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GCS Students to Make Contact With an Astronaut(Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) GREENSBORO, N.C., April 30 -- Guilford County Schools issued the following news: On Thursday, May 2, Guilford County Schools (GCS) students will get the rare opportunity to talk directly with an astronaut on the International Space Station using amateur radio. GCS has been selected by NASA to make live contact with astronaut Tom Marshburn , who was born in Statesville, N.C., as the International Space Station passes directly over Guilford County. *Media Opportunity* GCS students talk to the International Space Station using amateur radio Thursday, May 2 at 10:30 a.m. Ronald E. McNair Elementary, 4603 Yanceyville Road, Browns Summit, NC 27214 The contact will take place at McNair Elementary, which is named for former astronaut Ronald E. McNair, who was a crew member on Space Shuttle Challenger. More than 750 students will experience the contact live at McNair, and students, teachers and community members across Guilford County are invited to tune into the live broadcast of the event. The event will be shown live on GCSTV on Time Warner Cable channel 2 or AT&T U-Verse channel 99. It will also be streaming on the GCS website at www.gcsnc.com/gcstv or http://media.gcsnc.net/gcstv. The 10-minute, live question-and-answer session will allow students to speak directly with the space station as it passes over the school, about 250 miles above. Twenty students from schools across the district were selected to ask questions during the event. Their questions were selected from more than 2,740 originally suggested by students at 35 schools. The questions include topics such as what space suits are made of, if astronauts believe in aliens, how emergencies are handled in space, how zero gravity affects dreams and what astronauts do for fun. Teachers have prepared students for the radio contact by including lessons on space, astronomy, NASA and the International Space Station in their subject curriculum using a guide of suggested educational resources put together by GCS. The contact is intended to expose students to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in a fun and meaningful way, and inspire students to explore these subjects in the future. Members of the Greensboro Amateur Radio Association are providing expertise in setting up the radio connection. Additionally, RF Micro Devices , a local corporation that specializes in the design and manufacture of radio frequency (RF) solutions for mobile devices and communication equipment, is generously donating the amateur radio equipment and loaning GCS a sophisticated antenna that will be used to make a direct connection with the International Space Station when it passes over the school. This event is coordinated through the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program, a cooperative venture of NASA, the American Radio Relay League , the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation and other international space agencies that schedule radio contacts between astronauts and schools. The ARISS radio contact is one in a series of educational activities organized by Teaching From Space, a NASA Education office dedicated to improving STEM teaching and learning using the unique environment of human spaceflight. For more information, visit www.gcsnc.com/ariss. TNS rk-130501-JF78-4324660 StaffFurigay (c) 2013 Targeted News Service |