Huntsville middle school students to contact space station from UAH campus

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (March 17, 2013) - Huntsville area students from Ed White, Discovery and Liberty Middle Schools will have the opportunity to talk directly with astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS), Thursday March 21, from the campus of The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAHuntsville).

The students will chat with astronaut Tom Marshburn for approximately 10 minutes as the ISS passes directly over Huntsville. The full program of events is scheduled from 9 a.m., to noon. The UAH Space Hardware Club is hosting the ARISS event.

The students will use the UAH Space Communications Laboratory in the Engineering Building room 273. Students will talk with astronauts currently on the International Space Station using amateur radio. They will ask astronauts questions about life in space and other space-related topics. The ARISS contact is made with the astronauts at the time of an ISS overhead pass. Approximately 120 eighth grade students are expected on the university's campus for the event.

NASA

The ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station), is a cooperative venture with NASA Johnson, NASA Marshall, the American Amateur Radio Relay League, AMSAT, and radio clubs worldwide. In collaboration with NASA's Teaching From Space, NASA's Aerospace Education Specialist Program, and the Alabama Space Grant Consortium, the UAH Space Hardware Club has engaged local middle school students in multiple space and amateur radio activities leading up to the ARISS contact.

The ARISS radio contact is one in a series of educational activities in the U.S. and abroad to improve teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It is an integral component of Teaching From Space, a NASA Education office. The office promotes learning opportunities and builds partnerships with the education community using the unique environment of human spaceflight.

For more information
Joyce Anderson-Maples 256.824.2101
maplesj@uah.edu

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