You might have seen the International Space Station as a shimmering blip streaking across the night sky. On Wednesday, Dec. 2, Midvalley Elementary students in Midvale will have a chance to talk with the astronauts inside.
Midvalley students will contact the space station through Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS), a program sponsored by NASA, the American Radio Relay League, and the Radio Amateur Satellite Corp. In the 10-minute window in which the space station orbits overhead, sixth-grade students will have the opportunity to ask astronauts on board about the wonders they experience in space.
Canyons School District will provide a live stream of the contact, scheduled for 9:13 a.m., at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/csd-technology-services. The link will go live just after 9 a.m. in case the contact window comes earlier than planned.
ARISS aims to inspire students to pursue studies in science, technology, engineering and math through discovery of spaceflight and use of amateur radio. With help from Amateur Radio clubs and ham radio operators, ARISS has contacted more than 500 schools around the world, last week checking in with kids in Australia, Belgium, and, closer to home, Toledo.
Principal Carla Burningham, with the help of the Utah Amateur Radio Club (UARC, www.xmission.com/~uarc ) and Midvalley teacher David Bettinson, applied for Midvalley to participate in ARISS about two years ago. The school since has been working with volunteer ham radio experts Randy Kohlwey, Steven Olsen and others to secure, test and install the powerful radio equipment needed to make contact with the space station.
Midvalley’s scheduled contact comes days after astronauts aboard the space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station and returned to Earth.
