Astronaut Susan Helms Brings Smiles to Kentucky via Ham Radio

Astronaut Susan Helms, KC7NHZ, at work aboard the ISS. [NASA Photo]

NEWINGTON, CT, May 31, 2001--US Astronaut Susan Helms, KC7NHZ, took the microphone of NA1SS aboard the International Space Station today to respond to questions from students at Daviess County High School in Owensboro, Kentucky. The contact marked the 15th Amateur Radio on the International Space Station QSO and the second with a Kentucky school.

"Welcome onboard Space Station Alpha. Go ahead with your questions," Helms invited. Eight students obliged with a dozen questions.

Helms said the ISS crew has not experienced any serious communication blackouts and has redundant communication systems. But if the station's communication systems were to fail, "we always have our ham radio, which we could use also to call people," she said. She told another questioner that she had been getting on the air from the ISS "on and off" depending on the crew's work schedule. She said she'd made a few contacts this morning. "I try to come to the ham radio and talk to people as much as I can," she said.

Helms said the ISS has experienced some "communication failures" involving the robotic arm. "They're working at it right now," she said. "The experts are, of course, all gathered in Houston to solve the problem, and they've already come up with solutions they'll be implementing in the next couple of weeks."

She told the students that NASA already was making plans to travel to Mars, "probably with international help." She called The Red Planet the most feasible target for an interplanetary space mission carrying human passengers.

Helms said the international nature of the ISS program has involved having to deal with different languages and cultures. "My crewmates--Yuri and Jim--and I have worked very hard to become bilingual," she said, referring to cosmonaut Yuri Usachev, RW3FU, and astronaut Jim Voss. "All three of us have become bilingual so that we can communicate and talk in either Russian or English, and we're doing that extremely successfully," she said. In the future, she said, the ISS will have to become multilingual and multicultural.

Helms said she and the crew enjoy their "wonderful work" aboard the ISS but miss their families and friends on Earth.

The audience of students and guests included ARRL President Emeritus George S. Wilson III, W4OYI, who lives in Owensboro. News media coverage included three television stations from nearby Evansville, Indiana, as well as the local newspaper and cable TV channel.

"We really are smiling ear-to-ear down here," Steve Morgan, W4NHO, said after the 10-minute contact. Morgan provided technical support at the school. The contact was made via AH6NM at Sacred Hearts Academy in Honolulu, and the audio was telebridged to the school. Dick Flagg, AH6NM, and Nancy Rocheleau, WH6PN, were at the controls in Hawaii. AMSAT technical mentor Steve Morton, AA8HH, moderated the hookup from Cincinnati. Tim Bosma, W6ISS, from ARISS/AMSAT handled critical scheduling tasks.

The next scheduled ARISS contact will be next week with Henley Schools in Oregon via the Klamath County Schools Amateur Radio Club, KC7VWW.

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