ARISS News Release No. 20-11
Dave Jordan, AA4KN
ARISS PR
aa4kn@amsat.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ARISS Contact is Scheduled with
Kopernik Observatory & Science Center, Vestal, NY
August 17, 2020—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 Kopernik Observatory & Science
Center in Vestal, NY and ISS Commander Chris Cassidy, amateur radio call sign KF5KDR. Kopernik's
amateur radio station K2ZRO will serve as the relay ground station for this contact. Students at their
homes will be taking turns asking Cassidy their questions.
The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for August 19, 2020 at 2:21 pm EDT (18:21 pm UTC, 1:21 pm
CDT, 12:21 pm MDT and 11:21 am PDT).
The Kopernik Observatory & Science Center is a non-profit informal educational institution that promotes
interdisciplinary education in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
The center offers strong STEM-based summer camp experiences for students between 2 nd and 12 th
grades. Amateur Radio has been integrated into four previous summer camps where middle and high
school students designed and built a weather balloon payload with three high-definition video cameras
and temperature monitoring instrumentation along with an amateur radio APRS tracking system. The
payloads were successfully recovered and allowed the students to examine recorded videos along with
temperature data and tracking history.
ARISS invites the public to view the livestream of the upcoming ARISS radio contact and to watch pre-
programming 20 minutes beforehand; the livestream is at: https://youtu.be/1Pwcc2rilz0
_____________________________ .
As time allows, students will ask these questions:
1. Are there any germs in space?
2. Could you see the launch of Perseverance or fireworks from the ISS?
3. Do astronauts carry smartphones with them in the ISS?
4. What sort of people work with astronauts?
5. What is the temperature like in the space station and outside?
6. How long have you been on the ISS?
7. Becoming an astronaut is an amazing life goal and accomplishment. What do you think you are going
to do next?
8. If the ISS is traveling at over 17,000 miles per hour, it would seem very hard for ships to dock with it.
It's hard enough to hit a ping pong ball going 10 mph! How do scientists and astronauts plan and execute
these dockings?
9. Do astronauts work on experiments from scientists from different countries?
10. What are your views of Earth from the space station? What else do you see when you look out?
11. How do you do liquid science experiments when you are working in space?
12. What happens when you have to sneeze while on a spacewalk?
13. Do you have seats that you sit in and how do you stay in it?
14. How do you chose what experiments you do?
15. Kopernik is in Upstate New York. Did Doug Hurley tell you lots about our area?
16. What do astronauts do in their free time?
17. How long did you have to train to become an astronaut?
18. If there is one, what does sunset look like in space?
19. When did you get interested in space?
20. Who inspired you to be an astronaut? What qualities did they demonstrate that you most admire?
21. I'm interested in growing plants in space. Have astronauts found that certain plants are easier to grow
in zero gravity environments? If so, which ones? And why do we think some plants are easier to grow
than others?
22. Do the different countries that go to the ISS have a spot just for them in different areas?
23. What is your most important job aboard the space station?
24. What do you do if you get sick?
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.
Dave Jordan, AA4KN
ARISS PR
aa4kn@amsat.org
ARISS Contact is Scheduled with
Kopernik Observatory & Science Center, Vestal, NY
August 17, 2020—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 Kopernik Observatory & Science
Center in Vestal, NY and ISS Commander Chris Cassidy, amateur radio call sign KF5KDR. Kopernik's
amateur radio station K2ZRO will serve as the relay ground station for this contact. Students at their
homes will be taking turns asking Cassidy their questions.
The ARISS radio contact is scheduled for August 19, 2020 at 2:21 pm EDT (18:21 pm UTC, 1:21 pm
CDT, 12:21 pm MDT and 11:21 am PDT).
The Kopernik Observatory & Science Center is a non-profit informal educational institution that promotes
interdisciplinary education in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
The center offers strong STEM-based summer camp experiences for students between 2 nd and 12 th
grades. Amateur Radio has been integrated into four previous summer camps where middle and high
school students designed and built a weather balloon payload with three high-definition video cameras
and temperature monitoring instrumentation along with an amateur radio APRS tracking system. The
payloads were successfully recovered and allowed the students to examine recorded videos along with
temperature data and tracking history.
ARISS invites the public to view the livestream of the upcoming ARISS radio contact and to watch pre-
programming 20 minutes beforehand; the livestream is at: https://youtu.be/1Pwcc2rilz0
_____________________________ .
As time allows, students will ask these questions:
1. Are there any germs in space?
2. Could you see the launch of Perseverance or fireworks from the ISS?
3. Do astronauts carry smartphones with them in the ISS?
4. What sort of people work with astronauts?
5. What is the temperature like in the space station and outside?
6. How long have you been on the ISS?
7. Becoming an astronaut is an amazing life goal and accomplishment. What do you think you are going
to do next?
8. If the ISS is traveling at over 17,000 miles per hour, it would seem very hard for ships to dock with it.
It's hard enough to hit a ping pong ball going 10 mph! How do scientists and astronauts plan and execute
these dockings?
9. Do astronauts work on experiments from scientists from different countries?
10. What are your views of Earth from the space station? What else do you see when you look out?
11. How do you do liquid science experiments when you are working in space?
12. What happens when you have to sneeze while on a spacewalk?
13. Do you have seats that you sit in and how do you stay in it?
14. How do you chose what experiments you do?
15. Kopernik is in Upstate New York. Did Doug Hurley tell you lots about our area?
16. What do astronauts do in their free time?
17. How long did you have to train to become an astronaut?
18. If there is one, what does sunset look like in space?
19. When did you get interested in space?
20. Who inspired you to be an astronaut? What qualities did they demonstrate that you most admire?
21. I'm interested in growing plants in space. Have astronauts found that certain plants are easier to grow
in zero gravity environments? If so, which ones? And why do we think some plants are easier to grow
than others?
22. Do the different countries that go to the ISS have a spot just for them in different areas?
23. What is your most important job aboard the space station?
24. What do you do if you get sick?
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.
Media Contact:
Dave Jordan, AA4KN
ARISS PR
Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Search on Amateur Radio on the ISS and @ARISS_status.
Dave Jordan, AA4KN
ARISS PR
Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Search on Amateur Radio on the ISS and @ARISS_status.
--
73 Carlos Nora, CT1END
NNNN
