Athlone Community College to make contact with the International Space Station on Mon 7th Dec 2020

Press Release... Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has received schedule confirmation for an ARISS radio contact with astronauts. ARISS is the group that puts together special amateur radio contacts between students around the globe and crew members with ham radio licenses on the International Space Station (ISS).

This will be a direct contact via amateur radio between students at the Athlone Community College, Athlone, Ireland and astronaut Shannon Walker, amateur radio call sign KD5DXB. 

Astronaut Shannon Walker

Amateur radio station EI1ISS will be the ground station for this contact. About 800 people will be onsite for the event. Students will take turns asking Walker questions and English is the language expected to be used during the contact. The downlink frequency for this contact is 145.800 MHz.  

The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for December 7, 2020 at 2:50 pm GMT (Athlone), (14:50 UTC, 9:50 am EST, 8:50 am CST, 7:50 am MST and 6:50 am PST).    

The public is invited to watch the livestream at: https://youtu.be/viVQBI4WzKs

Television report from Irish state broadcaster RTE...

Students from a secondary school in the midlands are hooking up with an astronaut on the International Space Station this afternoon to try and find out how space travel is affecting life on earth. https://t.co/ljwoI4jaOW pic.twitter.com/T3wTcRTdEi

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) December 7, 2020

Athlone Community College has 1,200 students, ages 12 to 18, from a diverse range of backgrounds, and from both rural and urban areas. Mathematics, science and engineering subjects occupy a special place in the school curriculum for both the junior and senior levels, and students have enjoyed studying the ISS and space. In preparation for the ARISS contact, teachers have conducted lessons that involve science and physics studies.

Video from Athlone Community College showing the preparations for the contact ...

Preparation for our live space call on Monday starts at 1:30 pm with great music, guest speakers and more, before the direct contact is made at 2:50 pm 🚀☄️ https://t.co/yy6T8TOlEB pic.twitter.com/aMQaDVsnfh

— Athlone Community College (@ccathlone) December 4, 2020

As time allows, students will ask these questions:
1. Did you enjoy the launch into space?
2. Tell us something about current experiments on the ISS?
3. What is your favourite area in the ISS?
4. What activities do you do in your spare time?
5. What is the most interesting thing you have seen on Earth from the space station?
6. What evidence of climate change can you see from space?
7. How many years of training does it take to become an astronaut?
8. Where does the ISS get its energy from?
9. What happens if you are in a space suit and your nose becomes really itchy?
10. When you return home what will you miss most about the ISS?
11. What was the most difficult challenge you had to overcome during training?
12. When you first saw the earth from space what was your reaction?
13. Has something useful on earth come from space experiments?
14. Are your muscles weak when you return from micro gravity?
15. If there was a manned mission to Mars would you consider going?
16. Will it ever be feasible to travel to another solar system?
17. How do you keep fit with the low gravity in space?
18. Does your sense of taste and smell change in space?
19. While on the ISS are you able to communicate with family?
20. When did you decide you wanted to become an astronaut - from a young age or did your interest develop at a later age?

Profile of astronaut Shannon Walker...

ARISS – Celebrating 20 Years of Continuous Amateur Radio Operations on the ISS

About ARISS:
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS).  In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the ISS National Lab-Space Station Explorers, and NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program. The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org