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 Previous: The K7RA Solar Update |  Next: Surfin': Contesting and DXing Going Hand in Hand |
NEWINGTON, CT, March 5, 2004--Youngsters at schools in Michigan and Ohio were the latest to have an opportunity to interview International Space Station Expedition 8 Commander Mike Foale, KB5UAC, via Amateur Radio. The contacts March 1 with Armstrong Middle School in Flint, Michigan, and February 20 with Glenwood Elementary School in Perrysburg, Ohio, were arranged via the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program. Foale was at the controls of NA1SS for both QSOs. Originally set for January 12, the Armstrong Middle School contact had to be rescheduled because of the ISS air leak earlier this year. That now-resolved problem was the topic of the first question from an Armstrong student.
 Armstrong student Aaron Ratza asks his question of Mike Foale, while a TV cameraman captures the action. Waiting their turns are students Conrad Brown and Jon Walraven. [Cindy Davis/Kearsley Community Connection Photo] |
"Yes, we did fix it. We found the leak using a special detector that listened for hiss--ultrasound," Foale replied. The leak was from a hose used to keep condensation from building up on a window. "Since then, we've replaced the hose that went to that window, so we don't have the leak anymore."
Another youngster wanted to know what it was like to take off into space from Earth. Foale said the space shuttle offers a harder ride than the much-smaller Russian Soyuz vehicles the crews use now that the shuttle fleet remains grounded.
"It's very very rough," Foale said, describing the shuttle take-off, which he compared to lying on a washing machine in spin cycle with a pair of sneakers inside. "On the Soyuz rocket--the Russian rocket--it's a lot smoother," Foale continued, "but you still feel the same pressure on your chest as the Gs build up. In fact, it's like having three people sitting on your chest at the very end--after eight minutes."
Foale said that during his spare time, he enjoys using the NA1SS station for casual contacts and taking pictures of Earth--so he'll have something to remember his ISS experience.
Armstrong Middle School Science Coordinator Nannette Wolak selected the students who participated in the contact. Local amateur and ARRL member Duane Fischer, W8DBF, worked with the school and ARISS to make the ISS contact a glowing success. The school, which opened in 1970, was named for astronaut Neil Armstrong--the first human to walk on the moon.
Fischer said the ARISS contact gave all who
took part "a historic memory they will never forget and an exciting
introduction to the world of Amateur Radio."
An MCI teleconference link made the Armstrong Middle School contact possible. The ISS was over the US West Coast at the time, and W6SRJ at Santa Rosa College handled the direct uplink and downlink, and the students were linked via the teleconference. Bill Hillendahl, KH6GJV, was the W6SRJ control operator.
The youngsters asked 14 questions during the approximately 10-minute contact. Armstrong Middle School has approximately 950 students in grades six, seven and eight. Reporters from two television stations and one newspaper were on hand to cover the event.
Glenwood Elementary School Science Coordinator Linda Cutler, KC8RWJ, has been waiting about three years for her students to have a chance to speak with the ISS via ham radio. The school's recent contact also was postponed a couple of days, and the 51-degree pass provided an ample 10 minutes for the QSO. Among other things, the pupils wanted to know about ongoing research aboard the ISS.
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"I'm working on
experiments that grow plants that make new medicines to fight cancer," Foale
said, "and also we're studying how we might make metals stronger." Foale noted
that plants that can grow in space grow toward the light. He also said that
cells grow differently in the zero-gravity of space than they do on Earth.
 Astronaut Mike Foale, KB5UAC, works with the space walk or "extravehicular activity" (EVA) bundle in the Zvezda Service Module of the ISS. Foale and crewmate Sasha Kaleri, U8MIR, conducted a space walk February 26. [NASA Photo] |
A dozen students in grades three through six posed questions to Foale, while an audience of 400 students listened in. The Glenwood contact got media coverage from two Toledo television stations as well as a local newspaper.
Glenwood youngsters are no strangers to space exploration. The subject s part of the curriculum at the kindergarten through grade six school, Cutler said, and Glenwood pupils were involved with polishing mirrors for the Starshine 3 satellite project a few years ago. Glenwood pupils also have participated in a videoconference with NASA Johnson Space Center personnel and once got a visit from astronaut Don Thomas, KC5FVF, an Ohio native.
Technical support for the direct contact came from the Wood County Amateur Radio Association and other local amateurs--among them James French, W8ISS, an AMSAT member and ham radio-in-space enthusiast. Larry Reitz, WA8CWD, was the primary liaison between the school and ARISS, and his call sign was used for the Earth station. [ARRL was saddened to learn that WA8CWD died in early March. An ARRL member, he was 61.]
ARISS is an international educational outreach program
with US participation from ARRL, NASA and AMSAT.--some information provided by
NASA, AMSAT, Duane Fischer, W8DBF, and Bill Chaikin, KA8VIT.
| Previous: The K7RA Solar Update | Next: Surfin': Contesting and DXing Going Hand in Hand |
