From: abc@banjo.concert.net (Alan B Clegg)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc,triangle.radio
Subject: North Carolina Students talk to Space Shuttle via Amateur Radio
Summary: SAREX allows students to talk to astronauts
Date: 13 Sep 92 00:54:22 GMT
Organization: Concert Network -- Internet Operations Group


                                     NEWS
                                    Release


Raleigh Amateur Radio Society, Inc.

For Immediate Release - 9/10/92

Contacts:  Gary Pearce  -  KN4AQ   (919) 833-8888
           4400 Bleeker Ct.  Raleigh, N.C. 27606
          
           Ken Edwards  -  N4ZBB   (919) 481-8476


         WAKE STUDENTS TO TALK TO SPACE SHUTTLE ASTRONAUTS
                              LIVE
               DURING SEPTEMBER SHUTTLE MISSION

Several Wake County school classrooms will sound more like Mission Control
on Sept. 16, when three students have the chance to talk live to Space
Shuttle Mission Specialist Jay Apt aboard the orbiter Endeavor.  The
communications will be handled on an Amateur Radio link provided by the
Raleigh Amateur Radio Society.  Wake County is one of three school systems
in the US, and only six in the world, selected by NASA to participate in
this mission's SAREX (Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment).

One student each at Cary High School, East Wake Middle School, and Effie
Green Elementary School will be selected to ask the astronaut a brief
question, and receive a live reply, during a 5 minute communications
"window" as Endeavor passes over the eastern U.S.  Hundreds of students
will be watching or listening as the contacts take place, capping off a
week of space-related activity at the schools.

The goal of SAREX is to increase awareness of science and technology among
young people worldwide.  Geography, mathematics and physics become real,
practical sciences as students learn to plot the shuttle's path and
calculate the time of the narrow radio window.  The window is brief because
the Amateur Radio communications are "line-of-sight," and with an orbit
about 150 miles above the earth, Endeavor can be "seen" from Raleigh for
only about 9 minutes.  The SAREX radio antenna, in a shuttle window, will
be blocked by the spacecraft body during the second half of the pass,
leaving only about 5 minutes to complete two-way communications.

Endeavor is scheduled to launch on Saturday, Sept. 12, between 10:23 a.m.
and 2:17 p.m. EDT.  The orbiter will be in position for our contact 95
hours and 4 minutes later, or Wednesday morning, Sept. 16th if the launch
proceeds on schedule.  A backup date has also been set about 24 hours later
if the first contact "window" must be missed.

The SAREX program was developed jointly by NASA, the American Radio Relay
League (ARRL), and the Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT).  This will be
the seventh shuttle mission featuring Amateur Radio communications.  Two
licensed Amateur operators will be on board:  Jay, whose Amateur callsign
is N5QWL, and the first Japanese astronaut, Payload Specialist Dr. Manoru
Mohri, whose callsign is 7L2NJY.

SUMMARY AND CONTACTS

DATE:   Schedule is subject to change based on the actual launch date and
time!
        Launch:  Scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 12, between
                 10:25 a.m. & 12:55 p.m. EDT.
        Contact Window:  3 days, 23 hours, 4 minutes (95 hours, 4 minutes)
                 after launch.  If launch is on schedule, contact will be
                 made Wednesday morning, Sept. 16.

LOCATIONS:    Cary High School auditorium (or Media Center).
              East Wake Middle School Media Center (Library).
              Effie Green Elementary School Media Center (Library)


                     FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Raleigh Amateur Radio Society:
           Gary Pearce  (919) 833-8888 (work), 233-8306 ( home)

           Ken Edwards  481-8476 (work), 851-3744 (home)

Cary High School:
          Donna Hargens, Principal  -  (919) 460-3549.
          Jane Clayton, Industry Education Coord. (919) 460-3549

East Wake Middle School:
          Gene Yeargin, Principal  -  (919) 266-8500
          Mary Alice Ramsey, Math Dept. Chairman

Effie Green Elementary School:
          Barbara C. David, Principal  -  (919) 881-1390
          Carol Gramer, Teacher - 3rd Grade

-- 
abc@concert.net				Alan Clegg - Network Programmer
KD4JML                               	MCNC -- Center for Communications
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