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![Previous (earlier) Story](/images/sty-down.gif ""Angel of the Seas": Post-Tsunami News Coverage Raises Ham Radio's Global Visibility"){kind=small} Previous: "Angel of the Seas": Post-Tsunami News Coverage Raises Ham Radio's Global Visibility |  Next: FCC Cites Homeowners for Causing Interference to Radio Amateur |
 ISS Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao, KE5BRW, at the controls of the ARISS Phase 2 NA1SS station in the crew's living quarters. [NASA Photo] |
NEWINGTON, CT, Jan 5, 2005--Youngsters in Oklahoma and Brazil had the opportunity over the recent holiday period to question International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao, KE5BRW, about life in space. Both direct 2-meter contacts with NA1SS came off largely without a hitch, and Chiao answered all questions posed by each group. Sponsoring the contacts was the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program. Students in grades 3 through 12 from schools in Oklahoma and Texas gathered December 22 at the Tulsa Air and Space Museum (TASM) for their contact.
"The kids were able to work in all 20 questions as well as wish the ISS crew a merry Christmas," said Tulsa Repeater Organization (TRO) (TRO) President and ARRL Oklahoma Public Information Coordinator Mark Conklin, N7XYO. "Wow!"
Conklin said the event's goal was to stimulate the youngsters' imaginations regarding space exploration and scientific discovery. Students selected to ask questions had attended TASM's summer aerospace camps. They were from Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and Austin, Texas.
Among other things, the kids asked Chiao whether the G-forces from leaving Earth's atmosphere cause you to have little red spots on your face--G-measles, how far along the ISS construction was and the space station's expected life, and what are the benefits of civilian space travel.
The museum worked in cooperation with members of TRO and AMSAT to arrange the contact. TRO's Bill Griffin, NI5X, and AMSAT's Keith Pugh, W5IU, set up the Earth station at TASM. Pugh served as the control operator, and the station used the TRO WA5LVT call sign for the QSO. Museum Curator Kim Jones and Conklin worked for more than two years to make the project a reality.
TASM Executive Director Katheryn Pennington said statistics show that learning and retention of knowledge improves when children are personally involved. The ARISS contact, she said, provided an opportunity not only to broaden the horizons of youngsters but those of the adults who listened in.
"With this knowledge, teachers and parents can further assist children in their understanding of the relationship of life on earth and how it relates to life in space," she said, "expanding this experience by relating it to science, geography, history, and physics."
Among those looking on were several news media
representatives, including three Tulsa TV stations, two newspapers and CQ magazine.
 Brazilian scouts queue up to ask their questions of ISS Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao, KE5BRW. [LABRE-RJ Photo] |
 Chiao told scouts in Brazil that he'd recently taken a photo of the moon--one of the celestial objects the crew enjoyed viewing from the vantage point of the ISS. [NASA Photo] |
 One scout from Troop 92 in Rio de Janeiro steps up to the mike. [LABRE-RJ Photo] |
First ARISS QSO for Brazil
On December 27, a Scout group in Brazil participated in the first ARISS school group contact with that country. Scouts from Rio de Janeiro and elsewhere gathered at the Forte de Copacabana military base where the contact took place. ARISS member Tadeu Fernandes, PY1KCF, served as the control operator for the event at PY1ERR. He had help from LABRE-RJ President Ney Galvao, PY1NE, who managed Doppler compensation, and Felipe Jose, PY1IA, who kept the antennas aimed in the right direction. Cassio da Fonte did a real-time text translation of the contact from English into Portuguese for the benefit of the audience.
Chiao answered all 20 questions the scouts posed during the approximately 10-minute contact. The Expedition 10 commander took the opportunity during his answers to describe the beautiful view from the ISS.
"The Earth looks wonderful from space," he told one Scout. "It is the most fantastic view, everything is very brightly colored and that's one of our favorite things to do--to look at the earth." The fact that space walks can be tiring is offset by the beautiful view of Earth, Chiao told another youngster.
He also told the scouts that the crew enjoys viewing the stars--provided the ISS is pointed the right way. He said the crew experiences a sunrise and sunset every 45 minutes as the ISS orbits earth. The sun itself is "extremely bright," but the moon is "very fascinating too."
Chiao told another Scout that the crew had not yet spotted
any unidentified flying objects yet, but he promised to keep looking.
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Some 50 onlookers turned out for the occasion. Among media covering the ARISS contact was the magazine Antena Eletrônica Popular. The Clube Militar, the Liga de Amadores Brasileiros de Rádio Emisão in Rio de Janeiro (LABRE-RJ), Forte De Copacabana and Sts Escola de Aviação supported the contact.
More than 200 amateur stations around Brazil were able to listen in on the contact via HF and EchoLink outlets. After the successful contact, participants received certificates of participation from LABRE-RJ and ARISS-Brazil.
The Oklahoma and Brazil contacts marked the 157th and
158th ARISS school group QSO. ARISS is an educational outreach program with US
participation from ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.--Mark
Conklin, N7XYO, and LABRE-RJ provided information for this contact
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