Students line up to ask their questions of ISS Expedition 8 commander Mike Foale, KB5UAC, at the controls of NA1SS, while a TV camera (far left) captures the activity. [Jim Wilson Photo]
Students line up to ask their questions of ISS Expedition 8 commander Mike Foale, KB5UAC, at the controls of NA1SS, while a TV camera (far left) captures the activity. [Jim Wilson Photo] |
NEWINGTON, CT, Jan 6, 2004--While students sometimes consider geography a boring subject on Earth, International Space Station Expedition 8 commander Mike Foale, KB5UAC, told some Ohio youngsters January 2 that it's anything but dull from his perspective in space. Foale spoke via Amateur Radio with a group of fourth through ninth graders at Gilmour Academy in Gates Mills. Arranged via the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program, the contact between Gilmour Academy club station ND8GA and NA1SS on the ISS marked the first school group QSO of the new year.
"If I look at the Earth, I find the geography
incredibly
interesting," Foale enthused, "looking at how the cities are laid out, seeing
the roads and the houses, or often, if it's desert--there's an awful lot of
desert on the earth--peeking at the different rocks." Foale said he studied a
lot of geology as an astronaut, but he's especially fascinated with the people
living below, and he always keeps a computer-based encyclopedia handy when he's
viewing Earth from space.
 Earth station ND8GA: At the left is Ken Kane, KG8DN, Patt McClain, N8RKP, looks on, while Sean Carey, W8SCC, checks out the antenna rotator controls. [Jim Wilson Photo] |
 An audience of approximately 50 turned out for the space station contact. [Jim Wilson Photo] |
 Geography from space: Lake Titicaca, at an elevation of 12,507 feet in the Andean Altiplano, is the highest large lake in the world. Here's how it looks from the ISS. The lake is more than 120 miles long and 50 miles wide and was the center of Incan civilization. Today, it straddles the boundary between Peru and Bolivia. [NASA Photo] |
In responding to the dozen questions put to him by the youngsters, Foale also spoke about a cancer-related research project aboard the ISS.
"Cancer cells can be developed in space in a very different way from the way they are on Earth," Foale said. "That allows researchers to develop new techniques for treating cancer cells on Earth. It's a long project, and it will go on for many years."
Foale said he and crewmate Sasha Kaleri, U8MIR, eat well in space, but he also admitted that the ISS crew doesn't always go along with the program when it comes to what they consume.
"We don't, of course, eat all the things they tell us to eat," he said. "I just love chocolate, so I've eaten all the chocolate that's aboard already." The Expedition 8 crew is not scheduled to return to Earth until April.
A sixth grader wanted to know if Foale thought youngsters would one day be able to travel to the ISS.
"Yes, I think they will," Foale replied. "I'm not sure how soon. I don't think you will be a kid when that happens. I think you will be grown up by then and out of college. Maybe you'll be taking kids to the space station."
Foale concluded the contact by wishing all at the school a happy new year.
Gilmour Academy Amateur Radio Club President Caroline Greco, KC8WNY, handled control operator duty at the ND8GA Earth station. Faculty club moderator and back-up control op was Ken Kane, KG8DN.
"Even though our contact wasn't perfect, it was about 75 percent solid, enough to provide some nice memories for the kids and parents," Kane said. "We were delighted with the results, and learned a lot from the effort."
In space, Foale used the Phase 1 NA1SS equipment--a 5 W Ericsson handheld with an external antenna--for the Gilmour Academy contact. Although it's installed and has been checked out and used to make some casual QSOs, the higher-power ARISS Phase 2 ham gear has not yet been cleared for use during ARISS school group contacts.
An audience of approximately 50 people turned out at the school for the event. In addition, the ARISS QSO got news media attention from at least one newspaper and a local television station, which later interviewed some of the students.
ARISS
is a joint educational outreach program with participation from ARRL, AMSAT and
NASA.
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