ARISS Logs Two "Firsts" in Australian School Contact

Expedition 9 NASA ISS Science Officer Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, at the NA1SS Phase 2 amateur station in the space station's living quarters. [NASA Photo]

As members of the news media snap photos, students from Kilburn Primary School ask their questions of ISS astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT.

The Investigator Science and Technology Centre in Adelaide, Australia, hosted the youngsters for the September 23 ARISS contact.

Space station wings: An exterior view of the International Space Station shows the solar arrays installed to date. [NASA Photo]

NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 30, 2004--The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program marked two "firsts" during a September 23 school group contact with students from an elementary school in Australia. The QSO with youngsters from Kilburn Primary School was the first using the ARISS Phase 2 radio gear aboard the ISS and the first in which an attempt was made to provide contact audio worldwide via IRLP (Internet Radio Linking Project) nodes. NASA ISS Science Officer Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, took the controls of the NA1SS Kenwood TS-D700 transceiver in the crew quarters for the occasion. Responding to one youngster's question, Fincke described an ultrasound experiment that he and Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka, RN3DT, have been running during their tour of duty.

"Ultrasound uses sound waves to look inside people's bodies," he explained, "and we can see how our bodies have changed because we've been exposed to this weightlessness--this microgravity--for a long time." Fincke said he and Padalka already have noted some changes. "By being able to tell how our bodies change in microgravity, we can figure out how to keep us healthy and strong, so that when we go to the moon and Mars, we'll be ready for it."

Replying to another Kilburn pupil's question, Fincke explained how the ISS gets its electrical power.

"We use pure solar energy," he said. "We have these really big solar arrays outside--they look like wings of the space station--and they take sunlight and convert it into electricity." He said that for occasions when the ISS is not in direct sunlight--which happens 16 times a day as the space station orbits Earth--solar array-charged onboard batteries keep the ISS equipment running. "Our electrical power system works really well," Fincke stated.

Fincke also fielded questions about sleeping in space, the ISS' onboard environment, space walks, how Earth and the moon look from space and space food.

The Kilburn students were guests of the Investigator Science and Technology Centre in Adelaide for the occasion, and 13 of them got to ask Fincke questions about life in space before the ISS went out of range. Serving as the Earth station for the contact was Nancy Rocheleau, WH6PN, at the Sacred Heart Academy club station in Honolulu. An MCI-donated teleconferencing circuit provided two-way audio to the students. ARISS veteran Tony Hutchison, VK5ZAI, assisted at the Investigator Centre.

Members of the Halifax Amateur Radio Club in Nova Scotia undertook the IRLP experiment, which had limited success. ARISS International Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, said he'd like the program to explore future opportunities to make ARISS school group contacts available to other schools and the general ham radio population. One major issue was the presence of timers on IRLP systems.

ISS crews have used the Phase 1 Ericcson handheld VHF radio for the 146 previous ARISS school group contacts. The Phase 2 station was not expected to be used for a school group contact until the Expedition 10 crew arrives next month.

According to Bauer, the Kenwood radio was set at the 5 W level, approximately the same as the Ericcson gear, although the headset Fincke used for the Australian contact lacked sound-canceling capability. Another difference between the two stations is that the Phase 1 setup--located in the ISS Zarya Functional Cargo Block--feeds two antennas 180 degrees apart, helping to reduce fading as the ISS' attitude changes. The Phase 2 station in the Zvezda Service Module has a single ARISS-provided antenna.

ARISS is an educational outreach with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.

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