Astronaut Leroy Chiao, KE5BRW, eats a meal in the ISS Zvezda Service Module. Chiao told the Maine students that the food is "pretty good" aboard the ISS. [NASA Photo]
Astronaut Leroy Chiao, KE5BRW, eats a meal in the ISS Zvezda Service Module. Chiao told the Maine students that the food is "pretty good" aboard the ISS. [NASA Photo] |
NEWINGTON, CT, Feb 24, 2005--"Good to be talking to you all. Welcome Rockland District High School in Rockland, Maine, from the International Space Station!" With those words, ISS Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao, KE5BRW, kicked off an approximately 10-minute Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on February 14 between NA1SS and W1PBR--the call sign of the Pen Bay Amateur Radio Club. Given Maine's typically colder climate, it was perhaps no surprise that one student wanted to know how the ISS is heated.
"Space can be either very cold or very hot if you're in
the direct sunlight, and the station has several control systems that help
regulate the temperature inside--and we can actually set that temperature,"
Chiao explained." He said because the onboard equipment generates heat in
addition to what the spacecraft absorbs from exposure to the sun, maintaining a
comfortable living environment comes down to shedding heat to outside
radiators. "So, depending on how much he we remove, we can control the
temperature inside," he said.
 Chiao told the Maine students that he and crewmate Salizhan Sharipov put in two hours of exercise each day. [NASA Photo] |
Responding to another student's question, Chiao said it's true that the ISS crew sleeps in bunks that stand along the walls of the station. "We have what we call a 'sleep station,' and they're basically phone booth-size little boxes," Chiao said. There's one in the US segment and one in the Russian module. Their size isn't confining, however. "They're pretty small, but it's enough for a little privacy at night. You can get in there with your sleeping bag and your computer and watch movies or listen to music or read an electronic book," Chiao added.
With respect to the amount of room aboard the ISS, Chiao
told another student that while there's not as much room in their space
quarters as there is on the ground, the crew members quickly get used to it.
"Especially in weightlessness, you can get to all three dimensions," Chiao
said. "You're not just confined to walking around on the floor." Being able to
float from place to place also makes more efficient use of the available space,
he noted. "It's really not bad at all."
 Although space is scarce aboard the ISS, being able to "fly" makes efficient use of the available room, Chiao says. [NASA Photo] |
Part of Maine School Administrative District 5, Rockland District High School draws students from that mid-coast Maine city as well as from the neighboring towns of Thomaston and Owl's Head. The school has an enrollment of approximately 500 students. Those who participated in the direct VHF contact with the ISS are taking or have completed an integrated science course covering environmental and earth science, including astronomy. In all, the high schoolers got to ask 13 questions before the ISS went out of radio range.
Handling Earth station duties were George Caswell, W1ME, and Norm Smith, NY1B, with help from members of the Pen Bay ARC. The contact also was retransmitted over a local repeater.
The ARISS event had media coverage from at least two TV stations and one newspaper. Some 400 students and visitors were on hand in the audience.
ARISS is an
international educational outreach program with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT
and NASA.
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