A BURY high school will be one of only two in the North West to hold an amateur radio call with British astronaut Tim Peake.

The call from The Derby High School to the International Space Station will take place on the week commencing April 25, but because the link is dependent on the exact orbit of the ISS and the crew schedules, the exact dates and times for possible calls will not be known until around 10 days before the link up is scheduled.

The Derby was selected to host a call after applying to take part in the Amateur Radio competition, a collaboration between the UK Space Agency, the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) and the European Space Agency (ESA).

ARISS UK (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) will provide and set up all necessary radio equipment such as low earth orbit satellite tracking antennas and radios, to establishing a fully functional, direct radio link with the ISS from the schools’ very own premises. In a ten-minute window when the ISS will be over the UK, an amateur radio contact will be established with Tim, and students will be able to ask him questions about his life and work on board the ISS.

A school spokesman said: "During the contact with Tim the students will be able to hear and potentially see his response immediately. Tim will be using the amateur radio call sign GB1SS whilst he is talking to the schools. The school will be using the call sign GB1 DHS

"The link with the ISS will be a culmination of a two-day, space related STEM workshop which will be the culmination of a large range of learning activities using space as a context for teaching throughout the curriculum."