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![Previous (earlier) Story](/images/sty-down.gif "To W0CGR, He Was Simply "Uncle Chester""){kind=small} Previous: To W0CGR, He Was Simply "Uncle Chester" |  Next: In Brief |
NEWINGTON, CT, Jul 25, 2001--They were happy campers indeed today at the Boy Scout National Jamboree at Virginia's Fort A.P. Hill. That's because several of them got to speak directly with astronaut Susan Helms, KC7NHZ, operating NA1SS aboard the International Space Station. The approximately eight-minute 2-meter contact was arranged as part of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station program. Various K2BSA youth staff members took turns handling the radio gear for the contact.
 Scouter Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT (right), takes a turn running the K2BSA setup as a young Scout puts his question to Susan Helms aboard the ISS. [Mike Brown, WB2JWD, Photo] |
An audience of about 200 Scouts and Scout leaders was on hand at K2BSA for the early morning contact. Following a rousing "Hi!" to Helms from the crowd assembled on the hillside of the K2BSA site, about a dozen Scouts from all over the US elicited answers from Helms to their questions about life aboard the ISS.
Among other things, Helms told the Scouts that the newly installed airlock will allow crew members to do space walks directly from the ISS as required and not have to wait for a shuttle mission.
She also answered a question from a Florida Scout about the effects of microgravity on blood flow. Helms said that on Earth, the heart is used to fighting against gravity to pump blood to the brain. "But, without the effects of gravity up here, the heart doesn't have to work so hard." The blood is distributed "a little bit differently than it is on Earth because it doesn't have to counteract the effect of gravity," she explained.
 The K2BSA crew at the National Jamboree got the very first NA1SS QSL card at the completion of its successful contact July 25. |
Helms said microgravity also affects your sense of direction. "It's very easy to become confused if you close your eyes, move around, then open your eyes again, you can be upside down or right side up," she said. The astronauts orient using visual cues, she explained.
Another Scout wanted to know about entertainment aboard Space Station Alpha. "What we do is a lot of working out," Helms replied. "We have lots of exercise equipment up here and everybody takes their turn on the equipment. We also watch a lot of DVDs." Helms said the ISS has a library of 70 to 80 DVDs.
 As another Scout speaks to Susan Helms and his fellow campers await their term, Scouter Matt Schwaab KC5SIX (right), takes the controls of K2BSA. [Mike Brown, WB2JWD, Photo] |
In response to another question, Helms addressed the advantages of space-based telescopes. "The problem with looking at stars through the Earth's atmosphere is that the atmosphere itself cloaks a lot of the information you would want to see," she replied. "It's like looking through a blurring set of lenses." Space-based telescopes, she explained, are a real boon to scientists because they get around the effects of the atmosphere. "The Hubble Space Telescope, of course, is the most excellent example of that," she said
Helms said life aboard the ISS requires crew members able to "adapt to unusual environments and also work well with other people, and not everybody has that skill." She said her particular jobs aboard the ISS have involved operating the robotics and serving as computer network administrator for the ISS.
Click here to hear the ISS "downlink" side of the K2BSA ARISS contact. The ARRL thanks Al Lark, KD4SFF, for providing the downlink audio from this contact. [5:06] |
Click here to hear both sides of the ARISS-K2BSA contact. ARRL thanks Mike Brown, WB2JWD, at K2BSA, for this edited audio clip: [6:25] |
Following the contact, ARISS Operations Chairman Will Marchant,KC6ROL, who was among those observing, delivered the first International Space Station QSL card to the K2BSA staff.
The QSO with NA1SS marked the second time K2BSA has managed to complete a contact with a space station from the National Jamboree, which is attended by an estimated 40,000 Scouts. In 1997, Scouts spoke with the crew of the Russian Mir space station. The Jamboree wraps up August 1.
ARISS is a cooperative venture of ARRL, NASA and AMSAT. For more information, visit the ARISS Web site.
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