March
16, 2010
SUCCESSFUL
ARISS CONTACT WITH SCHOOL IN PERISTERI, GREECE
The
ARISS school contact with participants at 18 Dimotiko Scholeio Peristeriou,
Peristeri (Athens), Greece was successful. US astronaut Timothy J. Creamer
KC5WKI answered 19 questions.
An
audience of 450 pupils and 250 authorities, teachers, parents and media
assisted to the event.
The
General Secretary for Communications of the Ministry of Transportation and
Telecommunication of Greece, Mr. Sokratis K. Katsikas was present, as well as
the Mayor of Peristeri Mr. Andreas Pachatouridis and the four vice mayors of
Peristeri City.
During
the radio contact, the General Manager of Primary education and the Regional
Manager represented the Greek Ministry of National Education and Religious
Affairs.
Five TV
stations (ERT, NET, ALTER, SKAI , STAR) with national
coverage covered the event. ERT and NET are government TV channels with a
national network.
TV
channels SKAI and STAR broadcast the radio contact live.
Four radio
stations were on the event. One of them (local radio) broadcast the contact
live. One of these radio stations (ERT-105.8) is the government radio station
with national coverage.
Fifteen
newspapers were present. Five of them with national coverage and ten local
newspapers.
The
morning edition of one of the newspapers published a full page article on the
upcoming event.
After
the contact, the government radio station ERT-105.8 interviewed Sotirios
Vanikiotis SV1HER who operated with the special call sign SX1ISS.
Another
TV channel with national coverage has made an appointment with the school and
will conduct an interview live with the children and the amateur radio 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.
73
Gaston Bertels - ON4WF
ARISS Chairman
