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 Previous: ARRL Honors Amateur Radio Today Production Team |  Next: FCC Asks Power Company to Try Harder to Resolve Noise Complaints |
 Cornell Amateur Radio Club President Chase Million, KB9YER (foreground), and postdoctoral researcher Wulf Hofbauer, KC2KCF, during a QSO between Cornell students and NASA astronaut Ed Lu, KC5WKJ, a 1984 Cornell grad. Students in the background await their turns to ask questions. [Cornell University Photo by Nicola Kountoupes] |
NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 11, 2003--NASA International Space Station Science Officer Ed Lu, KC5WKJ, spoke September 4 with students at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Lu is a Cornell Class of 1984 alumnus and holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Ivy League school. The contact, arranged through the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program, marked the first time students at the university had spoken to an astronaut in space.
Among other topics, the Cornell students were interested in hearing about NASA's options to replace its aging--and currently grounded--shuttle fleet. At the controls of NA1SS aboard the ISS, Lu replied that NASA is looking closely at a "much smaller, much simpler vehicle"--the Orbital Space Plane--to transport ISS crews in the future.
"It would launch on an expendable rocket, and the idea is to make the thing much less maintenance-intensive than the shuttle is," Lu said. "And I hope we can get such a thing operational in the next six or seven years." He said design of the OSP has not yet been finalized at this point.
Lu also said he "absolutely" would be
interested in being part of the first human spaceflight to Mars. "I wish such
an invitation were forthcoming tomorrow, but I don't think it's going to happen
that soon, but you never know," Lu said. "I'm hoping that before my career is
up at NASA that I do get a chance to do something like that." Lu told the
students that the Red Planet "is quite beautiful from here." Describing how
he'd just seen just seen Mars minutes earlier from the dark side of the Earth,
Lu called it "a very neat sight."
 Astronaut Ed Lu, KC5WKJ, eats a meal in the Zvezda Service Module on the International Space Station. [NASA Photo] |
 The Cornell Amateur Radio Club QSL. |
Lu said one of the "cool tools" he gets to use is a special electrical drill and tool driver that's programmable by computer and that can count turns and be set to a particular torque.
Cornell Amateur Radio Club (W2CXM) President Chase Million, KB9YER--a Cornell junior from Indiana--says he's planning on a career in the space industry upon graduation. "This is really exciting, this is great and it all worked," the physics major said after the QSO. "Today was more than just a hands-on experience. We actually got to talk to a guy who is on the space station!"
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Lu and Expedition 7 Crew Commander Yuri Malenchenko, RK3DUP, have been aboard the ISS since April. They're expected to return to Earth in late October. Mike Hammer, N2VR, the director of data management at Cornell's College of Engineering and the radio club's faculty adviser, set up the Earth station for the direct 2-meter contact.
College of Engineering Dean Kent Fuchs greeted Lu on behalf of the university before students asked their questions.
Lu graduated from R.L. Thomas High School in Webster, New York, and while at Cornell, he was a Merrill Presidential Scholar and a member of the Big Red wrestling team.
The Cornell
Amateur Radio Club--an ARRL-affiliated club--dates back to 1915.
Approximately 40 people were on hand for the successful ARISS contact, which
took place from the university's Barton Hall. Lu also
spoke with students at his high school alma mater, Webster Thomas High School,
on September 10. ARISS is an
international effort with support from ARRL, NASA and AMSAT.--Cornell University provided some information for this story
| Previous: ARRL Honors Amateur Radio Today Production Team | Next: FCC Asks Power Company to Try Harder to Resolve Noise Complaints |
