 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||
|
|
 Previous: Florida Amateur Radio Volunteers Answer the Call | ![Next (later) Story](/images/sty-up.gif ""Ham Aid" Eligibility Expanded to Rita, Wilma Volunteers"){kind=small} Next: "Ham Aid" Eligibility Expanded to Rita, Wilma Volunteers |
 Tomioka Elementary School students answer questions from ISS Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, at NA1SS. [Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ/AD6GZ, Photo] |
 Representatives of two TV stations and 10 newspapers joined the audience of some 650 people looking on for the ARISS Tomioka Elementary School contact. [Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ/AD6GZ, Photo] |
 Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, works with the ISS Remote Manipulator System or Canadarm2 controls in the spacecraft's Destiny Lab. [NASA Photo] |
CLICK HERE to listen to the ARISS school group contact between NA1SS and 8J1UTE: [11:11] |
NEWINGTON, CT, Oct 27, 2005--Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, the new commander of the International Space Station, delighted youngsters at Tomioka Elementary School in Urayasu City, Japan, October 24 by answering 14 of their questions via ham radio. The direct VHF contact between 8J1UTE at the school and NA1SS in space was arranged via the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program. Answering one interesting question, McArthur told the youngsters that mold, while rare on the ISS, comes in for some scrutiny when it does show up.
"If we do find mold, then we take pictures of it to send to the ground," McArthur said. "We send samples to the ground for analysis, and then we clean it off." He said the crew tries to keep everything extremely clean, wipes surfaces with a disinfectant cloth at least once a week, and is very careful to clean up any moisture that forms on panels or surfaces.
Responding to a question about the first thing he wants to do when he gets back to Earth next spring, McArthur said he wants to "smell nature."
"Our atmosphere here is very clean, but it doesn't have the things that smell . . . that you really enjoy, such as trees, flowers, grass and those things," McArthur replied. "And then I'm very excited to see my family again."
The Tomioka Elementary School QSO was McArthur's first ARISS school group contact of his six-month duty tour, which began early this month. McArthur said he's found it "very, very comfortable" to be weightless aboard the ISS. Once he got used to it, he said it was a "very pleasant place to be." McArthur's also said that he and his crewmate, Russian cosmonaut and flight engineer Valery Tokarev, enjoy looking at Earth from the ISS in their spare time.
Control operator for the ARISS event was Noriyasu Itho, JE1OWA. "This QSO will be a lasting memory for all of us at Tomioka Elementary School," Itho said before signing off.
An audience of some 650 parents, faculty members and other visitors was on hand for the contact, along with reporters from two TV stations and 10 news newspapers. Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ/AD6GZ, served as the mentor for the ARISS contact. He has posted video and audio of the contact on the Web.
ARISS is an
international educational outreach with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and
NASA.
| Previous: Florida Amateur Radio Volunteers Answer the Call | Next: "Ham Aid" Eligibility Expanded to Rita, Wilma Volunteers |
