Astronaut Greets his Children from Space via Ham Radio

NEWINGTON, CT, Mar 22, 2002--Astronaut Dan Bursch, KD5PNU, aboard the International Space Station fielded 20 questions March 21 from 10 elementary schoolers--two of them his own children. Youngsters attending St Thomas the Apostle Episcopal School in Nassau Bay, Texas, spoke with Bursch via an Amateur Radio and teleconferencing linkup. A day earlier, astronaut Carl Walz, KC5TIE, talked directly via 2 meters with youngsters at an elementary school in Australia. Both contacts with NA1SS were compliments of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program

Robyn Bursch. [Nick Lance, KC5KBO, Photo]

Bursch's daughter, Robyn, and son, Jackson, had the honor of being the first and second in the St Thomas question queue. Robyn Bursch asked her dad if it was cold in space. "Hello, Robyn! I miss you!" Bursch replied. He went on to explain that while it can be really hot or really cold in space depending on whether or not you were in sunlight, inside the space station "it's just like home."

Robyn's younger sibling Jackson was eager to know how many times a day his father ate. "Hi, Jackson, I miss you too. Probably about eight times a day," Bursch quipped, before explaining that the crew ate the usual three times a day "and sometimes we have a snack, too, with tea, so maybe that counts as three-and-a-half times."

Jackson Bursch, with teacher Martha Kirby Capbo, prepares to ask his question at St Thomas school. [Nick Lance, KC5KBO, Photo]

Responding to other inquiries, Bursch told the youngsters that his favorite constellation was Orion and that he had been able to see Mars and Venus from the ISS, although typically most of the windows on the ISS point toward Earth. He also pointed out that stars become visible about every 45 minutes and the crew can view changes of seasons as the ISS orbits Earth.

Youngsters at St Thomas school sit "quiet as spiders sleeping" while they await their chance to speak with Dan Bursch aboard the ISS. [Nick Lance, KC5KBO, Photo]

"Do you have comfortable stuff?" another youngster wanted to know. Bursch said the crew enjoyed comfortable clothing and sleeping bags, but that there wasn't much need for furniture in their nearly gravity-free environment. Sleeping in space took some getting used to, he told another questioner. The crew's sleeping bags need to be tied down or they'd float around, "and who knows where we'd end up in the morning?" he asked.

Christmas trees in space? "We had a Christmas tree, and it was made out of cloth and just a couple of feet high," Bursch explained. Space aliens? Bursch said he hadn't spotted any yet.

Handling Earth station duties for the ARISS QSO was Nancy Rocheleau, WH6PN, in Honolulu. Worldcom provided the teleconferencing hookup with the classroom. Roy Neal, K6DUE, moderated the contact.

As a videographer rolls his tape, a student at Zeehan Primary School in Tasmania asks her question of astronaut Carl Walz, KC5TIE.

Coordinating teacher Martha Kirby Capo was extremely pleased with how the contact went. "It was fantastic!" she said, adding that she thought Bursch enjoyed talking to his children and to their classmates. "It's been a wonderful experience, and we'll all treasure it."

St Thomas--a private, parochial school a few miles southeast of Houston--has an enrollment of about 160 youngsters, pre-kindergarten through grade 5. The entire student body plus teachers, administrators and several parents were on hand for the occasion.

Bill Lynd, VK7KHZ, was at the controls for the Zeehan Primary School ARISS QSO.

On March 20, Walz answered questions via ham radio from students at Zeehan Primary School in Tasmania, Australia. The contact marked the first between the ISS and an Australian school. Walz was able to answer all 13 questions, and the students had just enough time to applaud before the signal was lost.

Walz explained that the crew would be returning to Earth in May, following a five-and-a-half month tour in space. He noted that crew members now have the capability to keep in touch with their families via an onboard telephone and via e-mail.

The antenna system used at the Zeehan Primary School.

One youngster asked Walz what it was like to work in space. "It's really a great feeling to be outside, since we've been inside for several months," said Walz, who's conducted one space walk during his ISS tour. "But," he added, "it's very difficult to work in the spacesuit because it's very stiff."

Astronaut Dan Bursch, KD5PNU. [NASA Photo]

Food was a question topic for the Tasmanian children as well. Asked about the crew's dietary routine, Walz explained that what he and his colleagues ate was "like food that you would take camping" and included canned, packaged and dehydrated meal items.

Walz told another youngster that liftoff from Earth made him more anxious than reentry, because of the G forces and the powerful engines involved. "That's always, for me, the most exciting but most anxious time," he said.

Astronaut Carl Walz, KC5TIE. [NASA Photo]

At the contact's conclusion, student Thomas Lynd thanked Walz for "this exciting opportunity." Some 130 people were in attendance for the event, which got heavy media coverage. Handling Earth station chores for the direct contact were Bill Lynd, VK7KHZ, and Dick van Beek, VK7KVB.

Veteran ARISS coordinator Tony Hutchison, VK5ZAI, said the youngsters were overwhelmed with excitement. "Despite gale-force winds and heavy rain, everything went smoothly," he said after the QSO. "They are to be congratulated on a job well done."

Click here to listen to audio of the St Thomas School ARISS contact: [9:24] Audio compliments of WorldCom.

Click here to listen to audio of the Zeehan Primary School ARISS contact: [8:48] Audio compliments of VK5ZAI.

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