Ikuko Omura, JA5GSG, at the controls of 8N5ARISS for the Yokohama Elementary School ARISS contact. Students wait in the background for the contact to begin.
Ikuko Omura, JA5GSG, at the controls of 8N5ARISS for the Yokohama Elementary School ARISS contact. Students wait in the background for the contact to begin. |
NEWINGTON, CT, July 13, 2005--US Astronaut John Phillips, KE5DRY, took a short break from celebrating Independence Day July 4 to speak with youngsters at Yokohama Elementary School in Kochi, Japan. The contact between NA1SS on the space station and 8N5ARISS at the school was arranged by the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program. Phillips said he decided to become an astronaut because he felt inspired to explore.
"I became an astronaut because I wanted to take part in one of the great programs of exploration," Phillips told the youngsters. "If I had lived 200 years ago I probably would have wanted to be a polar explorer."
Phillips told the Yokohama Elementary pupils that he and
crewmate (and Expedition 11 Commander) Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR, get an early
start each work day, arising at 6 AM for breakfast and not quitting for the day
until around 8 PM. They hit the sack around 11 PM (the ISS maintains UTC as its standard time). A typical work day, he said, revolves around scientific
experiments, routine station repair and maintenance, and work in support of
other space vehicles, such as the space shuttle Discovery, set to arrive
at the ISS later this week.
 One Yokohama Elementary pupil asks his question of US Astronaut John Phillips, KE5DRY. |
In answer to the oft-asked "food question," Phillips said the crew eats food supplied by both Russia and the US. "Some is in cans, some is dried and we have to add water to it, and occasionally we get some fresh food," he said. "And we always have a supply of wasabe available." A pungent condiment, wasabe is sometimes called "Japanese horseradish."
Phillips explained that the most important thing about living in space is that one cannot be too careful. "If we put equipment together incorrectly or if we break something or hurt ourselves we could create a big problem," Phillips responded, "so we have to be very careful."
Phillips said the view of the heavens from the ISS is very
similar to what one sees from Earth on a clear night from a mountaintop, except
that the station crew can see both Southern and Northern Hemisphere stars and the
planets and stars twinkle against a black background even during the day. "I
looked at Saturn's rings about two weeks ago when Saturn was aligned with
Mercury and Venus," Phillips reported. "I used binoculars, and I could just
barely see the rings."
 The Yokohama Elementary schoolers who participated in the ARISS contact pose for a group photo. |
As other astronauts before him have said, Phillips
described his view of Earth from the ISS as "very beautiful" and exhibits the
same colors one sees on the ground. "The oceans are blue, the snow is white, the
forests are green, the deserts are tan and the cities are gray," he said. "And
at night you can see lightning and city lights."
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The control operator for the contact was Ikuko Omura, JA5GSG, and Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ, served as mentor for the ARISS QSO. Eighteen youngsters at the Kochi school each asked a single question during the approximately 10-minute pass.
On hand looking on were nearly 300 classmates and other visitors. Yasuda says four TV stations, including Japan's national TV network NHK, showed up to cover the event, as did reporters from five newspapers.
ARISS is an educational
outreach program with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.
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