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 Previous: ARRL EXPO 2006 Stage to Feature Wide Range of Mini-Forums |  Next: Amateur Radio Volunteers Wrapping Up New England Flooding Operations |
 One youngster at Yoneda-Nishi Elementary School asks her question while her classmates await their turns at the microphone. |
 Another youngster asks a question of ISS Flight Engineer Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ. Photos of Williams and Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov, RV3BS, are on the table in front of the ham gear. |
 Backdropped by Earth's horizon and the blackness of space is the Canadarm2 remote manipulator. A portion of an ISS solar array is also visible. [NASA Photo] |
CLICK HERE to listen to audio of the ARISS QSO between NA1SS and 8N3Y: <ariss-yoneda-nishi.mp3> [9:27]. ARRL thanks Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ, for providing this audio clip. |
NEWINGTON, CT, May 17, 2006--Thanks to the magic of Amateur Radio, ISS Expedition 13 Flight Engineer Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ, on May 11 helped to satisfy the curiosity of youngsters attending Yoneda-Nishi Elementary School in Tagasako, Japan, about life in space. The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program arranged the direct VHF contact between NA1SS in space and 8N3Y at the school. Williams told the Yoneda-Nishi pupils that it's "quite an honor and a privilege" to be an astronaut. But he noted that it can be dangerous work, even aboard the ISS.
"Well, of course, space has a lot of dangers, and we have a good team on the ground and we are well prepared in our training to mitigate the risks associated with spaceflight," Williams said.
Responding to another youngster's questions, Williams said he'd love to be one of the astronauts to return to the moon or to travel to another planet. Asked why he decided to become an astronaut in spite of the possible dangers, Williams said he does it for the exploration.
"It's very exciting work to explore new frontiers and new things that we haven't done before, and it's something I think we want to do throughout the history of mankind."
Williams said he can see Japan from the ISS, and it "looks wonderful day or night" from 220 miles up in space.
"It's got fabulous views during the day of course with the terrain, and at night all the major cities are lit up--the islands of Japan are all lit up where there are cities and where people live," he said. "It is absolutely breathtaking."
The astronaut allowed that it took a good deal of training in several fields to prepare for life aboard the ISS. That included learning Russian, becoming familiar with both the US and Russian segments of the space station, doing spacewalks, learning how to use the Canadarm2 remote manipulator, and all about the Russian Soyuz transporter.
The hardest job for an astronaut, Williams said, is doing spacewalks, which can run six hours or longer. Williams is scheduled to do a spacewalk in a few weeks.
"It's very difficult, very hard work," he explained. "You get very tired, especially in the hands and the arms."
In all, the youngsters had 19 questions asked and answered during the event, which attracted about 215 parents and fellow pupils as well as one TV and one newspaper reporter. Control operator for the ARISS contact was Yoshio Maekawa, JG3RWX. ARISS-Japan veteran Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ, served as mentor for the contact, which was Williams' third since he came aboard the ISS in April, and the 240th since the first ISS crew arrived in late 2000.
ARISS is an
educational outreach of a nine-nation consortium, with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.
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