!!

At 15:50 UTC, contact with OR4ISS was established by station IZ8NHN. Commander Frank De Winne answered 20 questions by direct contact. The signals from the ISS were loud and clear all the time.

Regional Television, local media and newspapers covered the event. The audio and video was distributed on web streaming.

Congratulations to both ARISS (Sacro Cuore( team!

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.

Francesco De Paolis, IK0WGF

ARISS mentor

Audio recording

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