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 Previous: Ham Radio Delivers the Toys |  Next: The K7RA Solar Update |
 ISS Commander Leroy Chiao, KE5BRW, exercises aboard the ISS. During his first-ever ham radio contact November 19, Chiao stressed the importance of regular exercise for the crew. [NASA Photo] |
NEWINGTON, CT, Dec 2, 2004--Astronaut Leroy Chiao, KE5BRW, used his recently minted ham radio license for the first time November 19 to speak with students in southeastern Italy from NA1SS aboard the International Space Station. Arranged by the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program, the QSO also kicked off a series of educational contacts for the Expedition 10 crew, which arrived aboard the ISS in October.
"It's a great pleasure to be addressing you from the International Space Station," Chiao told the youngsters as the contact got under way. "This is my first ham radio contact, so I'm honored to be sharing this experience with you." Chiao got his license in June while training for his ISS mission.
Posing questions from Earth were youngsters from two
elementary schools and a comprehensive school--roughly equivalent to a US
intermediate or junior high school--in Polignano-a-Mare. The students ranged in
age from 6 to 14. Members of a local Amateur Radio Club, Sezione Associazione Radioamatori Italiani
di Castellana Grotte, set up a satellite Earth station with automatic antenna
tracking on the roof of one elementary school. The team installed a backup
station at the other elementary school and established audio and video links
from the station to monitors in the other two schools' auditoriums. Michele
Mallardi, IZ7EVR, served as the control operator.
 NA1SS this is IZ7EVR: Control op Michele Mallardi establishes contact with NA1SS from a station at the San Giovanni Bosco Elementary School in Polignano-a-Mare, Italy. |
 Youngsters participating in the ARISS contact got certificates. Audio-video links carried the ham radio event to auditoriums in the other two schools in the Direzione Didattica Statale 1º Circolo school center. |
 Members of the Earth-station antenna team pose in front of their handiwork. |
Responding to a question about the crew's exercise regimen, Chiao stressed how important it is that he and Expedition 10 Flight Engineer and cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov exercise daily during their six-month duty tour. "We have two hours of exercise scheduled every day," he said. The space travelers work out using either a treadmill or stationary bicycle, Chiao explained. There's also a piece of equipment that "mimics the effects of weightlifting," he said.
One youngster asked the now-standard "food question," and Chiao
managed to regionalize his answer. "We have a variety of items we can choose
from, including some Italian dishes," he said. "Some of my favorites include
classics like spaghetti and also tortellini."
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Other youngsters wanted to know if the crew sometimes felt alone, how they talked to their families, what they did when they were not working and whether it was easy to acclimate to working in weightlessness. In all, Chiao managed 18 questions during the approximately 8-minute contact, during which ARISS Mentor Peter Kofler, IN3GHZ, said the audio was "absolutely clear and loud." Just before the ISS went out of range, Mallardi aired the students' farewells and the audience's applause.
Onlookers at the Earth station included not only pupils and teachers but several high local, regional and national government officials as well as representatives of the military. The event generated news accounts via several radio and TV outlets and attracted reporting teams from print media that included the Amateur Radio publications Radio Rivista and Radio Kit Elettronica.
Remarked Kofler following the successful contact, "Giving
young people an idea of the impact and the fascinating aspects of Amateur Radio
by demonstrating a direct contact to the space station was a goal perfectly achieved!
| Previous: Ham Radio Delivers the Toys | Next: The K7RA Solar Update |
