An astronaut toy floating overhead, Hosokawa Junior High School students line up for their turn at the 8N3H microphone. Earth station operator was Junki Okuda, JL3JRY.
An astronaut toy floating overhead, Hosokawa Junior High School students line up for their turn at the 8N3H microphone. Earth station operator was Junki Okuda, JL3JRY. |
NEWINGTON, CT, May 17, 2005--A dozen junior high students in Japan used Amateur Radio May 9 to quiz NASA International Space Station Science Officer and US astronaut John Phillips, KE5DRY, about life in space. The contact between NA1SS in space and 8N3H at Hosokawa Junior High School in Ikeda was arranged by the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program. Working in microgravity, the training necessary to become an astronaut and food were the focus of several of the more than 20 questions asked and answered. Phillips told the youngsters that he was surprised at how beautiful the Earth appears from space and that he never tires of watching the planet from the ISS. Responding to another student's question, he nearly waxed poetic in describing Earth's beauty.
"It's absolutely true that the Earth looks beautiful from
space," Phillips replied. "The blue of the oceans, the green of the forests and
the white snow of the mountains create a beautiful and continuously changing
picture." He told the next questioner that his first impression of space was
that the view was magnificent "and that I knew that I would like it up here and
that I would like to stay longer."
 Students, faculty members and Earth station operator Junki Okuda, JL3JRY, pose for a group photo. |
Questions about the diet of ISS crews are among the most frequently asked during ARISS school group QSOs, and the Hosokawa students asked several. Phillips noted that there is both American and Russian-style cuisine aboard--some fresh, some dried and some in cans. "We eat very well up here," he stated. He told another student that there was plenty of food aboard the ISS and that he and crewmate Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR, were not in any immediate danger of running low, as the previous crew had. He explained that there's no refrigerator aboard the ISS, and the crew's chow is stored in metal boxes in the kitchen and elsewhere aboard the spacecraft.
As for living and working in microgravity, he said it can be fun. "I feel wonderful in space," he declared. "I can fly like a bird or like Superman!" In addition, he told another student questioner, working in space is much easier because "we're always floating" and can even work upside down if necessary. But there are downsides. He explained that the lack of gravity means the ISS crew members always have to keep untethered objects under control, lest they float off and get lost. Phillips said dizziness and "space sickness" are not problems he has encountered so far, but he added that there are medications aboard the spacecraft should either arise.
Training for his mission aboard the ISS as part of the
Expedition 11 crew took three years, he said. He advised youngsters interested
in becoming astronauts to start by studying a lot of math. He noted that an
astronaut from Japan is scheduled to be aboard the next space shuttle mission.
 US astronaut John Phillips, KE5DRY, at the controls of the Phase 2 ARISS NA1SS station in the crew's quarters of the space station. [NASA Photo] |
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At the contact's conclusion, Earth station control operator Junki Okuda, JL3JRY, said the students were very excited by the experience of being able to talk directly with an astronaut in space. "One small step for man, one giant step for children," he joked, paraphrasing the famous words US astronaut Neal Armstrong spoke as he became the first human to set foot on the moon in 1969.
On hand at the school for the event were some 300 students representing the entire enrollment of Hosokawa Junior High, plus 100 parents and other visitors and news media representatives. The ARISS-Japan mentor for the contact was Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ/AD6GZ.
ARISS is an international educational outreach program
with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.
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