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![Previous (earlier) Story](/images/sty-down.gif "Surfin': What I Did On My "Summer" Vacation"){kind=small} Previous: Surfin': What I Did On My "Summer" Vacation |  Next: Amateur Radio Hurricane Recovery Operations Winding Down |
 Civilian space traveler Greg Olsen, KC2ONX, wears a Russian Sokol spacesuit in this portrait shot during his training in Russia. [NASA Photo] |
NEWINGTON, CT, Oct 10, 2005--During his eight days in space, Greg Olsen, KC2ONX, the International Space Station's third civilian space traveler, touched base via ham radio with students at three high schools, including his alma mater. He spoke October 5 with Princeton High School in Princeton, New Jersey, October 6 with Ft Hamilton High School in Brooklyn, New York, and October 7 with Ridgefield Park High School in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey. Olsen, who lives in Princeton, was born in Brooklyn and graduated from Ridgefield Park High School. One Princeton student wanted to know how much less time would pass on the ISS than on Earth due to relativity.
"That depends on how long you're up here," responded Olsen, who has a master's degree in physics and a doctorate in materials science. "Every second you lose about a billionth of a second. That's because we're going 17,500 miles per hour." Eschewing a more technical explanation, Olsen said the difference worked out to "about a microsecond a month."
Another student asked Olsen what luxuries he missed most. "It's
either good food or a hot shower," he quipped.
 Participants in the Princeton High School ARISS school group QSO: Front, L-R: Simona Rosa, Galia Abramson, Eli Ritts, Nikki Kujawski, Liz Haughton and Rachel Ryan. Rear, L-R: Mike Natriello, Justin Hulick, Alex Johnston and Brendan Salazar. |
 Students at Ridgefield Park High School get ready to speak via ham radio with Greg Olsen, KC2ONX. |
 Olsen traveled into space with the Expedition 12 crew aboard this Soyuz transporter, seen here approaching the ISS October 3. He'll depart with the Expedition 11 crew in the Soyuz now attached to the ISS. [NASA Photo] |
 Olsen (rear, center) and the Expedition 11 and 12 crews wave to the camera during a news conference televised by NASA-TV. [NASA TV Photo] |
US Rep Rush Holt (D-NJ), who represents Olsen in Congress and is a personal friend, was at Princeton for the contact. He said afterward that Olsen was fascinated by space and interested in public education and working with students. "I'm sure he will want to talk with you in your science classes about his experiences on Earth and in space," Holt added. "He's an outstanding scientist here on Earth too."
Serving as the Earth station for the first of Olsen's school contacts was NN1SS at Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, where Mark Steiner, K3MS, and Dave Taylor, W8AAS, were at the controls. Tony Hutchison, VK5ZAI, was the ground station for next day's contact with Ft Hamilton High School. Olsen told students there that the first two civilian space travelers, Dennis Tito, KG6FZX, and Mark Shuttleworth, got him excited about going into space. "I'm old enough to remember when Sputnik was launched," allowed Olsen, who's 60. "As a youngster, that really got me excited that people could actually go into space."
Olsen said his experience aboard the ISS has "more than fulfilled" his expectations. "You can only dream about what it's like to float about for a long time," he said. "When you do it for a sustained period of time, it's really different and exhilarating."
While in space, Olsen did some medical experiments for the European Space Agency. He also took swab samples from various parts of the ISS for later biological analysis. "I just love it up here," he said, but added, "I'd hoped to do more science."
Olsen was able to answer 16 of the Princeton students'
questions, and 11 of those put to him by the Ft Hamilton students. The third
scheduled contact with Ridgefield Park High School was less successful than the
two previous. Before the questions started, Olsen told the students that he was
a 1962 graduate of their school. Early questions centered around Olsen's initial
plans to bring the miniature infrared imager his company, Sensors Unlimited Inc, had developed, to
observe Earth's atmosphere and agricultural regions.
CLICK HERE to listen to Greg Olsen, KC2ONX, speak with students at Princeton High School |
CLICK HERE to listen to Greg Olsen, KC2ONX, speak with students at Ft Hamilton High School |
CLICK HERE to listen to Greg Olsen, KC2ONX, speak with students at Ridgefield Park High School |
Olsen explained that due to a variety of circumstances, he was unable to take the infrared imager into space, but he explained that the device can be used to sense the amount of water vapor. "If crops are very healthy, they'll have a lot of water and they'll absorb heat--water absorbs heat--so the image will look black on camera," he explained. "If the crops are dry they'll have very little water and would reflect a lot of heat, so it will look white in our image." Among other applications, he said, the device also could be used to determine the amount of water in clouds.
The infrared imager served primarily for scientific experimentation. "We don't necessarily have a product coming out of it," he said. "We try to learn about infrared light, you know, what can it reveal?" Experiments on Earth using the device indicated that it could be used to detect the presence of tumors.
Earth station control operator Gerald Klatzko, ZS6BTD, lost contact with NA1SS as Olsen was answering the fourth question from a student at Ridgefield Park High. For all three contacts, an MCI-donated teleconference link provided two-way audio for the school from the respective Earth stations. The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program arranged the three school contacts. Local radio amateurs assisted at the participating schools. Will Marchant, KC6ROL, moderated all three ARISS events.
Olsen is believed to have paid approximately $20 million for the privilege of staying for a week and a day aboard the ISS. His ISS visit was arranged with the Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation (FSA) by Space Adventures. Olsen wraps up his brief stay in space today when he returns to Earth with the Expedition 11 crew NASA ISS Science Officer John Phillips, KE5DRY, and Commander Sergei Krikalev. They'll depart the ISS aboard a Soyuz TMA spacecraft, and land in Kazakhstan a few hours later.
The ISS Expedition 12 crew of Commander Bill McArthur,
KC5ACR, and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev, formally took over the space
station October 8 in a change-of-command ceremony. They'll remain on the
orbital outpost until next April.
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