A PiñonElementary School student asks his question of ISS Commander Leroy Chiao, KE5BRW, while classmates await their turn. [Marga Boedecker, KD5PEU Photo]
A PiñonElementary School student asks his question of ISS Commander Leroy Chiao, KE5BRW, while classmates await their turn. [Marga Boedecker, KD5PEU Photo] |
NEWINGTON, CT, Feb 2, 2005--A dozen pupils who attend Piñon Elementary School in Los Alamos, New Mexico, are all smiles this week after getting the chance to speak via Amateur Radio with International Space Station Commander Leroy Chiao, KE5BRW. The January 27 contact was arranged by the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program. Los Alamos Amateur Radio Club Communications Officer Bill Boedecker, NM5BB, handled Earth station duties for the direct VHF contact with NA1SS. Piñon's application had been in the queue for an ARISS school contact for more than four years.
"Luckily we had a good nine-minute window, and all the students were able to ask at least one question," he commented. Before the contact actually got under way, Boedecker spent some time with the school's sixth graders describing how the ham radio gear on the ground works to communicate with the ISS. The kids also did some practice runs. In all, the 12 youngsters asked 14 questions, and Chiao responded to some of them at length.
On hand for the event were some 60 fellow students, who
observed along with a few parents and teachers. Principal James Telles called the ARISS contact "an incredible experience"
for his students, one they'd remember it for the rest of their lives.
 Bill Boedecker, NM5BB, served as control operator at Piñon Elementary School. The screen in the background is tracking the location of the ISS with respect to Earth. [Marga Boedecker, KD5PEU Photo] |
 A close-up of a water bubble floating freely in the zero gravity of the International Space Station shows a refracted image of Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao, KE5BRW. Chiao also is Expedition 10 NASA ISS Science Officer. [NASA Photo] |
Among other topics, the youngsters' questioned Chiao about how the ISS is powered. He explained that solar power was the only type of power aboard the ISS. Another wanted to know about how Chiao and his crewmate, Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov, keep physically fit. The ISS Commander explained that the crew needs to exercise for at least two hours daily, using a variety of exercise equipment especially designed for the zero-gravity environment.
Youngsters also wanted to know what kinds of experiments the crew was conducting, and if the ISS residents were able to view space phenomena such as meteors heading into Earth's atmosphere. Chiao said the crew actually looks down, not up, to see meteors from the ISS.
Boedecker, an ARRL Life Member and a retiree of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, had help from Los Alamos ARC members Dave Haworth, N9KYP, and Anne Browning, KD5NLN. Boedeker said all the gear worked flawlessly, despite bad weather at the time.
A local newspaper sent a reporter and photographer to cover the event, and University of California TV recorded the contact for future use in a program to air in several weeks as part of the Behind the White Coat series, produced at Los Alamos National Labs and distributed by UCTV.
ARISS is an international outreach, with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and
NASA.--some information provided by Gene Chapline, K5YFL
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