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 Previous: Nominations Open for ARRL 2006 Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Award |  Next: FCC Now Processing Amateur Radio Vanity Call Sign Backlog |
ARISS-Canada's Lori McFarlane handles mic duty as one of the students at École Élémentaire Publique Le Prélude asks her question. |
The Ottawa contact took place at the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa. |
Look, Ma! No hands! ISS Expedition 14 Mission Specialist Suni Williams, KD5PLB, on her first spacewalk. [NASA Photo] |
Students and teachers involved in the Winnebago Public School ARISS contact pose for a group photo. |
NEWINGTON, CT, Feb 8, 2007 -- Youngsters at a museum in Ottawa, Canada, and an Indian Reservation school in Nebraska joined a long and growing list of students who've had the chance to speak with the International Space Station crew via Amateur Radio. The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program arranged the contacts between NA1SS and VE3JW at the Canada Science and Technology Museum on January 24, and KB0GEH at Winnebago Public School on January 25. Expedition 14 Flight Engineer Suni Williams, KD5PLB, greeted the students from École Élémentaire Publique Le Prélude in both English and French. One of the kindergarten through sixth graders wondered what Williams enjoyed most about being in space.
"I think what I like the most is the view of the earth and also floating around," Williams responded. "Floating is really fun. You can do flips in the air, and it's just incredible."
Williams told the students that doing a spacewalk "is amazing, because the spacesuit is like its own little spacecraft, and you have a 360-degree view of not only the earth but also the galaxy and all of the stars." Among the things she misses in space is her dog "Gorby," named after former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
She explained that it took her a little time after arriving to become comfortable about living in microgravity. "I finally am able to do multiple tasks at once and not forget things," she said, "so it's taken me really a while to figure it out -- probably a month."
CLICK HERE to listen to the ARISS contact between NA1SS and VE3JW in Ottawa, Canada. [MP3, 9:28]
All told, Williams was able to answer 20 of the students' questions during the nearly 10-minute ISS pass. The audience of 175 included two members of Parliament, an Ottawa city councilor, the chairman of the Ottawa School Board and Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) President Earle Smith, VE6NM.
Media outlets -- both French and English-language -- included four TV stations to cover the event. Steve McFarlane, VE3BTD, was the ARISS-Canada mentor for the contact.
The following day, in what may have marked the first ARISS school contact with students on a US Indians Reservation, 20 grade 2 through grade 11 students attending Nebraska's Winnebago Public School posed their questions to Williams, who managed to handle 19 out of 20 during the pass. Every participant was able to ask at least one question. The youngsters' curiosity ran the gamut, from "space dirt" to "space junk."
Members of the Siouxland Amateur Radio Association volunteered their time and expertise to set up the Earth station at the school. Math and science teacher Terresa Greenleaf, KB0GEH, loaned her call sign for the occasion.
A Sioux City, Iowa, TV station reported on the event, including interviews with the students, and The Sioux City Journal also covered the contact, said ARISS Mentor Keith Pugh, W5IU. Other students and members of the Winnebago Public School faculty also were on hand. teacher, and media.
ARISS is an international educational outreach with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.
| Previous: Nominations Open for ARRL 2006 Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Award | Next: FCC Now Processing Amateur Radio Vanity Call Sign Backlog |
