Students, with teacher Daryl Morley, at Kingston Community School in South Australia do a practice run for their space contact. [Tony Hutchison, VK5ZAI, Photo]
Students, with teacher Daryl Morley, at Kingston Community School in South Australia do a practice run for their space contact. [Tony Hutchison, VK5ZAI, Photo] |
NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 15, 2004--NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, told students at Kingston Community School in South Australia that keeping oneself clean in space is not that much of a problem, despite the lack of a shower or bathtub. During a September 10 Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school group contact, Fincke suggested that no one will run the other way when he and ISS Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka, RN3DT, return to Earth--even though neither will have had a real bath or shower during their six-month stay. The ISS crew washes up instead using wet towels and special "space shampoo," Fincke explained.
"We have some special space shampoo that doesn't require water, and it does a pretty good job," Fincke said. "So at the end of the mission, even though it's six months without a bath, we're still pretty good, and we don't smell too bad." Fincke said keeping clean is important, but the crew doesn't really get that dirty to start with. He also said he keeps his hair very short to make it easy to shampoo.
Responding to another question, Fincke said the ISS passes over Australia quite often and that he was looking forward to visiting there some day. "It's such a beautiful country, but we see so many things from space," he said, noting that looking at Earth from his perch 230 miles above the planet is his favorite activity besides eating.
"For example, lately, in the Atlantic Ocean, have been many hurricanes, and in the Pacific Ocean, we've seen a few typhoons," he said, "so we can definitely see the weather patterns." It's also possible to see pollution on Earth from the ISS, Fincke said.
As for space food--it's "pretty good," he said, but the
astronauts can't just pop into the kitchen when they feel hungry and grab a
cold drink from the fridge or whip up something on the stove. "Now, we don't
have a refrigerator, and we don't have any kind of oven or a microwave, but we
can warm up our food," he explained. Meals--there's both American and Russian
cuisine aboard--come dehydrated, and the astronauts just add water and wait a
few minutes for a food warmer to do its job. Fincke said he and Padalka also
take advantage of mealtime to discuss their activities.
 Parents, teachers, students and other visitors--including the news media--were on hand for the space station contact September 10. [Tony Hutchison, VK5ZAI, Photo] |
"We certainly enjoy three meals a day, and that's the time when the commander and I, we have a chance to talk about our day and go over our plans," Fincke said, "so mealtime is one of my favorite times."
One topic they've likely been discussing the past few days has been recurring problems with the space station's primary oxygen-generation system. Russian engineers on the ground spent the weekend analyzing the intermittent problem. NASA says the crew is in no danger, however. The Elektron oxygen system initially shut down September 8. It works by separating water into oxygen for ISS use and hydrogen, which is vented overboard.
Fincke noted that he is 37 years old and on his first
journey into space. "When I was three or four years old I wanted to become an
astronaut," he told the youngsters, "and I had to wait for 34 more years to get
to come into space. So it was very exciting--it was my dream come true. It's
great to be here, and I'll be sad to go back." Fincke and Padalka have been
aboard the space station for 148 days. They'll return to Earth in October.
 Astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, on the air from NA1SS aboard the International Space Station. [NASA Photo] |
|
The ISS was over the US during the event, which took place at about 5 PM in Australia and during the wee hours of morning in the US. International Space Station Amateur Radio Club NN1SS in Greenbelt, Maryland, served as the Earth station for the contact with NA1SS in space. A two-way teleconference link, donated by MCI, made it possible for the students' to ask questions and hear Fincke's replies. Dave Taylor, W8AAS, served as the control operator at NN1SS. ARISS International Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, and Mark Steiner, K3MS, assisting. ARISS veteran Tony Hutchison, VK5ZAI, worked with Kingston Community School teacher Daryl Morley to make arrangements at the school.
Fincke managed to answer 14 questions completely and was starting on number 15 when the ISS went out of range. He also told the students that he was not afraid to be in space and that sleeping was comfortable, even though he sleeps essentially standing up in zero gravity. "It's quite a nice pleasant sleep, he said." Being weightless "is great" he said as the ISS went over the horizon, ending the contact a bit abruptly.
ARISS is an international educational outreach with US
participation from ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.
 Previous: Lull Before the Landfall: Hurricane Watch Net on Hold as Preparations Continue |  Next: West Gulf ARES Net to Activate as Hurricane Preparations Ramp Up |